Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra

Performers include Seattle's finest professional jazz artists comprising an ethnically diverse group of young and veteran performers. Trumpeter Jay Thomas has been named Earshot's Best Instrumentalist and has recorded with Cedar Walton, Herb Ellis, and others. Saxophonist Bill Ramsay is a touring veteran of the Count Basie Orchestra. Phil Sparks is the most in-demand bassist in Seattle, named Earshot's Musician of the Year in 1996. Hadley Caliman is famous for his recordings with Eric Dolphy, Della Reese, and Freddie Hubbard. The list of local jazz luminaries who regularly perform with the SRJO continues to expand.

Visit our Don Lanphere Tribute page.

______________________________________________________________________________

Saxophones/Reeds

Michael Brockman, co-director and lead alto saxophonist, has been a faculty member of the UW School of Music since 1987, instructing saxophone performance and jazz composition and arranging. He studied saxophone and composition at the New England Conservatory, the Berklee College of Music and the Musikhochschule at the University of Cologne. He has recorded with groups in Washington D.C. and Boston, and in Seattle with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra and the Clarence Acox Sextet. "An Evening of Duke Ellington at the UW," produced and directed by Brockman, was voted the 1992 Earshot Jazz Concert of the Year. Brockman was featured on the cover of the nationally published Saxophone Journal (Sept. 1999), which included a lengthy feature article about him.

Bill Ramsay (baritone saxophone) is among Seattle's busiest musicians, leading his own bands and recording with groups up and down the West Coast. He spent two years as a member of the Count Basie Orchestra, and is a veteran of many of the nation's outstanding big bands, including the bands of Thad Jones, Grover Mitchell, Cab Calloway, Mel Lewis, Gene Harris, and Quincy Jones, and the Benny Goodman Octet. He was inducted to the Seattle Jazz Hall of Fame in 1997.

Mark Taylor (alto sax) is a graduate of the UW School of Music, and the Manhattan School of Music. He is well-known to Seattle audiences through the Davis/Taylor Project, and as a key member of that project he is the recipient of an Earshot Golden Ear Award for Best Emerging Group of 1997. Recently returned from NYC. Mark can be heard locally with his own groups, and with the Jim Knapp Orchestra, New Stories, the Steve Korn Group, and Matt Jorgensen+451.

Hadley Caliman (tenor saxophone) was an early disciple of Dexter Gordon, and began recording in 1949. He has appeared in concert and on recordings with Roy Porter, Eric Dolphy, Della Reese, Freddie Hubbard, Jon Hendricks, Eddie Henderson, Julian Priester, Joe Henderson, Jessica Williams and Carlos Santana. A former member of the faculty at the Cornish College for the Arts, Hadley was recently inducted into the Seattle Jazz Hall of Fame.

Travis Ranney (tenor sax) is recognized in Seattle as one of the very best jazz improvisers in the city. He studied at the University of Washington School of Music and is a former student of Don Lanphere and Michael Brockman. He has worked in Seattle and traveled with numerous bands, including the Bob Florence Band, the Port Townsend Festival Big Band, and the Friendly Fire Big Band.

______________________________________________________________________________

Trumpets

Dennis Haldane (lead trumpet) is the assistant lead trumpet in the Jazz Police and Roadside Attraction big bands, lead trumpet in the Friendly Fire and Olympia Jazz Initiative (OJI) big bands, and solo trumpet in Latin Expression Orchestra. He is also a private instructor for many trumpet students in the leading school ensembles in the Seattle area.

Jay Thomas (trumpet) is among the leading jazz soloists in Seattle, appearing with his own group and as a guest soloist throughout the Northwest. The Jay Thomas Group has recorded several successful CDs /albums, and Thomas has also recorded with Cedar Walton, Herb Ellis, and with his wife, Becca Duran.

