DWJO
information about the musicians of the David White Jazz Orchestra
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david white jazz orchestra
Founded in 2007, the David White Jazz Orchestra is the creation of jazz trombonist/composer David White. The 17-piece ensemble performs David White's original compositions and arrangements exclusively.
music director
David White
David White is a jazz trombonist, composer & music director based in New York City. He is the music director of the David White Jazz Orchestra (DWJO) and the owner of Mister Shepherd Records. White’'s had the honor or performing with such notable musicians as Benny Golson, Jon Faddis, Slide Hampton, Jim Pugh, James Weidman, Frank Lowe, Todd Coolman, Valery Ponomarev, Charli Persip, Delfeayo Marsalis, Vicki Yohe, Junior Mance, Rufus Reid, Doc Severinsen and Kenny Burrell.
White moved to the New York City area in 2003 and currently resides in Queens. He led his own quintet for seven years and has also played with Charli Persip’s big band and Valery Ponomarev’s big band. Since its inception in 2007, the David White Jazz Orchestra has performed at such New York venues as Symphony Space, Garage Restaurant and Café, Tea Lounge, Somethin’ Jazz Club, Saint Peter’s Church, Full Gospel Assembly, The Frick Collection and the American Museum of Natural History.
vocalist
Cherette White
Cherette M. White is a touring singer, recording artist and entrepreneur based in the NYC area. Her career started in Canada where she attended the University of Ottawa and enjoyed some years as a professional Opera singer and recitalist.
After returning to her native New York, she focused on teaching music while performing simultaneously. In time, she formed a music service and consulting firm. Under this umbrella, she's partnered with several organizations/clients to facilitate project development in addition to workshops and clinics on a variety of topics relevant to musicians and performers.
Today, Cherette actively sings and teaches Classical, Gospel, Jazz and Soul music. She is privileged to be in leadership as the Praise and Worship leader at Full Gospel Assembly of Queens in Richmond Hill NY. She tours actively as an independent artist and in ensemble with many talented and up and coming artists.
Recorded with the David White Jazz Orchestra on: Live at Midday Jazz
saxophones
Andrew Gould
Native New Yorker, saxophonist and composer Andrew Gould has established himself as one of the most in demand players on the NYC music scene.
He has performed with James Moody, Benny Golson, Wallace Roney, Jon Faddis, The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, the Mambo Legends Orchestra, David Weiss, Ray Vega, Chuchito Valdes, Ricky Rodriguez and many more. He was a 2013 Thelonious Monk Saxophone Competition Semi Finalist and has recorded for MTV, Universal Records, Warner Bros Music, and Capitol Records for world famous artists including Fifth Harmony, Mac Miller and more. He has also performed live on the Today Show, ABC News, WBGO Radio, and at Winter Jazzfest, The Charlie Parker Jazz Festival, Bermuda Jazz Festival and the Caramoor Jazz Festival.
Andrew’s new album, First Things First was released this year on Outside in Music.
Recorded with the David White Jazz Orchestra on: Flashpoint, The Chase and Live at Midday Jazz
Omar Daniels
Omar Daniels saxophone.b. New York, NY. B.A., Harvard University; B.F.A, City College. Omar has been featured on WWFM, The Classical Network,his concert performance of his arrangements of Gershwin, recorded and broadcast, in full, across the country. Performances include: Musica Viva festival and club appearances in NYC and Boston. Served as director of the Jazz Ensemble, guest lecturer in jazz history, and saxophone instructor at The Lawrenceville School. Served as saxophone instructor at City College. Omar is actively composing new works for an upcoming CD.
Recorded with the David White Jazz Orchestra on: Flashpoint, The Chase and Live at Midday Jazz
Sam Taylor
Saxophonist Sam Taylor is an active member of the New York City jazz community, performing at numerous venues including The National Arts Club, Cornelia Street Café, Webster Hall, Fat Cat and many others. Taylor has premiered his compositions with famed trumpeter Jon Faddis, and was invited to play for saxophone legend James Moody's 80th birthday celebration. The young saxophonist was also featured at The Nigunim Music Festival of New Jewish Music, and toured Europe as a guest soloist with The Noord-Nederlands Conservatorium Symphonic Jazz Orchestra. In 2014, Taylor was awarded a grant from The Netherland America Foundation to lead his band on a tour of Holland.
