The Side Door

From a tender young age it was clear that Jason Marsalis had what it took to be great. Jason is the son of pianist and music educator Ellis Marsalis and his wife Dolores, and the youngest sibling of Wynton, Branford and Delfeayo. Together, the four brothers and their patriarch Ellis, comprise New Orleans venerable first family of jazz. Ellis and Dolores began to cultivate Jason’s interest in music at age three, with the purchase of a toy set of drums. Jason is fond of telling the story of a game he and his parents would play with the drums. “When I was three, my parents bought me a toy drum set and the used to introduce me to an imaginary audience. They would say, ‘Ladies and gentleman introducing the fabulous Jason!’ and I would come out and start banging away much to my parents delight. I too enjoyed it to the point that I started to go up to my parents unsolicited and say, ‘Dad, introduce me again!’” For more information

Tenor saxophonist, Jerry Bergonzi, is an internationally recognized jazz performer, composer, author and educator. His music is renowned for its innovation, mastery, and integrity. Relentless drive, inner fire, total command, awesome technique, elastic lyricism, rich resonance, world-class, a musical visionary, are among the rave reviews credited to his sound. Bergonzi's music has been applauded throughout the world at festivals, concert halls, and jazz venues and his dedication to jazz music has been well documented by an extensive discography. For more information

Pianist Benito Gonzalez “Two times Grammy nominee”is an internationally beloved artist who combines a long lineage of American jazz traditions with rhythms from around the world. He’s worked with dozens of the greats, and he always brings some of the best rhythm section players in the world. Today a rising tide of young jazz pianists are attempting to find their distinct voices by taking cues from their elders. But only a few take their artistry beyond their predecessors to make bold 88-key statements on their journeys to new vistas, fresh sounds, inspired expressions. That personal-touch devotion to the wonders of the instrument brings with it a certitude of intuitive creativity. For more information

RICK GERMANSON has been a highly in-demand pianist on the New York City Jazz scene for well over a decade. A native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Rick relocated to New York City in 1998. Rick won the GRAND PRIZE at The American Pianists' Association Jazz Piano Competition in 1996. He was awarded "Best of New Talent" in 2004 by All About Jazz NYC. Rick has four recordings out as a leader: The first two are on Fresh Sound New Talent: "HEIGHTS" and "YOU TELL ME". His recording "OFF THE CUFF" on Owl Studios reached #15 on the Jazz Radio Play Charts. The latest is on SmallsLive "RICK GERMANSON: LIVE AT SMALL'S". Downbeat and JazzTimes magazines have given Rick's recordings rave reviews. Rick has also been documented on over forty recordings as a sideman with many of the top musicians in jazz today. For more information

Grammy-nominated guitarist, composer and arranger Tom Guarna began his musical studies at age fifteen, rapidly demonstrating a natural ability to play and compose. After studying classical guitar and composition at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music in 1986, he played local gigs in New York and fine-tuned his education with John Abercrombie. He earned a Bachelor Degree from The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in 2008, and a Master’s Degree at The Juilliard School in 2010. After working with several jazz bands, he joined Blood Sweat and Tears in 1995 and toured extensively with them for the next three years. Since then, he has forged his own voice as a modern jazz guitarist, performing with a wide range of artists including Wallace Roney, Stanley Clarke, Mark Turner, Branford Marsalis, Randy Brecker, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Mulgrew Miller, Fred Wesley, Mike Clark, Uri Caine, The Allman Brothers, The Yellowjackets, and Gary Bartz. For more information

"To find a personal voice on more than one instrument is almost impossible, unless your name is Lew Tabackin." - Billy Kerr – Saxophone Journal   First Place, Flute, Swing Journal Reader's poll, 4th year in a row! Down Beat International Critics Poll 2010 - Flute. Lew Tabackin, flutist and tenor saxophonist, is an artist of astonishing vision. His electrifying flute playing is at once virtuosic, primordial, cross-cultural, and passionate. His distinctive tenor sax style includes the use of wide intervals, abrupt changes of mood and tempo, and purposeful fervor, all in the service of showing the full range of possibilities of his instrument - melodically, rhythmically, and dynamically. Without copying or emulating jazz greats of the past, Mr. Tabackin has absorbed elements into his style, ultimately creating his own sound and aura. For more information