Thomas Marriott (trumpet) is a graduate of the jazz programs of both the University of Washington and Garfield High School. In 1998 he was named Emerging Artist of the Year by the readers of Earshot Jazz Magazine and in 1999 he was the winner of the Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet Competition. In 2000 he joined the Maynard Ferguson Orchestra and moved to New York City. After completing five world tours with Ferguson, Thomas worked and/or recorded in and around New York with luminaries such as Rosemary Clooney, The Tito Puente Orchestra, Ritchie Cole, Eric Reed, The Chico OíFarrell Orchestra, Bob Berg, Brian Lynch Orchestra, Bebo Valdez, & Joe Locke. Now making his home in Seattle, Thomas released his first solo album, "Individuation" in February of 2005. Thomas is a C.G.Conn sponsored artist.

______________________________________________________________________________

Trombones

Bill Anthony (lead trombone) has performed as a soloist with bands on both coasts of the U.S., including the J.J. Johnson band in New York and here in Seattle with the Clarence Acox Sextet, Roadside Attraction, and Bochinche. He instructs at both Garfield High School and Washington Middle School.

Scott Brown (trombone) is a graduate of the University of Washington and the nationally recognized director of the Roosevelt High School bands. He is a featured performer with numerous Seattle ensembles including Latin Expression and the Jazz Police.

David Bentley (bass trombone) is the director of bands at Mercer Island High School. He is a graduate of both the University of Washington and the University of Miami. He was recently singled out from all teachers in the State of Washington as recipient of the "Director Who Makes a Difference" award by School Band and Orchestra Magazine.

Dan Marcus (trombone/tuba/percussion) started playing semi-professionally at age nine alongside his father in several Bay area Dixie bands. He toured extensively with the Ray Charles and Woody Herman Orchestras, among others. Dan performed for a number of years in Teatro Zinzanni and now appears regularly with the Ramsay-Kleeb Big Band, the Big Bad Groove Society and the Type A! Funk Band, along with extensive arranging, freelancing and studio work.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Rhythm Section

Randy Halberstadt (piano) is among Seattle's most in-demand players, leading his own groups and appearing year-round with top Seattle musicians and guest from across the nation. He has performed with Herb Ellis, Buddy de Franco, Nick Brignola, Terry Gibbs, Slide Hampton, Pete Christlieb, Bobby Shew, Joe LaBarbera, Lanny Morgan, John Stowell, David Friesen, Kim Richmond, Don Lanphere, Jiggs Whigham, Roswell Rudd, Jack Walrath, Gary Smulyan, Julian Priester, Mel Brown, and many others. Recently, Randy recorded with Bay area guitarist Mimi Fox and the world renowned Ray Drummond on bass. Randy is also on the faculty of the Cornish School for the Arts and the Centrum Jazz Workshop.

Larry Fuller (piano) was born in Ohio, and gained national recognition in 1988 through international tours and recordings with singer Ernestine Anderson. In 1989, he moved to Seattle to continue working with Anderson, and became immediately active with many of the top groups in Seattle's jazz culture, including the Jeff Hamilton Trio. In 2000, Larry joined the legendary Ray Brown Trio, and remained with Brown, touring and performing with him until the bassist's death in 2002. Larry has performed with a veritable "who's who" of jazz, including Harry "Sweets" Edison, Phil Woods, Clark Terry, Bennie Golson, and Eddie Harris, and appears on recordings with Dee Daniels, the Jeff Hamilton Trio, and many others. The recently released Larry Fuller Trio CD "Easy Walker" (Pony Boy Records) was awarded the Earshot Jazz 2004 "Golden Ear Award" for Best Northwest Recording.

Phil Sparks (bass) is among the leading bassists in Seattle, having performed with nearly every top jazz group in the city. He records extensively with many of the Northwest's top names, and received a special mention as a star of the Seattle scene in the February, 1994, issue of Downbeat Magazine.

Clarence Acox, co-director and drummer, was voted the 1992 Earshot Jazz "Musician of the Year". He directs the award-winning Garfield High School jazz ensemble and is among Seattle's busiest drummers. A native of New Orleans, he graduated from Southern University and recently received national recognition as recipient of the Educator of the Year Award from Downbeat Magazine. His own sextet has won numerous awards for its CD recordings "Joannaís Dance" and "Indigenous Groove". Acox can also be heard as a regular member of the Floyd Standifer Group. He serves annually as a faculty artist for the renowned Bud Shank/Centrum Jazz Workshop.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________