Lydia's Cafe

Nico Soffiato Trio
2023-11-04 19:00 - 22:00 (America/New_York)
Nico Soffiato -guitar
Martin Keith-bass
Dean Sharp-drums

Nico Soffiato Trio presents a mix of originals, jazz standards, tunes by contemporary jazz composers and some other tunes by artists (Hendrix, Bjork, Gillian Welch and more). Nico is joined by Martin Keith on bass and Dean Sharp on drums (who played with Moby, Brad Meldhau, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Joe Lovano, to mention a few).

Nico Soffiato, Italian guitarist, composer and educator, currently lives in Brooklyn, NY. After receiving his Master’s degree in philosophy with a thesis on the ontology of music, he moved to Boston. There he attended Berklee College of Music, thanks to a Best Entering Talent Students scholarship, and graduated magna cum laude. At Berklee he studied performance and composition with David Tronzo, Jon Damian, Hal Crook, Ed Tomassi and Jeff Galindo to mention a few. Nico was also selected to be part of an all-guitar ensemble whose members included notable alumni like Bill Frisell, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Mike Stern and Wolfgang Muthspiel.
In New York, aside from being the front man of OST Quartet, he leads the improvised music group Paradigm Refrain. The group has a diverse cast and guests have included: David Tronzo, Darius Jones, Jesse Stacken, Jason Nazary, Nate Wooley, Sunny Kim, Marco Cappelli, Zeno de Rossi, Fraser Campbell, Marco Buccelli, Noah Kaplan, and many others.

The Professors
2023-10-28 19:00 - 22:00
Vinnie Martucci – keys
Mark Dzubia – guitar
Rich Syracuse – bass
Jeff Siegel – drums
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.

Chad McLoughlin Trio
2023-10-21 19:00 - 22:00
Chad McLoughlin – guitar
Mark Venuto – bass
Peter O’Brien – drums

CHAD McLOUGHLIN
Chad McLoughlin is originally from upstate New York and has been living in New York City since 2000. He is an accomplished, versatile and innovative performing artist and composer.
Chad has studied music since the age of 11 and has been performing professionally since he was 15. His creative approach and virtuosic technique have impressed audiences throughout his career. He is credited with performing with a wide range of artists including David Kikoski, Bob Francesini, Mike Stern, Joel Rosenblatt, Carlo DeRosa, Richie Cannata, Chrissy Poland, Little Anthony, David Sancious, Manolo Badrena, David Torn, Ricky Neson, Bo Diddley and many others.
From 2007 to 2009, he formed a trio with Dave Anderson on bass and Thierry Arpino on drums and performed around the metro area. In 2009, he joined Gregg Bendian’s Mahavishnu Project which played the music of John McLaughlin’s original Mahavishnu Orchestra in clubs around the metro area as well as in Boston, Providence and Baltimore. Other interactions include the Darren Lyons group, which performed Chad’s original music at such venues as The Blue Note, Shapeshifter Lounge and Mexicali Blue to name a few. Recently he has performed with renowned bassist Jeff Andrews.
In late 2016 Chad released “Electron Flex” a trio CD of original fusion with Dave Anderson and Thierry Arpino.

PETER O’BRIEN
In 1982, Peter toured the USA with organist Brother Jack McDuff and, from 1984-1985, performed all over the USA and Canada with the Edgar Winter Band. The band featured the legendary singer Jerry LaCroix (the original lead singer for White Trash) and performed the jazz-inflected fusion material from Edgar’s first ground-breaking record “Entrance,” as well as his rock and blues music. During this time, Peter also performed several dates with Roy Buchanan, including a sold-out show at the Beacon Theatre with Johnny Winter, Buddy Guy, and Junior Wells. From 1986-1987, he toured Europe with Mark McMillan. Peter moved to Woodstock, NY in early 1988 and became a member of John Hall’s band Orleans. The notoriety created by their hits, “Still The One,”” Dance With Me” created a big demand for Peter on the pop music scene. Peter appeared on seven CD’s (four with Orleans, three with John Hall), did three tours of Japan (two with Orleans, one with Hall), and numerous USA tours and dates (including Woodstock ‘94). He was the subject of a feature article published in Modern Drummer’s Rhythm and News (Japan). Peter toured with Orleans until 2004. Peter joined saxophonist Eric Person’s Meta-Four in 2001. On Peter’s first gig, the quartet recorded Live at Big Sur (Distinction Records) at the 7th Annual Big Sur Jazz Festival to a sell-out crowd. In addition to his busy performance schedule, O’Brien is an Adjunct Faculty member at Bard College, NY and freelances as a studio session player.

Eric DiVito Trio
2023-10-14 19:00 - 22:00
Eric DiVito – guitar
Bob Gingery – bass
Nadav Snir-Zelniker – drums
New York guitarist and composer Eric DiVito has been leading his own groups and performing as a sideman in the greater NY area since 2003. He has performed at many of NYC’s top jazz clubs, live music venues and festivals including Smalls, The Iridium, The Kitano, The Garage, The 55 Bar, Swing 46, 1803, The Flatiron Room, Tomi Jazz, Maureen’s Jazz Cellar, Daryl’s House and more. In Canada he has appeared at The Rex, The Jazz Room, GigSpace and more. He also appears at many music and arts festivals including The Uptown Waterloo Jazz Festival, The AirTrain Jazz Festival, The Garner Arts Festival, The Bayside Food and Music Festival and more. Eric has also performed and recorded with some of NYC’s greatest Jazz musicians and has worked in orchestras and jazz groups for Carnival Cruise lines and The Bateaux NY. Eric is also the guitarist and arranger for BarChords, an acoustic duo formed in 2021.

ERIC DiVITO
Eric is an Eastman guitar artist and has been published several times in Downbeat Magazine, as well as RAE Magazine, and Play Jazz Guitar.
Originally from the San Francisco bay area, Gingery began playing the saxophone at age 10 but the sounds of James Jamerson, Rocco Prestia, and Jaco Pastorius inspired him to pick up the bass guitar. He was soon gigging with local rock bands and playing in his high school’s jazz band. At age 18, he began studying the upright bass. Since his arrival to New York in 1999, he has been performing with some of the city’s top musicians including Eliot Zigmund, Joe Beck, Buddy Williams, Allan Harris, Ron Affif, Brad Shepik and Lou Volpe. He has played the Blue Note, Birdland, the Hartford International Jazz Festival, Joe’s Pub and the Knitting Factory. Maintaining a busy schedule as both a sideman and band leader, he is at home with many styles of music and has performed and recorded with jazz, rock, pop, R&B and Latin artists, musicals and symphony orchestras.
BOB GINGERY
Originally from the San Francisco bay area, Gingery began playing the saxophone at age 10 but the sounds of James Jamerson, Rocco Prestia, and Jaco Pastorius inspired him to pick up the bass guitar. He was soon gigging with local rock bands and playing in his high school’s jazz band. At age 18, he began studying the upright bass. Since his arrival to New York in 1999, he has been performing with some of the city’s top musicians including Eliot Zigmund, Joe Beck, Buddy Williams, Allan Harris, Ron Affif, Brad Shepik and Lou Volpe. He has played the Blue Note, Birdland, the Hartford International Jazz Festival, Joe’s Pub and the Knitting Factory.
NADAV SNIR-ZELNIKER
Born in Israel in 1974, Nadav started playing drums at the age of 16. Soon he became involved with the local Israeli music scene, playing and recording with different Rock & Jazz artists. Throughout these years Nadav has absorbed elements and flavors of the local Mediterranean-music traditions. In 1999, after receiving several honorary scholarships, Nadav was able to move to the US and got his BFA degree in music-performance from the Conservatory of Music at SUNY-Purchase College. Soon after his arrival in New York, Nadav became highly involved with the local music scene. His versatility enabled him to perform & record with artists from different genres. Amongst the many artists Nadav has worked with are: Jon Faddis, Stella Mars, Arthur Lipner, Adam Rogers, Gene Perla, Ted Rosenthal, James Camack, Francois Moutin, Cameron Brown, Heather Cornell & Manhattan Tap, The Doug Ferony Show Band, Sal Scott & Gene Benson’s Big-Band, Dekel Bor Trio, MacTalla Mo’r, The Burr Johnson Band, Neil Alexander & NAIL, Herb Deutsch, Brian Dolzani, Debbie Friedman and Shirona. Nadav has also collaborated with a few modern dance companies, such as David Prasons Dance, Limon and Nelly van Bommel’s NoaDance.

Neal Kirkwood Trio
2023-10-07 19:00 - 22:00
Neal Kirkwood – piano/composer
Ron Horton – trumpet/flugelhorn
Tim Harrison – flute
Blue Inventions is the latest release by jazz pianist and composer Neal Kirkwood. All of the music on this recording is composed by Mr. Kirkwood.
On this album Neal Kirkwood is joined by Tim Harrison on flute and Ron Horton on flugelhorn, both master improvisors and sensitive interpreters of Kirkwood’s music. Arranged for trio, duo and solo piano, the music on this album explores the sonorities of these particular three instruments. Throughout, Kirkwood and his colleagues explore a path from tradition to innovation.
Neal Kirkwood, composer, pianist, writes music for jazz and contemporary classical ensembles. He has composed for jazz big band, classical ensembles, vocal ensembles, solo piano and full orchestra. He has received commissions from the New York State Music Fund; the New York State Council for the Arts; the Children’s Aid Society; the Jazz Composer’s Alliance and Belgian ensemble Octurn.
NEAL KIRKWOOD
Kirkwood has performed and recorded with jazz artists Pony Poindexter, Bobby Previte, Lindsey Horner, Phillip Johnston, and Mike Clark and others. He has toured internationally with vocalists Bobby McFerrin, Abby Lincoln, Michel Hermon, and Chris Connor. He works extensively composing for, and performing with, New York’s creative and experimental theater ensembles
Born and raised in California, Neal Kirkwood began piano lessons at age of 8. He attended North Texas State University and California State University Hayward briefly before settling in San Francisco in 1976 to begin his career as a jazz pianist and composer. Moving to New York City in 1981, he earned a master’s degree in composition from Mannes College of Music. As a band leader, Neal Kirkwood has recorded six CDs
An experienced and dedicated educator, he is currently on the faculties of the Third Street Music School in New York City and Kutztown University in Pennsylvania, and teaches piano, composition and arranging privately. He has presented masterclasses at the Manhattan School of Music and Musikhochschule, Luzern, and was awarded the National Dance Institute Teacher of the Year award in 2007 for his work with public school students in New York City.
TIM HARRISON
A native of Nottingham, England, Tim studied classical flute at the Royal College of Music in London, where he worked as a professional musician for eight years. At the age of 26 he changed instruments, started learning jazz piano, and a year later won a scholarship to the University of North Texas. After receiving his master’s degree Harrison co-led the Unified Jazz Ensemble, a quintet that for four years lived, performed, and taught in small towns in Iowa and Arkansas for the National Endowment for the Arts.
Harrison moved to New York in 1996, where he performs, composes and teaches. In 2004 his orchestral composition Prelude and Dirge was commissioned and premiered by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. Harrison is a member of two jazz trios that released CDs in 2018: he plays flutes on Neal Kirkwood’s “Blue Inventions”, and piano on the Mark WadeTrio’s CD, “Moving Day”.

