Dick Hyman
MUSIC ADVISOR
Dick Hyman
MUSIC ADVISOR
Dick is an NEA Jazz Master, is a pianist, organist, arranger, music director, and composer. With over 100 albums under his name, he was among the first to record on the Moog synthesizer; his Minotaur hit Billboard charts. Dick has won seven Most Valuable Player Awards from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and two Emmy awards. He was music director for Benny Goodman’s final TV appearance, In Performance at the White House, and orchestrator of Broadway’s Sugar Babies. In addition, Dick was composer/arranger for twelve Woody Allen movies, Moonstruck, Scott Joplin and other films. He was also artistic director for Jazz in July at the 92nd Street Y for twenty years. A member of the Jazz Hall of Fame of the Rutgers Institute of Jazz Studies and the New Jersey Jazz Society, Dick has been awarded honorary doctorates from the Juilliard School of Music and Wilkes College and the Satchmo from the Jazz Club of Sarasota.
Dick is an NEA Jazz Master, is a pianist, organist, arranger, music director, and composer. With over 100 albums under his name, he was among the first to record on the Moog synthesizer; his Minotaur hit Billboard charts. Dick has won seven Most Valuable Player Awards from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and two Emmy awards. He was music director for Benny Goodman’s final TV appearance, In Performance at the White House, and orchestrator of Broadway’s Sugar Babies. In addition, Dick was composer/arranger for twelve Woody Allen movies, Moonstruck, Scott Joplin and other films. He was also artistic director for Jazz in July at the 92nd Street Y for twenty years. A member of the Jazz Hall of Fame of the Rutgers Institute of Jazz Studies and the New Jersey Jazz Society, Dick has been awarded honorary doctorates from the Juilliard School of Music and Wilkes College and the Satchmo from the Jazz Club of Sarasota.
The Music Makers
Peter BarenBregge (Saxophone, clarinet, flute) has traveled through 49 states and 28 countries, performing for kings, queens, presidents, and millions of others worldwide in the finest concert and opera halls, jazz clubs, and international jazz festivals including Montreux, Umbria, Istanbul, Jazz á Juan, and Jazzaldia. He is the former musical director and featured soloist with the Washington, DC-based USAF Airmen of Note, the premier jazz unit of the U.S. Air Force Band. He has recorded and produced over 19 Airmen of Note albums during his highly successful military career. Pete has recorded extensively for radio, television, and record singles. He has collaborated with top artists including Dizzy Gillespie, Randy and Michael Brecker, Patti LaBelle, Bob Berg, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Stevie Wonder, Mel Torme, Diana Ross, Henry Mancini, Joe Williams, Tony Bennett, Sammy Davis Jr., and Frank Sinatra. He has recorded on over 33 albums including three of his own highly-rated CDs: PF Flyer, Point of Grace and A Thousand Eyes, all on the Summit Records label. After retiring from the USAF Pete was instrumental jazz editor for Alfred Music, where he edited and produced thousands of jazz ensemble arrangements along with many books, play alongs, pedagogy, duets, and related jazz products. A Grammy voting member, Pete was elected to two terms on the NARAS board of governors. He is the former musical director of the Columbia (MD) Jazz Band and recipient of the 2015 Howard County Arts Council's Howie Award for Outstanding Artist. Pete earned a BS in music education from West Chester University. He is now a freelance professional musician in the Sarasota/Venice, FL area. www.petebarenbregge.com
Herb Bruce (Trombone) spent years in Nashville, where he worked with many of the city’s stars. His major tours have included Boots Randolph, the Nashville Brass, and the Jack Daniels Silver Comet Band. He’s been around the world with Spiritual to the Bone and the premiere Salvation Army Brass Bands. He has also performed with show orchestras for Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme, Jackie Evancho, Bob Hope, Wayne Newton, Nelson Riddle, Jimmy Dorsey, Liza Minelli, the Four Freshmen, Four Tops, Temptations, Amy Grant, Al Hirt, Burt Bacharach, Bernadette Peters and Les Brown. In addition, Herb has recorded with the Back Street Boys, Hank Williams Jr., Boots Randolph, Nashville Brass, and Kenneth Copeland (Gospel). He’s also played for numerous sports events with official bands representing the Green Bay Packers, Hector “Macho” Camacho,” the Atlanta Braves, Kentucky Colonels, Harlem Globetrotters, and Memphis Grizzlies (World Football League), where a receiver ran right into the band. During his 28-year military career he was staff officer in the office to the Chief, U.S. Army Bands and Audition Finalist and Solo Chair, U.S. Marine Band. Herb served three tours at the Navy School of Music in Little Creek, Virginia. Now living in North Port, Florida, Herb has made numerous CDs including several with his acclaimed group “Herbicide.” He also plays with the trombone group “Spiritual to the Bone” and in several Walt Disney World bands.