Taylor's debut recording, My Future Just Passed, (released on Cellar Live, August 2015) was hailed by the Toronto Music Report as a "remarkable release", with All About Jazz describing Taylor's playing as "wise beyond his years". It features the masterful, Taro Okamoto on drums along with bassist Aidan O'Donnell.
Along The Way, Taylor's second album was released on Cellar Live November, 2017.
Recorded with the David White Jazz Orchestra on: Flashpoint, The Chase and Live at Midday Jazz
Sam Dillon
Sam Dillon is a saxophonist, woodwind player, composer and teacher based in New York. In 2013 Sam was selected as a semifinalist in the Thelonious Monk International Saxophone Competition. As a semifinalist, Sam performed at The Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. for Wayne Shorter, Jimmy Heath, Branford Marsalis, Bobby Watson and Jane Ira Bloom. Most notably, Sam has performed at Carnegie Hall, Jazz @ Lincolin Center, Symphony Space, Smoke Jazz Club, The Iridium, Yoshi's Jazz Club, Smalls Jazz Club, The 55 Bar, The Zinc Bar, The Kitano Hotel, Cornelia Street Cafe and live on WBGO 88.3 FM. In 2009 Sam received his Masters in Jazz Performance from SUNY Purchase College.
Recorded with the David White Jazz Orchestra on: Flashpoint, The Chase and Live at Midday Jazz
Stephen Plekan
Baritone and tenor saxophonist Stephen Plekan is a graduate of the Purchase College Conservatory of Music. Plekan also has recorded on bass guitar with the progressive rock group The Middle Eight.
Recorded with the David White Jazz Orchestra on: Flashpoint
Tim Stocker
Tim Stocker has proved himself as a versatile and in demand Baritone Saxophonist during his almost 6 year tenure in NYC from 2010. He now lives in Singapore and has been welcomed into the local Jazz community as a performer, educator and event organiser.
Tim leads his own trio and quartet and composes original music for these groups. He has an upcoming album as a leader currently in production.
Recorded with the David White Jazz Orchestra on: The Chase
Jeff Newell
Born in 1955, in Kansas City, MO, Newell was raised in rural Nebraska and earned a B.A. in music conferred with distinction from the University of Nebraska and after a year of graduate school moved to Chicago in 1978 where he began performing in local jazz clubs and festivals. His professional experience began in earnest when he joined the Neoclassic Jazz Orchestra with which he toured Europe.
Jeff has played and/or recorded with such jazz notables as: Charles Earland, Houston Person, Kevin Mahogany, and Terrance Blanchard. He leads his own group, the New Orleans style New-Trad Octet which recently released its first CD, Brownstone, on Blujazz records.
brooklynmusicschool.org/jeff-newell-biography/
Recorded with the David White Jazz Orchestra on: Live at Midday Jazz
trumpets
Miki Hirose
Born in Kobe, Japan, trumpeter Miki Hirose relocated in 2003, and adopted New York as his home. He's performed with jazz legends organist Dr. Lonnie Smith, and saxophonists Frank Wess and Benny Golson.His debut as a leader, A Day In New York was released on JAZZ LAB records.
Recorded with the David White Jazz Orchestra on: Flashpoint and The Chase
Ron Harter
Ron Harter is a graduate of the Purchase College Conservatory of Music. He regularly performs with his own group, Triad Brass in the New York City area.
Recorded with the David White Jazz Orchestra on: Live at Midday Jazz
Volker Goetze
Volker Goetze is an international touring performer, composer, filmmaker and media artist. He has performed and presented his work at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Paris Jazz Festival, WDR Cologne, Gasteig Munich, Jazz-A-Vienne, World Festival of Sacred Music (Los Angeles), Caixa Forum Madrid and the Opera Festival in Munich. His work fuels cross-cultural dialogue, incorporates multiple disciplines and utilizes cutting edge technology. His compositions derive from folklore music, rock, jazz, contemporary music, classical as well as baroque music. He has been investigating the oral culture and storytelling of West Africa and its influences on jazz and black culture in America. GRIOT, a feature documentary about the oral music tradition in West Africa, is Volker Goetze's debut as a film director and has since developed into a multimedia performance documentary. Mr. Goetze has held many master classes and was invited as a panelist by the Apollo Theater and the New York Foundation for the Arts.