RON HORTON
Since 1982, trumpeter Ron Horton has been an integral part of New York’s flourishing jazz scene and he stands out both as an exemplary instrumentalist and as a highly progressive composer and arranger. Whether called upon as a sideman or as a leader of one of his own ensembles, he shows that he is committed to further expanding the existing perimeters of jazz.
Horton has had many long musical associations with leaders such as saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom (1983-2000) and pianist Andrew Hill. He was a member of Hill’s sextet from 1998 until 2003, and appears on the group’s critically acclaimed cd, Dusk (Palmetto 2000). He was also musical director and co-arranger for Hill’s big band, and is featured on the cd, A Beautiful Day (Palmetto 2002).
Ron Horton was born in 1960 in Bethesda, Maryland, and has been frequently called on as a sideman to perform and/or record with such artists as Lee Konitz, Will Holshouser, Rez Abbasi, Phillip Johnston, Andy Laster, Mick Rossi, Matt Wilson, Bill Gerhardt, Bill Mays, Peggy Stern, Allan Chase, Andy Biskin, Ted Nash, Jon Gordon, John McKenna, Walter Thompson, Diana Perez, Billy Newman, Mario Pavone, Tina Marsh, Maryanne DeProphetis, Landon Knoblock, Sam Bardfeld, Maria Guida, Abigail Riccards, Angie Sanchez, Kris Davis, Darcy James Argue and many others.

Jimmy Madison & Friends
2023-09-30 19:00 - 22:00
Jimmy Madison – drums
Tim Regusis – piano
Jay Anderson – bass
Drummer Jimmy Madison has performed with the greats of Jazz and Funk for over six decades, from Lionel Hampton, Roland Kirk, Chet Baker and Quincy Jones to James Brown, Maceo Parker and George Benson, among many others. But this trio format allows he and his compatriots to do what they do best, improvising on themes both familiar and new. It’s pure Jazz at its best.
Tim Regusis is a Hudson Valley-based pianist who has been active in the jazz scene of the NYC region, as well as in the fields of R&B, Latin and various world musics for many years.
He has played and/or recorded with Patti Austin, Ruben Blades, David Byrne, Celia Cruz, Chuck Mangione, Johnny Pacheco, Daniel Ponce, Rick Margitza, Cindy Blackman, Jeff Williams, Akira Ohmori, Najee, Donna Summer, Chaka Khan, Jonathan Butler, Ofra Haza and others.
Bassist/composer Jay Anderson is among the most versatile and respected jazz artists performing today. He has performed and recorded with some of the most important names in jazz. Anderson has been a regular member in the bands of Woody Herman Orchestra, Carmen McRae, Red Rodney & Ira Sullivan, Michael Brecker, Toots Thielemans, Maria Schneider, Vic Juris, Bob Mintzer, Michael Franks, Eliane Elias, Bennie Wallace, Lew Tabackin, Steve Khan, Lynne Arriale, Stanley Cowell, and was with Joe Sample from 1992 to 2006.
He has been featured on over 400 recordings, including work with Paul Bley, Randy Brecker, Bob Berg, Mike Stern, Jim McNeely, John Scofield, Seamus Blake, Oz Noy, Adam Nussbaum, John Abercrombie, Donald Byrd, Clark Terry, Bob Brookmeyer, Phil Woods, Terumasa Hino, Joe Lovano, Dave Liebman, and on and on.

A Satire Comedy Show
2023-09-23 19:00 - 22:00
7 – 8pm – Open Mic
8:15 – Show
Hosted by Andy McDermott
with: Pat Downey, Monte Mason, Ryan Patrick, Gilbert Hernandez

Pablo Shine Latin Jazz
2023-09-16 19:00 - 22:00
Rick Altman on Vibes
John Drechsler on Upright Bass
Pablo Shine on Congas & Percussion
Doug Correllus on the Keyboard

Pablo Shine was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico and learned to play congas there in his early teens. He is an artist, musician, and retired
art professor of 34 years. Over the years, he has played with local bands including Passero, The Latin Jazz Express , and Nu Bossa.
A few years ago he formed Pablo Shine Latin Jazz Band , based out of Kingston, NY. They play Latin Jazz standards as well as originals.
Pablo has a particular interest in Folkloric Afro-Caribbean percussion.

Rick Altman, a vibraphone, marimba player and composer hails from LA where he studied with jazz legend Terry Gibbs and became a regular member of TV shows and recording sessions. Then he moved to NYC in 1979 playing the jazz scene. He has been living in the Catskills since 1991, writing and performing with many area musicians. In recent years he has become a member of the Pablo Shine Latin Jazz Band where he continues to study and perform Latin Jazz from the masters with an emphasis on music that inspires dancing as well critical listening.
John Drechsler, Bass:
Playing upright bass since 2011, John created and led the weekly “cafeteria” Sunday jazz workshop concert series in New Paltz NY for six years. John has had the opportunity to perform regularly at numerous venues throughout the Hudson valley as a member of various bands. In addition to playing with the Pablo shine Latin Jazz Band, for the past year John performed American songbook standards in duo format with vocalist Megan Henry. He also currently performs with the CMS Improvisers Orchestra.
Doug Correllus, pianist, has been composing, performing and arranging music in the Hudson Valley for over 20 years. A graduate of Manhattanville College and winner of the Arlene Kaplan music prize, he studied Jazz under the tutelage of Jazz master Charles Blenzig and Classical Piano with the late Dr. Francis Brancaleone. In addition to performing Latin Jazz with the Pablo Shine Band, he is also a member of the Rhythm Rising Quartet. He has been a public school music educator in the Ossining school district for over 30 years. There, he arranges Jazz standards for an elementary Jazz Ensemble and teaches the art of improvisation to even the very youngest of students.

Joel Harrison Quartet featuring Don Byron
2023-09-09 19:00 - 22:00
Joel Harrison – guitar
Don Byron – woodwinds
Gary Versace – keyboard
Jeff Siegel – drums
Guitarist, composer, arranger, lyricist, writer, educator, and vocalist Joel Harrison has “created a new blueprint for jazz” (New Orleans Times-Picayune). Harrison is a two-time winner of the Jazz Composers Alliance Composition Competition and has appeared repeatedly on DownBeat Magazine’s “Rising Star” poll.
His twenty-two releases as a leader showcase his prowess as a shapeshifting composer whose music may be founded on jazz but veers into classical, rock, country, and all manner of American roots music. Succinctly described by the New York Times as “protean… brilliant.”
For well over a decade, Don Byron has been a singular voice in an astounding range of musical contexts, exploring widely divergent traditions while continually striving for what he calls “a sound above genre.” As clarinetist, saxophonist, composer, arranger, and social critic, he redefines every genre of music he plays, be it classical, salsa, hip-hop, funk, rhythm & blues, klezmer, or any jazz style from swing and bop to cutting-edge downtown improvisation. He has been consistently voted best clarinetist by critics and readers alike in leading international music journals since being named “Jazz Artist of the Year” by Down Beat in 1992. Acclaimed as much for his restless creativity as for his unsurpassed virtuosity as a player, Byron has presented a multitude of projects at major music festivals around the world.
Keyboardist Gary Versace was able to rise to the top of the contemporary jazz scene in scant few years, yet the journey to prominence was hard fought and deservedly won
Since moving to New York City in 2002. In the ensuing years, Versace has become one of the most prominent, in-demand organ players in contemporary jazz, working with the Grammy-award winning big band of Maria Schneider, and the Nuttree Quartet with Jerry Bergonzi. The small ensembles he has worked with include fellow keyboardists Andy LaVerne and Frank Kimbrough, as well as John Scofield, John Abercrombie, Adam Nussbaum, Eliot Zigmund, Lee Konitz, Dick Oatts, Seamus Blake, John Hollenbeck, Tim Ries, Donny McCaslin, Rich Perry, Jonathan Kreisberg, Adam Rogers, Tom Guarna, John Ellis, Scott Wendholt, Steve LaSpina, Loren Stillman, Jason Marsalis, Joey Baron, Tom Rainey, Tony Reedus, Clarence Penn, Danny Gottlieb, Matt Perrine, Drew Gress, Brad Shepik, Peter Bernstein, Ingrid Jensen, and Joe Magnarelli.Versace earned three consecutive placings as a Rising Star in the Down Beat Magazine Critics Poll from 2006-2008.
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.

Pete McCann Quartet
2023-09-02 19:00 - 22:00
Pete McCann – guitar
Ben Kono – sax
Matt Pavolka – bass
Tim Horner – drums

An Eau Claire, Wisconsin native, jazz guitarist Pete McCann has been an integral part of the New York City jazz scene for over 30 years. His new recording, Without Question, (his seventh as a leader) will be released in the Spring of 2023. A sought-after sideman from duos to big bands, with a unique and wide-ranging set of musical skills, McCann has played guitar on over 100 CDs. Pete has performed in every type of venue from jazz clubs to jazz festivals, schools to concert halls and even Carnegie Hall. He has traveled to 20 countries and has played in almost every state in the USA.
McCann has performed and/or recorded with Kenny Wheeler, Dave Liebman, Lee Konitz, The Manhattan Transfer, Patti Austin, Brian Blade, Bobby Previte, Grace Kelly, the Mahavishnu Project and the Maria Schneider Orchestra. He currently works in groups lead by Kendra Shank, Paul Jost, Joe Fiedler, Spin Cycle, Melissa Stylianou, Ben Kono, Brian Woodruff and orchestras led by Migiwa Miyajima, Sam Blakeslee, Dan Pugach and Christopher Zuar. As a commercial recording artist, he has worked on projects for CNN, BBC, Sesame Street and IBM.
Without Question features Steve Wilson, Henry Hey, Matt Pavolka and Mark Ferber. His earlier CDs have featured John O’Gallagher, Matt Clohesy, Mike Holober, John Hebert, Peter Epstein, Mike Sarin, Tim Lefebvre and Matt Wilson. His solo recordings have received rave reviews:
Pay For It On The Other Side (2018): “Guitarist Pete McCann has been heralded as a convincing voice of the contemporary jazz guitar world, showing skills to combine hard rock, blues and post-bop in a legitimate manner…” — Jazz Trail
Range (2015): “McCann has such command of his instrument that he can go deep in any setting…” — DownBeat
Extra Mile (2009): “[T]he Eau Claire, Wisconsin native continues to make strong personal statements with his sophisticated harmonic sensibility, blistering chops and improvisational daring.” — Guitar Player
Most Folks (2006): “This and virtually every tune offered during the performance revealed McCann to be a song writer of considerable gifts.” — Portland Herald Press
You Remind Me of Someone (2000): “Along with fine playing and breadth, McCann has an underlying artistry….” — Jazz Times
Parable (1998): “McCann is a multitasking dynamo as he switch hits between blazing guitar pyrotechnics and clear-toned, fleet fingered jazz soloing.” — www.allaboutjazz.com
McCann received his Bachelor of Music degree from the University of North Texas and has taught at New York University, The New School, City College and the Maine Jazz Camp. He has written articles for Guitar Player and DownBeat magazines and was featured in the NYC Jazz Guitar Summit for the True Fire video series. Pete is endorsed by D’Addario and Planet Waves.