Christos was born and raised in Greece, where he completed his studies in classical percussion. After receiving a scholarship from Berklee College of Music, he moved to Boston, attaining a BA in Jazz Vibraphone Performance and later moved to New York, where he graduated from Manhattan School of Music earning his MA in Jazz Vibraphone Performance.   Christos found his personal voice when he established 'Manhattan Vibes’, a band that has appeared at numerous New York's cutting edge venues including the Blue Note, the Jazz Standard, Smoke Jazz Club and Dizzy's Club Coca Cola. Highlights of his career include performances with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and Wynton Marsalis, a US tour with the Charles Mingus ‘Epitaph' Band featuring bassist Christian McBride and conductor Gunther Schuller, a recording with the Harmony Ensemble of NY of Henry Mancini’s 'Peter Gunn' featuring Lew Soloff, Ronnie Cuber and Victor Lewis, recordings with vocalist Chaka Khan and a duo performance at Carnegie Hall with pianist Sergio Salvatore. For more information

Hailed as a “Rising Star” in the world of jazz (DownBeat Critics Poll), Nick Finzer is making waves in the music industry with his dynamic original compositions and trombone artistry. Finzer has toured the globe as a bandleader as well as sharing the stage with some of the most respected names in jazz. As both a headlining trombonist and an entrepreneur, Finzer is on a mission to spread the joy and power of jazz. Finzer's love for jazz began in his childhood, when he became captivated with the music of Duke Ellington. This passion led him to participate in the annual Essentially Ellington competition at Jazz at Lincoln Center, inspiring him to follow his dreams to move to NYC to pursue a life in music. Finzer went on to study at the renowned Eastman School of Music and then The Juilliard School, where he was mentored by trombone legend Steve Turre. For more information

Alexander Claffy is a jazz bassist, composer and arranger based in New York. He has played with artists including Jimmy Cobb, Louis Hayes, Harold Mabern, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Christian Scott and Joey Alexander. In addition to an album of standards, he has released a series of genre-defying compositions with his band simply known as Claffy. Alexander Claffy studied with legendary jazz bassist Ron Carter. He hosts the podcast Village Green with Alexander Claff?y where he interviews NYC musicians. Alexander Claffy grew up outside of Philadelphia in a musical family. His father was a pianist and composer, his mother a vocalist and agent. As a child, Alexander played piano, trombone, sang and acted. He often accompanied his father to gigs in Philadelphia. In middle school Claffy picked up the electric bass when some friends needed a bass player for their band and as a teen he could frequently be found in jazz clubs around Philadelphia. In 2011 he earned a scholarship to the New School and moved to New York City. For more information

Jeff Fuller - Bass Chris Morrison - Guitar Matt DeChamplain - Piano Ben Bilello - Drums Bassist and bandleader Jeff Fuller has long been an integral part of the Connecticut, New York and international jazz scenes. Currentlyleading and playing with a diverse group of ensembles in theNortheast, he has toured worldwide and recorded with saxophonists Lou Donaldson and Paquito D’Rivera.  He has played with jazz masters from all styles and eras including such artists as Dizzy Gillespie, Mose Allison, “Papa” Jo Jones, Gerry Mulligan, and Clark Terry. Fuller has wide experience in both Afro-Cuban and Brazilian music, having toured with Paquito D’Rivera’s New York/Havana Quintet, the Hilton Ruiz Quintet, Daniel Ponce Jazzbatá and Orlando “Puntilla” Rios’ Nueva Generación. For more information

Hailed by Downbeat magazine as “a new and important compositional voice,” and by allaboutjazz.com as “a composer of great ambition and skill,” Victor Gould has earned distinction as a pianist, composer and first-call sideman for such artists as vocalist Jazzmeia Horn, whose Grammy-nominated recordings A Social Call and Liberation feature Gould prominently. His first album, Clockwork, was named Debut of the Year in the 2016 NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll. With the subsequent releases Earthlings and Thoughts Become Things, Gould documented an ever-widening musical vision, adeptly orchestrating for horns and strings in varied combinations. For more information

Donald Vega - Piano Luques Curtis - Bass Carly Maldonado - Percussion Alvester Garnett - Drums Donald Vega was trained classically in piano in his native Nicaragua. He emigrated to the United States at age 14 and found a musical home with the Colburn School of Performing Arts (CSPA). He began his studies there in classical piano with Teresa de Jong Pombo and Dr. Louis Lepley. Vega began learning the language of jazz from mentor Billy Higgins at The World Stage and continued at CSPA with Jeffrey Lavner, then later with bassist John Clayton at the University of Southern California. For more information