His 2012 album, Sira, was released on Motema Records.
Recorded with the David White Jazz Orchestra on: Flashpoint
Pablo Masis
Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, Pablo spent his childhood years in northern Arizona on the Navajo Indian Reservation before moving to Billings, Montana. After graduating from High School, he studied classical trumpet with Robert Levy and received a Bachelor of Music degree from Lawrence University. After pursuing a year of Graduate study in classical trumpet under Dennis Najoom at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, he moved to New Orleans, where he studied with Terence Blanchard, Clyde Kerr Jr. and Ed Petersen, and received a Masters Degree in Jazz Studies from the University of New Orleans. Additionally, he attended the Betty Carter Jazz Ahead Residency at the Kennedy Center in 2007 and also participated in the Banff Centre’s Workshop in Jazz and Creative Music in 2009, led by jazz icon Dave Douglas.
He has appeared across the United States and Europe including New York, Seattle, Portland, Omaha, New Orleans, Washington DC, Belgium, The Netherlands, and Poland. He has also performed with acts such as Michael Buble, Josh Groban, Gladys Knight, and the Temptations.
His latest album as a leader, Rubicon, was released in 2014.
Recorded with the David White Jazz Orchestra on: The Chase and Live at Midday Jazz
Alicia Rau
The youngest of six girls in a musical family, this Iowa farmer’s daughter began playing music at an early age and by age 10, she latched onto the trumpet. She double majored in Music and Anthropology at the University of Iowa. While receiving a Bachelor of Arts Degree, she spent a semester of field study in Senegal, West Africa. She studied ethnomusicology, learned African drumming and dance, and toured with local bands.
As a guest performer, Rau has toured West Africa, France, Canada, and the Dominican Republic with the Haitian Dance Troupe Choucoune, Zale Seck’s Mbalax Daagou, Groupe Ceddo, the Dominican Army Marine Band, and Batey Reggae Band. She can be seen in the recent Hollywood film My Sassy Girl, on the soundtrack of the film Betrayal with Gino Sitson, and in the upcoming film Dinner on the Riviera by T.D. White. Rau leads two of her own jazz projects, aRAUz and Sugah Rush.
Recorded with the David White Jazz Orchestra on: Flashpoint, The Chase and Live at Midday Jazz
Michael Irwin
Trumpeter and composer Michael Irwin grew up in New York City. Inspired by the sounds he heard throughout his youth, he studied Jazz at the Conservatory of Music at SUNY Purchase where he was the student of trumpet legend Jon Faddis.
Michael has contributed to albums by The Chieftains, Vampire Weekend, Brazilian Girls, The Budos Band, and TV on the Radio. A presence on the vibrant New York Jazz and new music scene, he has played in ensembles led by Kenny Wollesen, Federico Ughi, Joel Forrester and others. He also leads the Highline Jazz Quartet, a group exploring the American songbook and jazz canon, as well as The Brooklyn Bears, a trio that plays original and improvised compositions.
Michael’s musical interests have led to fruitful collaborations and international tours with singer/songwriters such as Elvis Perkins and Jocie Adams, The Walkmen, The Low Anthem, and The Woes.
Recorded with the David White Jazz Orchestra on: Flashpoint
Ryo Sasaki
Born in 1976, Tokyo Japan. Ryo Sasaki started playing trumpet at the age of 15.
From 1996 to 1999 he attended Berklee College of Music in Boston MA and earned a college diploma as a performance major and studied privately with Darren Barrett, Tiger Okoshi and Charlie Lewis .
He has played and taught trumpet professionally in Tokyo, Japan since 2000.
The spring of 2006 he arrived in New York and has played many venues including The Blue Note, St Nick's pub, Minton's Playhouse and the Cotton club.
His latest album, Two For the Road, was released on Bluestet Records.
Recorded with the David White Jazz Orchestra on: Live at Midday Jazz
trombones
Melissa Gardiner
Jazz trombonist Melissa Gardiner has been described by Curtis Fuller as technically creative and emotionally powerful. Gardiner received her master’s degree in jazz performance at The Juilliard School where she studied with Steve Turre. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree at The University of Michigan where she studied with Dennis Wilson(jazz) and David Jackson(classical). Former teachers also include Bill Harris, Curtis Fuller and Wycliffe Gordon.