Mazzella/Leibowitz/Goetz
2023-08-26 19:00 - 22:00
Emily Mazzella – vocals
Lonnie Leibowitz – keys
Mike Goetz – bass
Emily Mazzella is a 21 year old, up and coming jazz singer on the scene. Her story with jazz is one that grows deeper in passion every day. She began music at a very young age; participating in various shows, musicals, and choirs- her first profound musical performance being through an honor choir which was showcased in the renown Carnegie Hall.
Emily’s love for music had only blossomed from that point on, where she then began to hone her craft in a serious fashion. Coming from R & B, Pop, and all various roots: Emily began to study voice with Jazz Pianist, Composer, and Vocal Coach Lonnie Leibowitz, around the later months of her junior year of high school, leading to her first professional gig as the featured singer, with Lonnie’s trio at the Putnam County 4H Fair that summer. Getting deeper into jazz, opening her heart space, she became aware to all its cosmic properties. She continued to dive deep into the artistry throughout high school. Committing to “note to note feeling” (absorbed through the Masters), whether a melody or scat, Emily always delivers a “pure soul expression, with intensity, as she communicates to her audience”- Lonnie Leibowitz. She has shared her unique message performing at various gigs, most notably in her recent performance with the Birdland Big Band at Birdland Jazz Club in Manhattan, and other NYC clubs. She has also shared the stage alongside Josh Groban during his Harmony Tour Performance at the Jones Beach Theater. Emily continues to work many local gig circuits, now expanding outward to the nation via radio air-play, interviews, blogs, and most importantly live performance.
Fall of 2020, brought her first professional release, an E.P. entitled “Freedom of the Note”. The E.P. was a powerful, transformational, and profound moment in Emily’s career in terms of communicating songs of the Great American Songbook in original, soulful ways. Two years later, in 2022, (at Scott Petito’s NRS Recording) and now being released in 2023, Emily is overflowing with gratitude to release her first full length recording, entitled “Awakening” (Solar Dream Records). Produced by Lonnie Leibowitz, who plays piano and guitar on the record, it also features the musical mastery of Michael Goetz on bass, Jason Anderson on drums, and Kazi Oliver on percussion. The inspired album appreciates, elevates, and communicates pure soul expression of the jazz language, (and its inherent spiritual totems). “Awakening”, and her live performances, have been capturing the ears and hearts of writers, critics, musicians, alike. Some moving words about the album are from that of the icon known as Jazz Vocalist Sheila Jordan… “Emily is a beautiful singer. It’s a joy to know that we have beautiful, young, and talented singers keeping’ this incredible music alive…”- Sheila Jordan, Jazz Vocalist

Sonny & Perley
2023-08-19 19:00 - 22:00
Perley Rousseau – vocals
Sonny Daye – Piano
Lou Pappas – bass
The exciting duo of Sonny and Perley achieves a rare musical symbiosis. This husband and wife team has spent the last 30 years developing and perfecting their unique blend of Jazz, Great American Songbook, Bossa Nova, and International Cabaret into what has become their musical signature. The Magazine All About Jazz says “They brightly meld lyricism, passion, and rhythm in a way that is both rich and exotic”. They have appeared in concerts, festivals, cabaret shows and private events from New York to Florida and in Europe. In 2013 Sonny and Perley had the distinct honor of presenting a prelude concert for legendary Broadway composer Stephen Sondheim.
Their four CD releases have generated international airplay. It is in their live performances however, that they captivate audiences with their warmth, spontaneity, musical honesty and broad repertoire.

Chris Pasin/Jeff Ciampa Quartet
2023-08-12 19:00 - 22:00
Chris Pasin – trumpet
Jeff Ciampa – guitar
Clayton Thompson-bass

Dave Berger-drums

Chris Pasin, a graduate of the New England Conservatory, spent two years playing with the Buddy Rich band in the early 80’s, touring with Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Mel Torme, Sarah Vaughn, Ella Fitzgerald, Nancy Wilson, and many others. Then he relocated to New York City. Much of the next decade was spent playing jazz with various groups, including the Toshiko Akiyoshi/Lew Tabackin big band. There was also work with Jack McDuff, many Salsa bands like Johnny Rodriguez and Brazilian bands like Amazon, and various other jazz ensembles, including the Lee Shaw quintet in recent years.
He’s performed at Carnegie Hall, the Apollo Theater, the Royal Albert Hall, the Village Vanguard, Ronnie Scott’s, and the Blue Note, among others, and toured Europe and Asia many times.
Contemporary Jazz Guitarist Jeff Ciampa has recorded and toured with some of the most demanding practitioners, including Harry Belafonte, Jon Lucien, Dave Matthews, Mark Egan, Bill Evans, Al MacDowell, Ornette Coleman, Lew Solof, Pete Levin, Tony Levin, Lenny White, to name a few. His fluid melodic style, steeped in the jazz tradition, continues to inspire fellow musicians and listeners worldwide.
Jeff has recorded two critically acclaimed recordings on Mark Egan’s Wavetone label, Signs of Life and House of Mirror featuring Mark Egan and Danny Gottlieb. Subsequently, the popular trio was booked into major jazz festivals, including the JVC in New York City, the Newport Jazz Festival
in Rhode Island, the St. Lucia Jazz Festival, and the St. Kitt’s Jazz Festival.

The Saints of Swing featuring Miss Rene Bailey
2023-08-05 19:00 - 22:00
The Saints of Swing Featuring Miss Rene Bailey
An extraordinary collection of musicians providing an ultimate experience in art and entertainment, the SAINTS OF SWING present an eclectic selection of foot-tappin’ Swing favorites, down-home New Orleans Dixieland Jazz, Motown/R&B, Ballroom, Latin, and even Gospel and Klezmer gems guaranteed to get your guests partying and lit up!… with a smile. This is a celebration of American music from its roots, with modern influences.
Not only will the SAINTS OF SWING regale you with terrific dance music…they will also put on a fun-filled show featuring
Peter Tomlinson, piano;
David Winograd, bass/tuba;
Larry Balestra, drums;
Dale DeMarco, saxes/clarinet/vocals;
Barry Bryson, trumpet/vocals;
Ken Foy, trombone/vocals;
and the phenomenal MISS RENE BAILEY on vocals.

Rene Bailey uses her vocal clarity to sell the blues with true feeling. Combining gospel, jazz, and rhythm/blues, she has performed with such greats as Louis Armstrong, B.B. King, Aretha Franklin, Dave Brubeck, Ruth Brown, Paul Anka, and many more…
Rene Bailey started singing gospel as a young girl in her Georgia church. Moving north to Connecticut, she hit the New York City scene where she sang blues and jazz. The transition from gospel to nightclub work came naturally, and Rene became the featured vocalist at the Peg Leg Bates Country Club for over 20 years.
In church it’s called “shouting” – the gospel dance. “They get up and shout and shout and shout.” In a nightclub when Rene Bailey sings and “it” hits, you holler, “Yes, indeed!”

Amy London/Ron Horton Quartet
2023-07-29 19:00 - 22:00
Amy London – vocals
Ron Horton – trumpet/flugelhorn
Tim Regusis – piano
Lew Scott – bass
Amy London is known and loved in New York City jazz and Broadway circles for her
effortless sound, impeccable musicianship and depth of emotion. Her two critically
acclaimed Motema CD’s as a leader, ‘Let’s Fly’ and ‘When I Look In Your Eyes’
feature some of the world’s top jazz musicians, and have led her to engagements in
Russia, Italy, Turkey, France, Brazil, England, Belgium, Czechoslovakia and Canada,
as well as cities across the US. London’s fully seasoned career also includes three
years in the 6 Tony award winning Broadway hit ‘City of Angels’ (singing on its
Grammy nominated original cast album), and City Center’s production of ‘Promises
Promises’ starring Martin Short, plus tours with Charles Aznavour, Larry Elgart and
Tom Browne. Ms London has enjoyed more than 25 years of performing at New
York’s top rooms, such as Dizzy’s, The Rainbow Room, Lincoln Center, Birdland,
Blue Note, The Kitano, BB King’s, Cornelia Street Cafe, North Square Lounge and
many others.
In addition to her crowning achievement as the lead singer in the Angel City Four in
City of Angels, Ms. London has enjoyed a lengthy vocal group career. She began her
choral jazz career as the middle voice in the Jazz Babies vocal trio, as Alto I in Vocal
Jazz Inc., a vocal quintet that entertained children in the NYC public school system
and as Soprano II in the renowned Trinity Church Choir.
Ms. London was invited to be the fifth voice with the Grammy winning New York
Voices on Robert Lepley’s ‘Ancient Tower’ CD. She was also invited by Jim Snidero to
be the vocalist on his ‘Jazz Conceptions’ singalong CD/book of 21 jazz etudes which
has been used by jazz vocal students worldwide for 15 years, and she is the vocalist,
along with Ella Fitzgerald, on the Scholastic animated DVD ‘Ella Fitzgerald: The Tale
of a Vocal Virtuosa’. She originated the role of ‘Yetta’ in the 2009 world premier of
‘Meester Amerika’, a new musical based on Yiddish Theatre, which won the New
Jersey Star Ledger 2009 ‘Tony’ award for Best Score. She has appeared regularly as
‘Mary’ and quartet soprano in Anne Phillips and Bob Kindred’s Christmas jazz
celebration, ‘A Jazz Nativity’, sharing the stage with such luminaries as Jon
Hendricks, Tito Puente, Lionel Hampton and Wycliffe Gordon, and she recently
recorded with vocal jazz legends Mark Murphy and Annie Ross.
Ron Horton has perform and/or record with such artists as Lee Konitz, Will Holshouser, Neil Kirkwood, Rez Abbasi, Phillip Johnston, Andy Laster, Mick Rossi, Matt Wilson, Bill Gerhardt, Bill Mays, Peggy Stern, Allan Chase, Andy Biskin, Ted Nash, Jon Gordon, John McKenna, Walter Thompson, Diana Perez, Billy Newman, Mario Pavone, Tina Marsh, Maryanne DeProphetis, Landon Knoblock, Sam Bardfeld, Maria Guida, Abigail Riccards, Angie Sanchez, Kris Davis, Darcy James Argue.
Tim Regusis is a Hudson Valley-based pianist who has been active in the jazz scene of the NYC region, as well as in the fields of R&B, Latin and various world musics for many years.
He has played and/or recorded with Patti Austin, Ruben Blades, David Byrne, Celia Cruz, Chuck Mangione, Johnny Pacheco, Daniel Ponce, Rick Margitza, Cindy Blackman, Jeff Williams, Akira Ohmori, Najee, Donna Summer, Chaka Khan, Jonathan Butler, Ofra Haza and others.
Lew Scott, bassist, has been performing in the New York area and throughout the country for many years. He has performed with many notable musicians, including Clark Terry, Conti Condoli, Frank Rosolino, Joe Lavano, Herb Ellis, George Coleman, Dave Liebman, Jack Sheldon, Peggy Stern and John Abercrombie, as well as many others. He has toured with vocalists Melba Morre, Lainie Kazan, Nnena Frelon and Michael Amante. Lew has worked with Anita O’Day, Mark Murphy and many other singers, including Robert Goulet, Vic Damone, Sergio Franchi, Jerry Vale, Al Martino, Eddie Fisher, Florence Henderson, Julie Budd and Lucie Arnaz. He has also performed with many groups, including the Four Aces and the Fifth Dimension. In the past, Lew was a competition cyclist, but now, he rides his bicycle around the county for enjoyment.