Roy Gerson (Piano) has appeared in over a dozen movies including Cotton Club, Crimes and Misdemeanors, The Mirror Has Two Faces and The Associate. His rendition of “If I Had You” appeared in the film Eyes Wide Shut. A band leader as well as jazz pianist, Roy was also involved in the production of the soundtrack for the film. He has three CDs: That Gerson Person, I Love Louis and Gerson Swings Disney, featuring Rosemary Clooney, Michael Feinstein and John Pizzarelli. The Roy Gerson Swingtet has performed at many NYC clubs including the Village Gate, Blue Note, Zanzibar, Irving Plaza, and “Midsummer Night Swing” at Lincoln Center. The New York Daily News wrote, “Nobody Swings Better!” According to Tony Bennett, “Besides being a great musician, he truly enjoys entertaining people.”
Randy Morris (Piano) was born and raised in Los Angeles county, California. He was a small child when Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis were new — and he saved his allowance and bought their records. When he was 10 years old, a visit to Disneyland resulted in his hearing Louis Armstrong and his All Stars live on the Mark Twain steamboat. He's been a Louis fan ever since. He started taking music lessons at age 6, studied violin and accordion, and later took up the piano, banjo and trumpet. He has been a regular working musician/ entertainer/arranger since his last year in high school. Randy became friends with Eubie Blake, who inspired his ragtime piano style. He opened Walt Disney World in 1971 as the Coke Corner ragtime pianist and has played in dozens of different music groups of many kinds all over WDW since. He has also played for special concerts and private events at WDW with visiting artists and jazz musicians. He has played at jazz festivals all over the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti, France, Italy, Holland and Germany. He has played in groups with Urbie Green, Mike Delay, Johnny Guarnieri, Tommy Newsome, Wild Bill Davidson, Henry Cuesta, Eddie Miller, Don Lamond, Jack Sheldon, Bucky Pizzarelli, and many others. Randy has also played with polka bands including Frankie Yankovic; mandolin with symphony orchestras; and with the on-stage country group for the Steve Martin Broadway show Bright Star. Randy's son Ashton creates professional music for video games and his daughter Miranda is a musical theater major who just recorded her first album of original songs.
Greg Nielsen (Recording Engineer) A native of Michigan, Greg received a B.A. in Music Education from the University of Michigan. Greg was very active in the Detroit and metropolitan jazz scene, playing trombone professionally with many name jazz artists. In 1983 Greg moved to Florida and made his living writing and performing music. He continued to share the stage with many famed touring jazz artists and musicians. In 1986 he returned to the education field to instruct young musicians. He recently retired after a career as a music educator in Sarasota, Florida, teaching instrumental music at Booker Middle School. He continues to make his presence known in the jazz field through professional performances, composing, arranging, recording and recently, Argentine tango dancing.