Throughout her career she has worked with several notable musicians including Aretha Franklin, The Tempatations, Geri Allen, Wycliffe Gordon, Steve Turre, Gerald Wilson, Patti Austin, Tia Fuller, Ingrid Jensen, Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, and Vulfpeck.
As a bandleader, she performs regularly with her jazz organ trio, MG3, and the SAMMY Award winning New Orleans style brass band, Second Line Syracuse. She is a member of the CNY Jazz Orchestra and frequently joins other local and regional ensembles. Gardiner is active in theater as a pit orchestra musician and has also worked with Carnival Cruise Lines and the Disneyland All-American College Band.
Her debut album as a leader, Transitions, was released in 2011.
Recorded with the David White Jazz Orchestra on: Flashpoint
Rick Parker
Parker has resided in New York City since 2001 when he began studies for a masters in jazz performance and composition at NYU. He has worked with a large cross section of notable musicians and groups including Tim Berne, Mingus Big Band, Darcy James Argue Secret Society, Charli Persip, Frank Lacy, Super Hi-Fi, Tim Kuhl, Beninghove’s Hangmen, Cage the Elephant, hip hop legends the Wu Tang Clan and DMC and mexican pop stars Ximena Sariñana and Natalia LaFourcade. Since 2012 he has been a member of Ravish Momin’s Tarana, performing at festivals, universities and major concerts in USA, Mexico and Europe. Parker’s innovative use of electronics with the trombone have allowed him to cross through many musical genres and even garnered the attention of manufacturers Electroharmonix and Eventide with whom he has consulted on the development of new pedals and effects.
Parker has performed at major venues and festivals across Asia, Europe, North and South America including the Montreal Jazz Festival, Montreux Jazz Fest, Blue Note, Jazz Standard, Blues Alley, the Kennedy Center and Lincoln Center. Parker was twice honored with an ASCAP Young Jazz Composer award and frequently arranges music for rock/pop groups and jazz big band.
As a bandleader, Rick Parker’s music traverses multiple cultures and musical genres. His jazz quintet, The Rick Parker Collective, has released two albums on Fresh Sound New Talent and WJF records.
Recorded with the David White Jazz Orchestra on: Flashpoint and The Chase
Nick Finzer
Born into the musical world (Mom Sherry Finzer is an international flutist), Finzer developed a fascination for the music of Duke Ellington and found himself, in high school, performing at the annual Essentially Ellington competition of Jazz at Lincoln Center. It was then that he decided to pursue a life in music himself. His budding talent was recognized by Wycliffe Gordon who began a life-long mentorship by writing four pieces for the young Finzer while he attended the Eastman School of Music. Nick went on to get his masters at Juilliard’s prestigious Jazz program where he was mentored by the trombone legend Steve Turre.
In 2011 Nick was the winner of the Eastern Trombone Workshop’s National Jazz Trombone Competition and was a finalist in the 2010 International Trombone Association’s Carl Fontana Jazz Trombone Competition.
In January of 2013 Nick released his recording debut as a bandleader and composer with Exposition (Outside In Music). Two tracks appearing on the album garnered Finzer a pair of accolades: The prestigious American Society of Composers and Performers (ASCAP)’s Herb Alpert Award for young composers (2013 & 2015)
Finzer has performed at top Jazz clubs and concert halls with Wynton Marsalis’ Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Lucas Pino’s No Net Nonet, Ryan Truesdell's Gil Evans Project, Bob Stewart’s Double Quartet, Frank Wess, Terrell Stafford, Lewis Nash, the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, Walt Weiskopf, Slide Hampton, Frank Kimbrough, Carl Allen, Steve Turre.
Recorded with the David White Jazz Orchestra on: Live at Midday Jazz
James Hall
James Hall is a trombonist and composer from Nebraska based in New York City. A versatile musician, his projects have spanned jazz, classical, latin, and popular music in the US and Europe.