Nancy Donnelly & Bob's Your Uncle
2023-07-22 19:00 - 22:00
Outdoor event, weather permitting.
Some dancing, R&B/pop, jazz, schmoozing, good eats
Nancy Donnelly – vocals, Mark Dzubia – guitar, Peter Tomlinson – keys, Mark Usvolk – bass, Jeff Siegel – drums
Tunes by Stevie Wonder, James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt, Laura Nero & others
Nancy Donnelly – vocals
Peter Tomlinson – piano
Mark Dzubia – guitar
Mark Usvolk – bass
Jeff Siegel – drums

Matt Garrity Trio w/ Pete Smith & John Menegon
2023-07-15 19:00 - 22:00
MATT GARRITY TRIO featuring

Pete Smith- guitar
John Menegon- bass
Matt Garrity- drums

This stellar lineup will be performing some swingin straight ahead jazz repertoire as well as some Samba and Bossa Nova from composers such as Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, and Antonio Carlos Jobim. Grounded in the moment and spontaneity, these three musicians have played countless gigs together over the years in various configurations, and have a strong bond as a trio.

MATT GARRITY

Drummer, Matt Garrity has been on the music scene since 1994. He has performed and recorded with some of the best in the business, including Grammy winners, Joe Lovano, Vincent Herring and Steve Slagle, as well as David Williams, Teri Thornton, Peter Bernstein, David Amram, Eric Alexander, Gary Versace, Ron McLure, Ed Cherry, Ben Monder, Ratzo Harris, Joel Forrester, Jeremy Pelt and Jerome Richardson, among others.
Since 2017, Garrity has been producing BARNSTOCK, a jazz series from his studio in Woodstock, NY. The space is set in the top floor of a renovated 1911 barn. It’s a warm, intimate setting for hearing some of the best musicians on the scene.
Garrity’s past collaborations include Ed Cherry, Peter Bernstein, Joe Lovano., Pete Levin, Peter Einhorn, Bill Ware, Teri Roiger, John Menegon, Steve Slagle and more.

“Matt is a swinging drummer and true keeper of the flame.”
-Vincent Herring, saxophonist

PETE SMITH

Pete Smith is a New York City-based guitarist who performs in a wide range of musical settings. As a founding member of Grupo los Santos, a vanguard Afro-Cuban and Brazilian-style quartet, he has played New York’s Town Hall and concerts throughout the U.S., Cuba & Austria. He has performed at the Berlin Jazz Festival and Montreal Jazz Festival, as well as concerts in thirty countries throughout Europe, Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia. He has worked with Norah Jones, trumpeter Donald Byrd, Cuban trombone master Juan Pablo Torres, Andrew Hill, Kat Edmonson, Vince Giordano & the Nighthawks, the Moonlighters, Madeline Peyroux, Natalie Merchant and Huun- Huur-Tu, and is a member of Michael Feinstein’s Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. New releases to look out for are Santos’ fourth album “Santos 4” and an album with bassist Sean Smith (The Smith Duo).

JOHN MENGON

Menegon started his career as a jazz bassist in Montreal. After having worked for several years on the Canadian jazz scene with the great guitarists Sonny Greenwich, Mike Gauthier & Nelson Simons, and saxophonists Steve Grossman & Pat LaBarbara, he then went on to hone his skills in NYC in the mid-80s. Since moving to New York City to study Jazz at Long Island University on a full scholarship, John has performed/recorded with Dewey Redman, David “Fathead” Newman, Matt Wilson, Frank Kimbrough, John Hicks, Yoron Israel, Jack DeJohnette, Kenny Burrell, Kenny Barron, Bruce Barth, Paul Bley, Anthony Braxton’s Tri-Centric Orchestra, Nick Brignola, Bob Meyer, Jimmy Cobb, Al Foster, Slide Hampton, Pat Metheny, Sheila Jordan, Lee Konitz, J.R. Monterose, Joe Lovano, and many others.

www.mattgarrity.com

Neil Alexander & Nail
2023-07-08 19:00 - 22:00
Neil “Nail” Alexander is a world-renowned Pianist, Synthesist, Keyboardist & Composer. NAIL is a hi-energy trio playing a fusion of World Jazz, Jazz & Funk. With Brian Mooney (basses) and Nadav Snir-Zelniker (drums).
NEIL ALEXANDER is a world renowned Pianist, Synthesist, Keyboardist & Composer who works with music in all forms and styles (including jazz, rock, funk, blues, electronica, ambient and contemporary classical). In a career spanning more than 4 decades Neil has made his mark on the local and international music scenes, having toured the US, Europe, Mexico and Canada. I addition to his long running original music project Neil Alexander & NAIL he has toured with successful acts such as The Machine, The Mahavishnu Project, Marty Balin, Corey Glover (among others) and performed with a who’s who of local artists such as Tim Moore, local hip hop phenom Decora (for whom he was musical director for 4 years), Pee Wee Ellis, Ted Orr, Jesse Gress, Blue Food, Jeff Siege Segal, Tony “Thunder” Smith and many others.
In 2015 Neil was awarded Individual Artist Of The Year by the Orange County Arts Council and is currently endorsed by Moog Music.
Currently Neil is in several performing ensembles including “NAIL“, “Cloudburst“, the “X Ensemble”, “Mr. GONE“ and Supercluster, and performs experimental electronic music under the name “Nail Jung“. His most recent self produced CD releases include “Check Your Vibration” (Nail Jung), “Solos/Duos/Trios” (Neil Alexander) and a pair of live recordings – A Solo Piano performance of the “Rite Of Spring” from 2013, and a live performance by NAIL at the Blue Note in NYC. In October of 2016 Neil premiered the “X Ensemble“, an 11 piece acoustic/electric Chamber music group in a concert of contemporary and original chamber works at the Ritz Theater in Newburgh NY. In 2021 the X Ensemble premiered a new piece entitled “Convergence: Series A”, composed by Neil for an octet, and in 2018 they appeared at the Interactive art festival “Dusklit” in Sugar Loaf NY where they performed a site specific work played at the moment of Sunset. in 2019 Neil Alexander & NAIL celebrated their 20th anniversary with multiple shows around the region. Their most recent CD is titled “Live at the Blue Note“.
Neil has also been involved in Modern Dance and Ballet, as a composer and accompanist, working with such Choreographers as Kevin Wynn, Molly Poerstel, Larry Clark, Lane Gifford and Jonathan Riedel, as well as SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance students and faculty where he worked from 1992-2019. His compositions have featured many times as part of the Conservatory’s Nanang Academy of Fine Arts exchange program in Singapore.
From 2012-2013 Neil performed a solo piano concert series titled “100 Years Of Spring“, celebrating the centennial of Stravinsky’s “Rite Of Spring” with a stunning solo piano arrangement, and released his 1st solo piano CD “Darn That Dream: Solo Piano Vol. 1” to critical acclaim. Volume 2 was released in March of 2018 and featured a live recording of “Le Sacre”.
Neil’s other projects include Solo performances (both acoustic and/or electronic) and “Scene Re-seen”, live electronic scoring of silent films. In addition, Neil teaches Master Classes in Synthesizer Programming and Music Performance Technology and heads up the Ableton Hudson Valley Users Group.

Bassist/composer, Brian Mooney during his high school years studied harmony, physiology, and improvisation with Gerald Carboy (bassist for fusion pioneers Barry Miles and David Sancious & Tone).
On both Electric and Double Bass Brian’s experience spans Jazz, Fusion, Soul, Prog-Rock, R&B/Funk, Latin, Experimental, EDM, Avant-Garde Jazz, Classical, Pop, & Rock both live and in the studios.​
Brian has performed live and/or in the studio and with many artists, including recent projects: Neil Alexandar & NAIL, Mahavishu Project, Ray LeVier Band, Burr Johnson Band, Shueh-li Ong, Monroe Quinn jazz trio, Gregg Bendian, Matt Sewell, Duane Eubanks, David Gilmore, Glenn Alexander, Premik Russell Tubbs, Res Abassi, Bele Beledo, Peter Furlan, Swaminathan Salvaganesh, Bernard Purdie, Ritchie “LaBamba” Rosenberg, Mark Pender (Conan O’Brien), Rob Paparozzi, Nadav Snir-Zelniker, Eric Person, Brad Hubbard, and countless others.