Bob Page (Piano) is one of a rare breed of piano players still going strong today. Influenced by such greats as Fats Waller, Otis Spann, and Professor Longhair, Bob manages to bring his audiences a distinctive style of music that's unmistakably his own. Known for his heavy left hand and versatile style, Bob has played with such accomplished musicians as James Cotton, Muddy Waters, Dave Mason, John Hammond, Maria Muldaur, and Chuck Berry. He has toured extensively in the United States, Europe, and the Caribbean; released six CDs; and been nominated twice for a Grammy Award. In 2012, he wrote a song that was featured in Clint Eastwood’s movie Trouble With the Curve. Born and raised in Maine, Bob is a remarkable self-taught stride piano player who delights audiences with his deep, rich vocals and phenomenal playing. He has emerged as one of the truly fine players of his time. In addition to promoting and preserving traditional piano styles, Bob also possesses a wide repertoire of original music in a variety of musical styles including ragtime, blues, swing, and jazz. Bob moved to Atlanta in the 1980s and became part of The Shadows, the house band for the renowned Blind Willie’s blues club. During this time he played with such blues giants as Nappy Brown, Lazy Lester, Billy Wright, and Chicago Bob Nelson. Currently based in Florida, Bob blends sophistication with a down-home style that leaves listeners shaking their heads in amazement. We dare you to have more fun than Bob himself!
Ken Salvo (Plectrum Banjo) has been performing professionally for over five decades. Born and raised in the Chicago suburbs, He began winning awards as a youngster, when his banjo skills won him first place at the Illinois State Fair's banjo competitions for three consecutive years. He began his professional career at 16 in Chicago in 1964. From then until 1972 he performed regularly at the Red Garter Club in the famous Rush Street area. Over the years, Ken has had the privilege of performing with well-known jazz groups including the Original Dukes of Dixieland, the Village Stompers, Bob Scobey's Frisco Band, Woody Allen's jazz band, Wynton Marsalis and his Jazz at Lincoln Center orchestra, Vince Giordano’s Nighthawks, and numerous other bands and celebrity performers. Ken moved to New Jersey in 1979 and formed the Banjo Ragtimers Dixieland Jazz Band. Called "the undiscovered banjo talent of the New York metropolitan area," he performed at Carnegie Hall as one of the select group of banjoists in the recreation of a James Reese Europe 1912 concert. He also traveled to a theme park in Nagasaki, Japan, where he delighted crowds as he proved that music is indeed the universal language. Ken met Vince Giordano, leader of the NYC-based Nighthawks, more than 35 years ago and played with Vince’s small Dixieland combos over the years before finally becoming a member of the Nighthawks in 2007. He played both banjo and guitar in the band and on soundtracks for the five-year run of the HBO series Boardwalk Empire. He played with The Nighthawks until 2017 and is now an independent musician based in Venice, Florida.
Randy Sandke (Creator and leader of Lil & Louis Jazz Band, arranger, composer; trumpet & cornet) has toured Europe over forty times; performed extensively throughout Japan, the U.S., Canada, and India; and recorded over twenty albums as a leader. He has recorded with instrumentalists including Michael Brecker, Benny Goodman, Kenny Barron, Dick Hyman, Bill Charlap, and numerous other jazz luminaries. He’s also worked with many singers including Mel Torme, Rosemary Clooney, Cab Calloway, John Pizzarelli, Gregory Hines, Art Garfunkel, Dr. John, Diane Reeves, Sting, Elton John, Billy Joel, Bette Midler, James Taylor, Chaka Khan, and more. Randy has played on the soundtracks of several films, including Francis Ford Coppola’s The Cotton Club, Neil Simon’s Brighton Beach Memoirs, American Splendor, and five Woody Allen movies. On Broadway, Randy played in the production of Chicago with Beebe Neuwirth at the City Center. He also played the on-stage Harry James trumpet solo which climaxes the show Fosse. Randy recorded all trumpet solos for the recent production of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom starring Whoopee Goldberg. He has performed on television in Japan, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, and Italy; in the U.S. with Benny Goodman for a PBS special, and on the Late Show with David Letterman.
Howard Smith (Tuba) has played for USO tours, the Mike Douglas and Tonight Shows, a guest spot with the Boston Pops, and concerts with Leon Redbone. This musician/vocalist leads jazz, contemporary and big bands. He has also played with four Disney groups nationally and was featured in The Holiday Brass for Christmas at SeaWorld. He plays with several groups in Pinellas and Southwest Florida and has a regular gig at the Coliseum. Howie is the original bass and sousaphone player in the “Florida Boyz.”