Vinnie Martucci – keys
Mark Dziuba – guitar
Rich Syracuse – bass
Jeff Siegel – drums
SUNY music professors come together on this special night to perform original works, jazz, world music and other musical gems.
Vinnie Martucci has had an exciting and diverse career as a performer, composer, arranger, producer, and educator. He has toured extensively on the international stage as co-leader of the Jazz Fusion Quartet “The Dolphins” with Dan Brubeck, as arranger, accompanist for Laurel Masse (Manhattan Transfer), arranger and performer for Blues artist Rory Block. He has recorded and toured with Graham Parker, Livingston Taylor, and others. He co-composed the off-broadway play “Clue, The Musical” as well as numerous cable network TV themes for Lifetime, the Travel Channel, CNN and underscores for daytime TV dramas “As the World Turns”, Guiding Light”. As a producer and recording engineer, he has worked with composer Baikida Carroll on recordings and productions for several theatrical and television projects, most notably the Tony award winning play “Having Our Say”. He has also given clinics in Jazz and improvisation in Europe, South America, as well as the Central Conservatory in Beijing, China. Currently, Vinnie is the chair of the music department at SUNY, New Paltz, where he also teaches jazz studies and recording technology courses.
Mark Dziuba has been a guitarist, improviser and composer for most of his life. He has performed with a who’s who of Jazz, Blues, Rock and Bluegrass musicians and has performed and taught at workshops and festivals internationally for over 40 years.
Mark is a tenured professor of music at the State University of New York at New Paltz where he directs the Jazz Studies program. He was a part of the internationally acclaimed National Guitar Workshop for 25 years and has been a part of the Crown of the Continent International Guitar Festival since its birth.
Mark is a published author and a featured soloist and composer on numerous recordings. He continues to explore the world of improvised live and virtual music and can be found performing often in the area and abroad. (dziubam@newpaltz.edu)
RICH SYRACUSE STRING BASSIST, ELECTRIC BASSIST, COMPOSER Rich Syracuse has been a mainstay on the New York area scene for more than three decades. While performing at an early age in New York City he was the winner of the prestigious Congress Of Strings Award. He went on to receive a Bachelor of Music degree from Manhattan School of Music in New York City. Rich performed with The Group For Contemporary Music under the Conductor Charles Wournin and Harvey Solberger, The Hartford Ballet and the New Jersey Lyric Opera Co. During the early part of his career he performed in Jazz groups featuring pianists John Mehegan, Joey Calderazzo and Ted Rosenthal. After moving to New York State’s Hudson Valley in the mid 1980’s he began a long-standing stint in the Nick Brignola Quartet playing clubs, festivals, and recording sessions. Besides his years with Brignola, he has performed with Mose Allison, Kurt Elling, Dave Liebman, Brubeck Brothers, Warren Bernhardt, SumiTonoka, David Torn, Mike DeMicco, Peter Levin, Sam Morrison, Bernard Purdy, Vic Juris, Dave Stryker, Chuck Lamb, Jeff “Siege” Siegel, Dena DeRose, John Medeski, Michael Musilliami and Ali Demogli, Rich had been the bassist for Jazz pianist Lee Shaw for over 25 years until her passing.
Drummer/Composer Jeff “Siege” Siegel is a veteran of the New York Jazz scene and has worked with a virtual “who’s who” of artists. A member of the Sir Roland Hanna Trio from 1994-’99, Siegel’s diverse career has also led him to perform and/or record with legends such as Ron Carter, Kenny Burrell, Jack DeJohnette, Benny Golson, Sheila Jordan, Helen Merrill, Mose Allison, John Medeski, Arthur Rhames, Dave Douglas, Stefon Harris, Pat Metheny, Kurt Elling, Ravi Coltrane, Ryan Kisor, Lee Shaw, Levin Brothers, John Medeski, Dena DeRose, Lee Shaw and many others. He has worked in the avant garde world as well with Wadada Leo Smith, Baikida Carroll. He’s performed over 30 European tours including four as leader of the Jeff “Siege” Siegel Quartet and several others as co-leader. The Jeff “Siege” Siegel Sextet performed a 3 week tour of Africa in the summer of 2019. Other recent tours include The Levin Brothers Japan, Mexico, Canada and the US west coast and Midwest as well as South & Central America. His 2017 CD release “King of Xhosa” features South African trumpeter Feya Faku and is on the ARC label. His most recent release with his quartet is the 2018 release on ARC entitled “London Live” and “When You Were There” (2019) with Hetko, Syracuse & Siegel.