Born in Israel in 1974, Nadav Snir-Zelniker started playing drums at the age of 16. Soon he became involved with the local Israeli music scene, playing and recording with different Rock & Jazz artists. Throughout these years Nadav has absorbed elements and flavors of the local Mediterranean-music traditions. In 1999, after receiving several honorary scholarships, Nadav was able to move to the US and got his BFA degree in music-performance from the Conservatory of Music at SUNY-Purchase College. Soon after his arrival in New York, Nadav became highly involved with the local music scene. His versatility enabled him to perform & record with artists from different genres. Amongst the many artists Nadav has worked with are: Jon Faddis, Stella Mars, Arthur Lipner, Adam Rogers, Gene Perla, Ted Rosenthal, James Camack, Francois Moutin, Cameron Brown, Heather Cornell & Manhattan Tap, The Doug Ferony Show Band, Sal Scott & Gene Benson’s Big-Band, Dekel Bor Trio, MacTalla Mo’r, The Burr Johnson Band, Neil Alexander & NAIL, Herb Deutsch, Brian Dolzani, Debbie Friedman and Shirona. Nadav has also collaborated with a few modern dance companies, such as David Prasons Dance, Limon and Nelly van Bommel’s NoaDance. Discography: Dekel Bor Trio: “Stories & Tales” “Emuna” “Home” MacTalla Mo’r: “Pipin’ Hot” “Jacob’s Ladder” “No Man’s Land” Lance Koonah / Innerworkings: “Expressions 2” Neil Alexander & NAIL : “Tugging At The Infinite” Shirona: “Judaic Love Songs”

David Gilmore Band
2023-07-01 19:00 - 22:00
David Gilmore – guitar
Tyler Blanton – vibes
Carlo DeRosa – bass
Ben Perowsky – drums
DAVID GILMORE has recorded and performed with many of today’s most influential modern artists. He has worked with Wayne Shorter (appearing on Mr. Shorter’s Grammy Award winning album, High Life (Verve)), Dave Douglas, Muhal Richard Abrams, Sam Rivers, Steve Coleman, Cassandra Wilson, Don Byron, Uri Caine, Randy Brecker, David Sanborn, Ron Blake, Carolyn Leonhart and Christian McBride, among many others.
In addition to his significance presence on the international touring scene, Gilmore has also appeared on over 50 recordings, including two of his own as leader. His first CD, Ritualism (2001) received international critical praise and was nominated for the 2001 Debut CD of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association.
Gilmore has even made notable contributions to such pop acts as Me’shell N’Degeocello, Melissa Etheridge, Joan Osbourne, Mavis Staples, Issac Hayes, Boz Scaggs, Tommy Lang of Austria, Rise Robots Rise, and Japan’s Monday Michiru. He has also toured extensively with multi-platinum artist Joss Stone. DownBeat Magazine’s Critic’s Poll voted Gilmore a “Rising Star.”
Gilmore’s playing has been compared to guitarists as diverse as George Benson, Wes Montgomery, Jimi Hendrix and Leo Nocentelli. He is committed to an improvisational approach that reflects a global awareness. One result of this global ethic, the work “African Continuum” – enabled by a CMA New Works Composer Grant– was premiered to the public in Spring 2003.
In addition to recording and touring, Gilmore teaches Guitar Studies at the prestigious Berklee College of Music where he is an Associate Professor. He also conducts master classes around the world, giving him an opportunity to share his talents, concepts and experiences with new generations of young musicians.
More recently David was the recipient of a 2008 Chamber Music America, New Jazz Works Composer’s grant.
Vibraphonist and composer Tyler Blanton is becoming recognized as a rising star in the New York City jazz scene. Over the past five years, his work has received notice by numerous major publications including Downbeat, Jazztimes, Village Voice, and The New York Times. Blanton’s second studio album as a leader, Gotham, is scheduled for release in March, 2014.
A native of California, Blanton took the plunge and permanently relocated to New York City in 2007, settling in Brooklyn. Upon his arrival, he took on a strong presence as a band leader and composer, quickly connecting with many influential players in the scene and performing around town at venues such as Smalls, La Lanterna, and Cornelia St Cafe. The culmination of Blanton’s first two years in New York is reflected in his 2010 debut album, “Botanic,” which featured drummers Richie Barshay and Jared Schonig, bassists Aidan Carroll and Dan Loomis, and saxophonist Joel Frahm. Upon its release, “Botanic,” garnered considerable notice, earning reviews in Downbeat and Jazztimes magazines, as well as being chosen as a top album of the year by both Hot House and Village Voice Critic’s polls that year.
Ben Perowsky’s notable career has placed him among a small vanguard of players able to move between jazz, experimental music and cutting edge pop and rock. He cut his teeth as a youth playing drums for the likes of Rickie Lee Jones, John Cale, Roy Ayers, James Moody, Bob Berg, Mike Stern and Michael Brecker. Broke ground driving back beats for NY bands Elysian Fields and Joan as Policewoman as well as John Lurie’s Lounge Lizards. He Co-founded the electric jazz group Lost Tribe and has continued to record and perform with pop and jazz legends such as John Scofield, Belle and Sebastian, John Zorn, Dave Douglas, Lou Reed, Pat Martino, Tegan and Sara, Uri Caine, Steven Bernstein, Walter Becker, Vernon Reid, Loudon, Martha and Rufus Wainwright. Ben has produced 8 critically acclaimed records to date. He currently plays in a band called RedCred with John Medeski and Chris Speed.

Since moving to New York City in 1993 bassist Carlo De Rosa has had the opportunity to work with many great artists in the Latin and Jazz World. This has led to diverse musical and cultural experiences and has allowed Carlo to work with a wide variety of artists such as Ray Barretto, Ravi Coltrane, William Cepeda, Bruce Barth, Dave Valentin, Ed Thigpen, Nick Brignola, Mickey Roker, Steve Turre, Miguel Zenon, Hilton Ruiz, Ralph Alessi, Candido Camero, Jason Moran, Papo Vasquez and the NYC Ballet.
He collaborates and performs with many other great artists including: Vijay Iyer, Allison Miller, Ingrid Jensen, Sam Newsome, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Mark Shim, Luis Perdomo, Dave Allen, Chembo Corniel, Lucian Ban, Andrea Brachfeld, Amir ElSaffar, Elio Villafranca, and Victor Prieto.
As a US Jazz Ambassador in 1999 Carlo traveled to South Africa, Mauritius, Madagascar, Kenya, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. Other performances abroad have led him to countries as varied as France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Estonia, Russia, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Holland, Belgium, Czech Republic, Argentina, Chile, Romania, Slovenia, Denmark, England, Scotland and Ireland.
His New York Club engagements have included the Blue Note, Birdland, Zinc Bar, 55 Bar, Smalls, Visiones, Fat Cat, Knitting Factory, Detour, Smoke, Kavehaz, Sweet Rhythm, Jazz Standard, Nuyorican Poet’s Café, Tonic, Satalla, CBGB’s Lounge, Barbès, Zebulon, Iridium, Jazz at Lincoln Center Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, Cornelia Street Café, La Lanterna Caffe – Bar Next Door, Makor, Town Hall, Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and the Jazz Gallery.

Pete Levin Trio
2023-06-24 19:00 - 22:00
Pete Levin – organ
Mike DiMicco – guitar
Peter O’Brien – drums
In a diverse music career spanning several decades, keyboardist/arranger Pete Levin has performed and recorded with hundreds of Jazz and Pop artists – including Paul Simon, Annie Lennox, Miles Davis, David Sanborn, Lenny White, Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, Robbie Robertson and John Scofield – receiving critical accolades for his work during a 15 year association with the legendary Gil Evans, and his 8 year stint with jazz icon Jimmy Giuffre.
Since the 70s, Pete has been part of New York’s jazz, pop, and electronic music scene. In 1974 he got a call to play French horn with legendary jazz arranger Gil Evans, and Gil made him a regular. As an experiment, Pete brought a Moog synthesizer to an Evans gig. Gil loved it and Pete’s role was permanently changed, beginning the transformation of the band into the electronic/acoustic hybrid sound that won 2 Grammy awards. Among the first to explore synthesizers during the 70s, Pete became a sought-after sideman for studio and live gigs. As an arranger and musician he worked on dozens of film scores, hundreds of jazz and pop records, and countless TV and radio commercials. Over the years, interspersed with Gil Evans, Paul Simon, Annie Lennox and Jimmy Giuffre tours, Pete has done arranging and electronic music for feature films including MISSING IN ACTION, THE COLOR OF MONEY and STAR TREK. He composed the orchestral score for the independent film ZELIMO, composed an original music score for a stage production of THE DYBBUK, did the official band/chorus arrangement of the U.S. Infantry song and composed the anthem for the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit, performing it in the U.N. General Assembly. But his favorite collaboration was “THE CLAMS” with his brother, bassist Tony Levin and drummer Steve Gadd, a Spike Jones tribute band that produced the top-40 hit single “CLOSE TO YOU” that’s now a cult classic.
Between 1964 and 2017, Pete has recorded and/or performed live with artists and ensembles including …
Michael Allman, Aztec Two Step, Joe Beck, Jeff Berlin, Marc Black, Terrance Blanchard, Carla Bley, Blood Sweat & Tears, Broadside Brass Bed Band, Brubeck Brothers Quartet, Hiram Bullock, Butterfield Blues Band, Donald Byrd, Don Byron, Jay Chattaway, Tommy Chong, The Clams, John Clark, Jimmy Cobb, Judy Collins, Commander Cody, Gene Cornish, Albert Cummings, David Darling, Kal David, Bettye Davis, Miles Davis, Robbie Dupree, Don Elliott, Gil Evans, Fania All-Stars, Rachelle Farelle, Bryan Ferry, Letizia Gambi, Jimmy Giuffre, Leila Gobi, Government Mule, Gregory Hines, Freddie Hubbard, Kathy Ingraham, Howard Johnson, Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Band, Mamadou Kelly, Annie Lennox, Tony Levin, Levin Brothers, Rod MacDonald, Al MacDowell, Mike Mainieri, Melissa Manchester, Chuck Mangione, Liza Minnelli, Charles Mingus, Gerry Mulligan, Ola Onabule, Rob Paparozzi, Jaco Pastorius, Simon Phillips, Lorenza Ponce, Genya Ravan, Nicki Richards, Robbie Robertson, Teri Roiger, Ali Ryerson, David Sanborn, John Scofield, Wayne Shorter, Carly Simon, Paul Simon, Lew Soloff, Vaneese Thomas, John Tropea, Joe Lynn Turner, Michal Urbaniak, Jimmy Vivino, Joe Louis Walker, Jim Weider, Peter Welker, Lenny White & Vanessa Williams.
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Mike DeMicco’s expansive embrace of music has led him to work with prominent artists in many genres. He’s toured the world extensively since 1980, performing and recording with a diverse cross-section of jazz, blues and popular artists, including Dave Brubeck, The Brubeck Brothers Quartet, Jack DeJohnette, Nick Brignola, Warren Bernhardt, Lee Shaw, Rory Block, James & Livingston Taylor, Professor “Louie” and The Crowmatix, and many others. Mike’s selected performance highlights include appearances on PBS and NPR; at the major European and North American jazz festivals; and at prestigious clubs and venues such as The Kennedy Center, Ronnie Scott’s, LA’s Jazz Bakery, The Blue Note, Birdland, The Five Spot, The Bottom Line, Wolf Trap, Great American Music Hall, and BB King’s.
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Drummer Peter O’Brien has performed with organist Brother Jack McDuff, the Edgar Winter Band, Roy Buchanan, including a sold-out show at the Beacon Theatre with Johnny Winter, Buddy Guy, and Junior Wells.
Peter moved to Woodstock, NY in early 1988 and became a member of John Hall’s band Orleans.
Other performances include The Cafe Lena Jazz Series at the world famous venue in Saratoga, NY.with pianist Chuck Lamb( Brubeck Bros.) that featured separately; Guitarist Mike Moreno, Alto Saxophone Legend Dick Oatts, Guitarist Mike DeMicco (Brubeck Bros.) & Saxophonist Ken Gioffre (Smokey Robinson), , The John Hall Reunion Band, The Eric Person Quartet plays The Music of Wayne Shorter & John Coltrane, Hal Galper, Cindy Cashdollar’s Rhythm Syncopators, Murali Coryell , Jay Collins, Spero plays Nyro & various others

Mark Usvolk Sextet
2023-06-17 19:00 - 22:00
Ron Horton – trumpet & flugelhorn
Tim Armacost – saxophone
Peter Tomlinson – keyboard
Mark Dziuba – guitar
Mark Usvolk – electric bass/composer
Bram Kincheloe – drums

Bassist/guitarist/composer Mark Usvolk has an unfair advantage. Since he and his wife, Roni own Lydia’s Cafe, he gets to play there whenever he wants and can usually entice musicians who play better than he does to play in his band.
After receiving his Bachelor of Music degree (BM) from the University of North Texas many, many years ago, Mark went on to make a tolerable living playing guitar and teaching until he came to the realization that his chances of finding a woman who would put up with his BS and his meager income would be greatly improved if he had a real job. In the late 80’s, Mark moved to Stone Ridge after living in Dallas and Tucson and began designing and building houses. It worked! He met and married Roni and in 2006 they bought the Country Deli from Roni’s mom, Lydia and thus began the saga of Lydia’s Cafe, a struggling music venue and gaping money pit which brings us to the present situation.
Mark has assembled a dream team of musicians whose sole purpose in life has been to prepare them to perform Mark’s original compositions and to provide beautiful solos over his weird chord changes. The pieces are representative of a range of styles from jazz to Latin to funk to classical and feature memorable melodies and a somewhat unique harmonic approach.
Dream Team
Since 1982, trumpeter Ron Horton has been an integral part of New York’s flourishing jazz scene and he stands out both as an exemplary instrumentalist and as a highly progressive composer and arranger. Whether called upon as a sideman or as a leader of one of his own ensembles, he shows that he is committed to further expanding the existing perimeters of jazz.
Horton has had many long musical associations with leaders such as saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom (1983-2000) and pianist Andrew Hill. He was a member of Hill’s sextet from 1998 until 2003, and appears on the group’s critically acclaimed cd, Dusk (Palmetto 2000). He was also musical director and co-arranger for Hill’s big band, and is featured on the cd, A Beautiful Day(Palmetto 2002).
Ron Horton was born in 1960 in Bethesda, Maryland, and has been frequently called on as a sideman to perform and/or record with such artists as Lee Konitz, Will Holshouser, Rez Abbasi, Phillip Johnston, Andy Laster, Mick Rossi, Matt Wilson, Bill Gerhardt, Bill Mays, Peggy Stern, Allan Chase, Andy Biskin, Ted Nash, Jon Gordon, John McKenna, Walter Thompson, Diana Perez, Billy Newman, Mario Pavone, Tina Marsh, Maryanne DeProphetis, Landon Knoblock, Sam Bardfeld, Maria Guida, Abigail Riccards, Angie Sanchez, Kris Davis, Darcy James Argue and many others.
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Saxophonist Tim Armacost’s music is known for its balance of lyrical invention, harmonic sophistication and exciting interplay among top-tier band mates. His improvisations are brimming with ideas, but organized into a naturally flowing narrative. His unusual life story, which includes extended residencies in Japan, India, the Philippines, Holland and New York, informs his wide ranging musical explorations.
Touring regularly around the world both as a sideman and a leader, Armacost has worked with a phenomenal number of jazz greats, including Al Foster, Jimmy Cobb, Kenny Barron, Tom Harrell, Billy Hart, Victor Lewis, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Peter Erskine, Ray Drummond, Roy Hargrove, Don Friedman and Randy Brecker.
Armacost is not only known for his heat-of-the-moment playing. He also brings his storytelling skill to compositions for groups ranging from trios to big bands. He is a recipient of the prestigious Doris Duke/CMA “New Works” award. Four of his compositions were arranged by Michael Abene and Jim McNeely and recorded by Holland’s acclaimed Metropole Orchestra. Wynton Marsalis commissioned Armacost’s original composition and arrangement, “The Repose in All Things,” which is featured on the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra’s recent recording Jazz and Art II.
Armacost has recorded 14 critically acclaimed albums as a leader, performed on more than 60 as a sideman, and has recorded over 100 original songs and arrangements. Armacost is a widely respected educator, teaching at the Jamey Aebersold and Stanford Summer Jazz Workshops, at Queens College in New York City and as a clinician at Universities throughout the U.S., Japan and Europe.
Armacost co-leads the New York Standards Quartet, the Brooklyn Big Band, and In Trio, and is currently working on music for two new projects: a chord-less quartet featuring Gary Smulyan, John Patitucci and Al Foster, and a new quartet with Jim Ridl, Ugonna Okegwo and Rudy Royston. His most recent leader outing, Time Being, featuring Jeff ‘Tain’ Watts and Bob Hurst received 4 stars in Downbeat magazine, and has met with critical acclaim around the world.
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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.
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Pianist/composer Peter Tomlinson holds a BFA from SUNY New Paltz. He hasalso studied with Barry Harris, Warren Bernhardt and Mulgrew Miller.
Peter has been an adjunct professor at Western Connecticut since 1990. He has also taught instrumental music and directed stage bands, grade 3-12, for the Paul Effman Music Service since 1992. In 2006 Peter became an associate professor of jazz piano at Vassar College. Other teaching experiences include jazz clinics and coaching high school All-State jazz bands.
Recordings include albums with Grammy Award winner Jay Ungar, “The Lover’s Waltz”, and Mark Dziuba, “Son of Cramdon”, also featuring Adam Nussbaum and Jay Anderson. Of Peter’s own albums, “Momentum” , on the Compose label, featured musicians include Dick Oatts, Dave Douglas and Jimmy Cobb. Rhodes Spedale of Jazz Times Magazine says, “ He’s talented, lyrical, imaginative, and swinging- all the necessary attributes of a fine pianist.” Peter’s 2003 album, “For Evans’ Sake” is a duo with guitarist Peter Einhorn. Jim Hall wrote “ It’s amazing… I loved it!” In 2007 he recorded with singer Bar Scott and bassist Lou Pappas, “ A Little Dream”. Other musicians Peter has worked with include Ron Carter, Hubert Laws, Laurel Masse, jazz tap legend Honi Coles and singer/songwriter Natalie Merchant.
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Drummer Bram Kincheloe is a professional musician, writer, and small business owner. He started studying drums with renowned teacher Barbara Borden at the age of four. At eleven, he graduated to her teacher, Chuck Brown, who had also taught Terry Bozzio, Will Kennedy, and Dave Garibaldi. He was the youngest student ever accepted into Chuck Brown’s studio. In 2002, Bram, then aged sixteen, moved to New York City on his own to pursue a career in jazz drumming. He attended Laguardia School of Performing Arts for one year before being accepted into Manhattan School of Music. While at Manhattan, attending on a Zildjian scholarship, he studied with Justin DiCioccio. Through the years playing jazz, he has been honored to play with Lee Konitz, Branford Marsalis, Ambrose Akinmusire, Wynton Marsalis, Ben Street, Steve Cardenas and many others.
In 2005, Bram moved to Amsterdam to study abroad through a sister program at the Conservatorium Van Amsterdam, where he was involved in the creative music scene in Holland. Around this time, he also started seriously pursuing a parallel career in writing.
Bram is an accomplished singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist and plays piano, keyboards, guitar, and bass in addition to drums. He also has a degree from the Institute of Audio Research, having studied production techniques and ProTools. He is the owner/operator of Semperviren Studios, a full-service professional production studio with 26 channels of inputs, a full backline of world class instruments, and more, in the Hudson Valley.
His debut novel, Hitchhiking in the Graveyard, was recently named the runner-up winner in the 2018 Faulkner-Wisdom Creative Writing competition. In early 2015, Bram was hired by SB Nation to cover the Golden State Warriors for the popular site Golden State of Mind, a subsidiary of Vox Media. He was a staff writer for the site from 2015-2020, as well as a contributor to SB Nation’s national site.
In 2017, he became part owner and Director of Sales & Marketing for Bad Seed Cider.
He lives in the Hudson Valley with his wife, son, their dog, and two cats.

Nelson Riveros Latin Trio
2023-06-10 19:00 - 22:00
Nelson Riveros – guitar
Jay Anderson – bass
Peter O’Brien – drums
Nelson Riveros is a New York City/International Jazz guitarist, composer and vocalist with an earned Masters Degree in Jazz Performance from the New Jersey City University, NJCU. He is part of an emerging force of a new generation of Contemporary Latin-Jazz artists. His latest hit recording ‘The Latin Side of Wes Montgomery” on ZOHO Music has spent 20 weeks on JazzWeek reaching to #2 for two weeks and 8 weeks in the Top 10. Nelson took several of the guitarists’ compositions and arranged them in different Latin and Caribbean rhythms creating a new fresh sound on Wes’ music.
Nelson has shared the stage and studio with great musicians in Jazz and Latin music like Hector Martignon, John Benitez, Mark Walker, Pat Bianchi, Craig Handy, Samuel Torres. Luis Bonilla, Alfredo De La Fe, Jeremy Wall of Spyro Gyra Billy Drewes, Scott Wentholt, Jim Seeley, John Mosca, Ivan Renta, Vince Cherico. His group has performed at The Iridium, Zinc Bar, 55 Bar, Jazz Forum, Maureen’s Jazz Cellar, La Lanterna/Bar Next Door, Minton’s, Bean Runner, Jazz On Main in Mt. Kisco, Miami and festivals through out the try state area as well as a tour of Colombia.
Nelson is also a dedicated educator who has taught at the acclaimed 92nd Street Y School of Music, and as a music teacher for Bergenfield School District. This July 2023 Nelson will be teaching and performing at the Summer Jazz School in Grožnjan, Croatia
His debut recording titled ‘Camino Al Barrio’ peaked at #8 on the Jazz Week World Music Chart. He was nominated among his peers as ‘Next Best Generation Artist’ and ‘Best Latin Jazz Guitar’ for the 2010 Latin Jazz Corner Best of The Year Awards.
Bassist/composer Jay Anderson is among the most versatile and respected jazz artists performing today. Born in Southern California, Anderson began playing acoustic bass at the age of twelve. Throughout junior high, high school, and college, Anderson won numerous awards for excellence in both jazz and classical music. One week after receiving a Bachelor’s Degree in Performance from California State University at Long Beach, Anderson was asked to join the Woody Herman Orchestra. After touring with the “Herd” for a year, he was called by Carmen McRae and performed with the legendary singer for the next two years.
In 1982 Anderson made the decision to move to New York City. Since moving East, he has continued to perform and record with some of the most important names in jazz. Anderson has been a regular member in the bands of Red Rodney & Ira Sullivan, Michael Brecker, Toots Thielemans, Maria Schneider, Vic Juris, Bob Mintzer, Michael Franks, Eliane Elias, Bennie Wallace, Lew Tabackin, Steve Khan, Lynne Arriale, Stanley Cowell, and was with Joe Sample from 1992 to 2006.
Anderson takes pride in his versatility and openness to different types of music. He has been featured on over 400 recordings, including work with Paul Bley, Randy Brecker, Bob Berg, Mike Stern, Jim McNeely, John Scofield, Seamus Blake, Oz Noy, Adam Nussbaum, John Abercrombie, Donald Byrd, Clark Terry, Bob Brookmeyer, Phil Woods, Terumasa Hino, Joe Lovano, Dave Liebman, Tony Lakatos, Tim Hagans, Harold Danko, Jamie Baum, Dave Pietro, Mark Soskin, Frank Wess, Lee Konitz, Donny McCaslin, Anat Cohen, Warren Bernhardt, Frank Kimbrough, Gary Versace, Dave Stryker, Armen Donelian, Steve Slagle, Garry Dial, Dick Oatts, Andy LaVerne, Walt Weiskopf, Phil Markowitz, Steve Wilson, Joe Locke, Joey Calderazzo, Scott Robinson, Bob Sheppard, Dave Pike, Blue Mitchell, Harold Land, Tiger Okoshi, George Cables, Russ Kassoff, Ivan Lins, Jay Clayton, Darmon Meader, Sheila Jordan, Lalah Hathaway, Judy Niemack, Houston Person, Rich Perry, David Witham, Charles Blenzig, Jeremy Monteiro, Yosuke Yamashita, Mark Isaacs, and many others. He has performed with the big bands of Kenny Wheeler, Bob Mintzer, Bob Belden, Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Toshiko Akiyoshi, George Gruntz Concert Jazz Band, WDR Köln (guest performer), HR Frankfurt Radio (guest performer), Ryan Truesdell’s Gil Evans Project (winner of a 2012 Grammy for Best Instrumental Arrangement (Gil Evans) and the Jazz Journalists Association 2013 awards for Record of the Year and Large Ensemble of the Year) and the critically acclaimed Maria Schneider Orchestra whose 2004 release “Concert In The Garden” won the Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album. He also performed on Maria’s 2007 release “Sky Blue” that won a Grammy for Best Instrumental Composition, “Cerulean Skies” (Maria Schneider). More recently Jay was featured on Maria’s 2015 release “The Thompson Fields” that won a Grammy for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album, and on David Bowie’s “Sue (Or In A Season Of Change)” that won a Grammy for Best Arrangement (Maria Schneider). In 2021 Maria’s groundbreaking work “Data Lords” won the Grammy for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album and Maria won in the Best Instrumental Composition category for “Sputnik”.
Anderson has also done numerous jingles and non-jazz recordings with David Bowie, Frank Zappa, Terre Roche, Tom Waits, Chaka Khan, Michel Legrand, legendary poet Allen Ginsberg, and the Grammy Award winning 1997 Record of the Year “Falling Into You” by Celine Dion. He has performed with classical legends Van Cliburn, Sir Neville Marriner and has been a guest with the Atlanta Symphony conducted by Robert Spano (performing/recording “Oceana” by Osvaldo Golijov featuring Luciana Souza). He was a featured performer (along with Frank Kimbrough and Scott Robinson) with the Australian Chamber Orchestra featuring soprano Dawn Upshaw. Their recording of Maria Schneider’s “Winter Morning Walks” won 2014 Grammy Awards for Best Contemporary Classical Composition (Maria Schneider), Best Classical Vocal Solo (Dawn Upshaw) and Best Engineered Classical Album (David Frost, Brian Losch & Tim Martyn). He has also recorded with critically acclaimed Prism Saxophone Quartet.
In addition to being a highly sought-after sideman, Anderson is a proven voice in his own right. His original recordings “NEXT EXIT” (DMP), “LOCAL COLOR” (DMP), and “DEEPSCAPE” (Steeplechase) have received critical acclaim both in the U.S. and abroad. Jay also co-lead the critically acclaimed group BANN featuring Seamus Blake, Oz Noy and Adam Nussbaum.
Anderson has been the recipient of the NEA grant for composition and two Meet the Composer grants. More than twenty of the recordings he has been featured on have been nominated for the Grammy Award. He has conducted clinics around the world and is a Professor of Jazz Bass Studies at both the Manhattan School of Music in New York City and New Jersey City University.

Drummer Peter O’Brien has toured the US with Brother Jack McDuff and, from 1984-1985, performed all over the US and Canada with the Edgar Winter Band. The band featured the legendary singer Jerry LaCroix (original lead singer for White Trash) and is the only band to perform the jazz-inflected fusion material from Edgar’s first groundbreaking record “Entrance” (Epic), as well as his rock and blues music. During this time, Peter also performed several dates with Roy Buchanan, including a sold-out show at the Beacon Theatre with Johnny Winter, Buddy Guy and Junior Wells. From 1986-1987, Peter toured Europe with Mark McMillan (songwriter for Chaka Khan).
In early 1988, Peter moved from NYC to Woodstock, New York, and soon began working with John Hall. In 1989, Peter became a member of Hall’s band Orleans (Still The One, Dance With Me). Peter has appeared on seven CD’s (four with Orleans, three with Hall), three tours of Japan (two with Orleans, one with Hall), and countless US tours and dates (including Woodstock ‘94) and was the subject of a feature article published in Modern Drummer’s Rhythm and News (Japan). Peter toured and recorded with Orleans through 2004. Peter also freelanced throughout this period and did other major tours with Dr. Lonnie Smith (Spain 1992), Rory Block (US and Europe 1996-7) and Tracy Nelson (US 1998).
2014-15 has been a very busy time for Peter as he has returned to touring with Orleans (including dates playing with Paul Barrere and Fred Tachette fro Little Feat) as well as continued work with both John Esposito (quintet recording featuring Greg Glassman, Stacy Dillard, and Ira Coleman) and Christine Spero (Spero plays Nyro project revisiting Laura Nyro’s music to much critical acclaim from both live performances at Mountain Jam, The Cutting Room(nyc) & others and new CD) and many others.
In addition to his busy performance schedule, Peter teaches at home and at Bard College and freelances as a studio session player. He has played on national jingles for Continental Airlines, AT&T, Macy’s and Burger King. He has also worked as a clinician at Bard College, SUNY New Paltz, and Western Connecticut University.

Hudson Valley Jazz Trio
2023-06-03 19:00 - 22:00
Steve Rubin – drums
Joe Vincent Tranchina – piano
J.Brunka – bass
The Hudson Valley Jazz Trio is rotating group of players working as a 7 piece to trio comprised of artists that have participated in the past 13 years of The Hudson Valley Jazz Festival ( returning August 9-13 with Lydia’s Cafe presenting a concert as well).
For this appearance at Lydia’s the trio will be Joe Vincent Tranchina, composer, sought after pianist and winner of “Best Jazz Musician in The Hudson Valley” poll, a few years back.

J. Brunka is a music teacher and acoustic and electric bassist with a varied background from classical to R&B to world to jazz.

Steve Rubin studied with Mel Lewis and is founder of the festival. J. Joe and Steve also are part of the improv ensemble “Beyond Jazz”.

The Hudson Valley Jazz Trio selects a mixed bag of jazz standards and puts their own sensibility to it. Whether changing up rhythms, arrangements and styling them to each performance.

David Lopato & Global Coolant
2023-05-27 19:00 - 22:00
David Lopato – keyboards, composer
Lucas Pino – saxes & clarinets
Ed Neumeister – trombone
Ratzo Harris – bass
Bob Meyer – drums

Come celebrate the unofficial beginning of summer and
hear music from the upcoming release of David Lopato’s
“Short Stories” on Global Coolant Records!

Hudson Valley-based pianist/composer David Lopato has performed as a leader and sideman throughout the world. As a composer he has received multiple grants from the N.E.A., New York Foundation for the Arts, Meet the Composer, and the Beards Fund, as well as a Fulbright Fellowship to study Javanese Gamelan in Surakarta, Indonesia, where he lived for a year. Lopato has toured his own music in configurations ranging from solo piano to 10-piece ensembles, having performed with Dave Liebman, Dewey Redman, Joe Lovano, Mark Helias, Ray Anderson, Wadada Leo Smith, Jane Ira Bloom, Steve Gorn and numerous others. His most recent recording, Gendhing for a Spirit Rising (Global Coolant-02), a Gamelan-influenced work for large ensemble, was hailed by Downbeat Magazine as one of the “Best Albums of 2017”…“unlike anything you are likely to hear this year (or any year).

Horton/Regusis Quartet
2023-05-20 19:00 - 22:00
Ron Horton – trumpet/flugelhorn
Tim Regusis – keys
Lew Scott – bass
Jeff Siegel – drums
Tim Regusis is a Hudson Valley-based pianist who has been active in the jazz scene of the NYC region, as well as in the fields of R&B, Latin and various world musics for many years.
He has played and/or recorded with Patti Austin, Ruben Blades, David Byrne, Celia Cruz, Chuck Mangione, Johnny Pacheco, Daniel Ponce, Rick Margitza, Cindy Blackman, Jeff Williams, Akira Ohmori, Najee, Donna Summer, Chaka Khan, Jonathan Butler, Ofra Haza and others.
Ron Horton has perform and/or record with such artists as Lee Konitz, Will Holshouser, Neil Kirkwood, Rez Abbasi, Phillip Johnston, Andy Laster, Mick Rossi, Matt Wilson, Bill Gerhardt, Bill Mays, Peggy Stern, Allan Chase, Andy Biskin, Ted Nash, Jon Gordon, John McKenna, Walter Thompson, Diana Perez, Billy Newman, Mario Pavone, Tina Marsh, Maryanne DeProphetis, Landon Knoblock, Sam Bardfeld, Maria Guida, Abigail Riccards, Angie Sanchez, Kris Davis, Darcy James Argue.
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.
Lew Scott, bassist, has been performing in the New York area and throughout the country for many years. He has performed with many notable musicians, including Clark Terry, Conti Condoli, Frank Rosolino, Joe Lavano, Herb Ellis, George Coleman, Dave Liebman, Jack Sheldon, Peggy Stern and John Abercrombie, as well as many others. He has toured with vocalists Melba Morre, Lainie Kazan, Nnena Frelon and Michael Amante. Lew has worked with Anita O’Day, Mark Murphy and many other singers, including Robert Goulet, Vic Damone, Sergio Franchi, Jerry Vale, Al Martino, Eddie Fisher, Florence Henderson, Julie Budd and Lucie Arnaz. He has also performed with many groups, including the Four Aces and the Fifth Dimension. In the past, Lew was a competition cyclist, but now, he rides his bicycle around the county for enjoyment.

Gravy Train w/ Matt Finck Trio, Jay Collins & Adam Coté
2023-05-13 19:00 - 22:00
Matt Finck – guitar
Jay Collins – vox/sax
Adam Coté – bass
Matt Finck has performed and recorded with such fine artists as Steve Wilson, Dennis Mackrel, Randy Brecker, John Medeski, Heather Masse and Roswell Rudd, Hudson Valley Philharmonic with Ronan Tynan and Chris Barron (of the Spindoctors), as well as backing up such popular singers as Nell Carter and Tony Martin. He also freelances in a variety of settings including blues, rock and funk, leading his own funk band Fat Mink since 2005, and composes and performs music for video games.
Jay Collins is the saxophone player of choice for famous artists such as Gregg Allman, Little Feat, Levon Helm, The Midnight Ramble Band, and Donald Fagen. He is also an exciting singer, arranger, writer, and a dynamic band-leader.
Adam Cote – Bass
Taught by the world renowned bassist Nat Reeves at the University of Hartford, Adam went on to study with Doug Weiss and Todd Coolman. In 2009, he was selected as one of 15 bassists around the world to participate in the Thelonious Monk Competition. He has been fortunate to play with Steve Davis, Ralph Lalama, Joe Magnarelli, Joe Cohn, Johnny O’Neal, Roy Hargrove and many other amazing musicians. Adam is from Poughquag, NY and is now a resident of Brooklyn, NY.

Rob Scheps Core-tet
2023-05-06 19:00 - 22:00
Rob Scheps- woodwinds
Wes Georgiev -piano
Cameron Brown – bass
Anthony Pinciotti – drums.
Oregon native Rob Scheps began studying the tenor saxophone at age nine. He grew up on Long Island, New York. After graduating high school, he enrolled in the prestigious New England Conservatory of Music. There he received a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies with Honors in Performance.
​While living in the Boston area, Rob formed and led his own groups, including the True Colors Big Band. In 1988 he moved to New York, where he formed the Rob Scheps Core-tet and the Bartokking Heads, firmly establishing himself on the jazz scene.
​Not content to limit himself, Rob continued to take on new challenges. He formed new bands on both coasts. He served as a faculty member at the Mannes College of Music. He worked with contemporary music ensembles. All while performing with some of the most noted and influential big bands of our age, such as the Gil Evans Orchestra and the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra.
​In addition to his jazz credentials, Rob been an active part of the classical, theater, and popular music communities. For 13 years, he served as the Principal Saxophone with the Oregon Symphony. He was part of the national tour of Porgy and Bess with the Charleston Symphony, and the New York City Opera orchestra for Wonderful Town. He has worked on Broadway on productions such as CATS and Miss Saigon. He has appeared with such legends as Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Liza Minnelli, and Linda Ronstadt. His range is best shown by viewing his ‘Performances’ page, showing the diversity of those with whom he has worked.
​Rob has recorded on over 35 albums. His most recent releases, by the Rob Scheps Core-tet, are the critically acclaimed Comencio on Steeplechase Records and Live at Smalls on Smalls Records.
Rob continues to perform and record internationally, working with his contemporaries and leading his own groups; Magnets! With Kim Clarke, The Rob Scheps Big Band, and the Rob Scheps Core-tet.
Bassist, composer and educator Cameron Brown began his career in the mid-1960s, recording in Europe with George Russell and Don Cherry. These important innovators remain life-long inspirations and influences, along with early mentors and band leaders Sheila Jordan, Roswell Rudd, Archie Shepp and Beaver Harris. Mr. Brown has anchored some of the most important ensembles of the past fifty years, including Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, and various ensembles led by Dewey Redman, Don Cherry, Dannie Richmond, Lee Konitz, Chet Baker, Terumasa Hino, Mal Waldron, Marco Tamburini, Betty Carter, Houston Person/Etta Jones, Lou Donaldson, Lisa Sokolov, Jim McNeely, Joe Locke, Dave Ballou, Salvatore Bonafede, George Cables, Tony Malaby, and Carl Størmer (Jazz Code). The Don Pullen/George Adams Quartet, featuring Dannie Richmond, developed into an intense and rewarding partnership which lasted nearly ten years, and Mr. Brown has enjoyed special relationships with master drummers Philly Joe Jones, Edward Blackwell, Ben Riley, Eddie Moore, Idris Muhammad, Billy Hart, Joe Chambers, Lewis Nash, and Matt Wilson. He has helped young people around the world nurture their passion for jazz and is on the faculty of the New School University. At present, Mr. Brown performs and records with Sheila Jordan in a long-standing Bass and Voice duo (20+ years), and with Joe Lovano, Rob Scheps, Jason Rigby, Neils Vincentz, Jane Ira Bloom, Jay Clayton, Don Byron, Harvey Diamond, Lena Bloch, Russ Lossing, Billy Mintz, Krzysztof Popek, John Bailey, Kazuki Yamanaka, Kristen Lee Sergeant and the Royal Bopsters. Website: www.jazzhalo.be/musicians-files/cameron-brown/
Anthony Pinciotti is a dynamic, innovative drummer well versed in jazz, rock, and world music. Based in New York City, Anthony performs and tours extensively with many of the most vital and forward looking musicians on the scene today. Some of the notable musicians Anthony has worked with are: James Moody, Dr. Lonnie Smith, John Abercrombie, Joe Lovano, Randy Brecker, Ira Sullivan, Kenny Werner, Mose Allison, Lew Tabackin, John Patitucci, Jim Hall, Bob Mintzer, Anat Cohen, George Garzone, Charlie Haden, Frank Foster, Benny Golson, George Mraz, Houston Person, Toninho Horta, Stacey Kent, Gary Bartz, Rufus Reid, Vic Juris, Dave Liebman, Kenny Barron, and Sheila Jordan to name a few.
Wes Georgiev is a pianist, composer, and educator based in Portland, Oregon. Growing up in a multicultural and musical household, Wes began playing music at a very young age, learning the rhythms and tones of Bulgarian folk music by ear with the guidance of his parents. He then began 9 years of classical piano study, and transitioned to learning the Black American Music idiom known as jazz at age 12. In his music, Wes aims to transcend notions of “genre” to tell stories steeped in natural, archetypal themes, allowing listeners to superimpose their own stories and experiences as a means to find healing.
Wes performs several times a week throughout the region as a sideman and band leader at venues such as the 1905, The Jazz Station, Jo Bar, Vino Veritas, Teutonic Wine Company, Jack London Revue, Clyde’s Prime Rib, Wilf’s, and others. He has worked with Rob Scheps, John Stowell, George Colligan, Ron Steen, Mark Zaleski, Jon Lakey, Bobby Torres, Nicole McCabe, Noah Simpson, Andres Moreno, and more. Wes studies privately with George Colligan and Alan Jones. He is currently a junior in the Jazz Department of the School of Music and Theater at Portland State University where he is completing his Bachelor of Music in Jazz Performance.

Dzubia/Anderson/Siegel/Syracuse
2023-04-29 19:00 - 22:00
Kate Anderson – sax, Mark Dziuba – guitar, Rich Syracuse – bass, Jeff Siegel – drums
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)
Kate Anderson has taken the Hudson Valley by storm after completing her Masters Degree Jazz Studies at Northern Illinois University. Kate has a great energy and Jazz swagger
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.

Jimmy Madison & Friends
2023-04-22 19:00 - 22:00
Jimmy Madison – drums
Tim Regusis – keys
Tarik Shah – bass
Drummer Jimmy Madison has performed with the greats of Jazz and Funk for over six decades, from Lionel Hampton, Roland Kirk, Chet Baker and Quincy Jones to James Brown, Maceo Parker and George Benson, among many others. But this trio format allows he and his compatriots to do what they do best, improvising on themes both familiar and new. It’s pure Jazz at its best.
Tim Regusis is a Hudson Valley-based pianist who has been active in the jazz scene of the NYC region, as well as in the fields of R&B, Latin and various world musics for many years.
He has played and/or recorded with Patti Austin, Ruben Blades, David Byrne, Celia Cruz, Chuck Mangione, Johnny Pacheco, Daniel Ponce, Rick Margitza, Cindy Blackman, Jeff Williams, Akira Ohmori, Najee, Donna Summer, Chaka Khan, Jonathan Butler, Ofra Haza and others.
Tarik Shah is an African American Muslim with a career as a professional jazz musician. As the sole student of Slam Stewart, Shah began playing the upright bass at age 12 and went on to play with Betty Carter, Ahmad Jamal, Abbey Lincoln and Art Taylor among others. He is a composer, a jazz educator, and lyricis

Teri Roiger 4tet
2023-04-15 19:00 - 22:00
Teri Roiger – vocals
Steve Einerson – piano
John Menegon – bass
Matt Garrity – drums
An American jazz musician, vocalist, pianist, songwriter, educator, and producer, Teri lives in New York City and also spends time in New York’s Hudson Valley.
Teri has performed throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Europe, and has been a featured artist at the San Miguel Jazz Festival, Panama Jazz Festival, and Bolzano Jazz Festival. The depth of her experiences and love of jazz is apparent when she brings all of her talents to bear in her live performances, the recording studio, and through her moving lyrics and compositions.
Praise for Roiger’s music and performances:
Jack DeJohnette, 2012 NEA Jazz Master and legendary jazz drummer: Teri has an intuitive laid back sense of time reminiscent of Abbey Lincoln & Betty Carter, but with her own uniqueness.
Stanley Crouch at DIZZY’s: Her notes, her swing, her sound, and the all-encompassing soulfulness of Teri giving meaning to the music and the moment said all there is to say. She had all of the essence that anyone wants to hear anytime from a true jazz singer…She is made for those who still understand the meaning of the term the real thing.
Vic Garbarini, Playboy Magazine: A voice like the finest bittersweet chocolate full of rich, dark, contradicting flavors that miraculously blend to create one of the most original vocal instruments in decades!
JAZZTIMES: Powerfully moving…sagacious warmth…impressively deep…
ALL ABOUT JAZZ: Roiger’s warm contralto, like aged, fine whiskey, is smooth but heady.
Mark Myers, JazzWax.com: A vocalist who wraps (Abbey) Lincoln’s complex songs around her finger…