As a composer and bandleader, James was named a finalist in the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Competition, won three ASCAPlus Awards for composition, and was a featured performer/composer at the 2012 Chelsea Music Festival. As trombonist in Williamsburg Salsa Orchestra, he has performed at B.B. Kings', S.O.B's, MassMOCA, The Kennedy Center, The Blue Note Jazz Festival, and has appeared in the pages of Rolling Stone Magazine. He has appeared on several recordings with Postmodern Jukebox, with whom he has toured Europe and the US. James' trombone playing earned third place, runner-up, and honorable mention in the Antti Rissanen, J.J. Johnson, and Carl Fontana International Jazz Trombone Competitions, respectively.
James' first CD as a composer/bandleader was released in October 2013. Entitled Soon We Will Not Be Here by James Hall Thousand Rooms Quartet, the body of work sets contemporary poems by NYC-based poets to 3rd-stream chamber music. His sophomore release, Lattice is currently in post-production.
James holds degrees from the Lawrence Conservatory of Music in Wisconsin and Aaron Copland School of Music in New York.
Recorded with the David White Jazz Orchestra on: Live at Midday Jazz
Dan Reitz
Dan Reitz is a versatile and active musician, composer and music director based in New York City. He is the music director for Baby Wants Candy: The Improvised Musical with Full Band, The Improvised Opera, and was music director for the North American Tour of 50 Shades: The Original Musical Parody. He is the composer of Camp Death: A Midsummer Night’s Scream: The Musical, which premiered at Princeton University in 2014 and is an active jazz and rock trombonist. Dan studied longform improvisation at the Peoples Improv Theater and the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre and has over three years of experience teaching musical improv comedy to students in the U.S. and overseas.
Recorded with the David White Jazz Orchestra on: The Chase
Barry Cooper
Originally from Jacksonville, Florida, Barry Cooper moved to New York shortly after graduating high school to attend the New School University, where he studied under jazz master Benny Powell. Shortly thereafter, Cooper became a regular touring member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra, performed on Sunday nights at Birdland with the Chico O’Farrill Afro-Cuban Orchestra, and had many other performances with other bands around New York City. Clark Terry was also very helpful to Cooper, inviting him to perform with a very young band he put together called “The Young Titans of Jazz.” Terry invited him to record in Bern, Switzerland, and as part of a live DVD in Birdland in New York City. While on tour with Terry in Switzerland, Cooper met the members of the Count Basie Orchestra and was invited to join. Since then, Cooper has performed all over the world, playing in concert halls such as Carnegie Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City, and Bunkyo Civic Hall in Japan. He has played with Tony Bennett, Nancy Wilson, Dianne Reeves, Liz Wright, Dianne Schuur, Manhattan Transfer, New York Voices, Jon Hendricks, and the Charles Tolliver Orchestra, to name a few.
westpointband.army.mil//concert-band/personnel/trombone.html
Recorded with the David White Jazz Orchestra on: Flashpoint
Alaina Alster
Originally from Long Island, New York, Alaina Alster earned her Bachelor of Music in both trombone and euphonium performance from the University of Michigan and her Master of Music in trombone performance from the Manhattan School of Music. Prior to joining the West Point Band, Staff Sgt. Alster was an active freelance musician in New York City where she enjoyed a career performing a wide range of musical genres. She continues to perform with ensembles outside of West Point, specifically as a member of PitchBlak Brass Band, a ten piece hip-hop brass band based out of Brooklyn, New York. Alster is also a music educator and has worked as a teaching artist for the Phil Ramone Orchestra for Children and as a private music instructor.
westpointband.army.mil//concert-band/personnel/trombone.html
Recorded with the David White Jazz Orchestra on: The Chase
Jimmy O’Connell
Originally from the Metro Detroit Area, O'Connell began playing piano at the age of 7 and trombone at the age of 9. Soon after discovering the trombone, O'Connell joined the Detroit Symphony Civic Jazz Orchestra under the direction of Marcus Belgrave, and later on Rodney Whitaker.
O'Connell went on to study at the University of Michigan, and while attending, played with greats such as Geri Allen, Bob Hurst, Karriem Riggins and Rodney Whitaker. After his tenure at Michigan, O'Connell pursued his Master's Degree from the Manhattan School of Music where he studied with trombonist Luis Bonilla. Since moving to NYC, O'Connell has performed with greats such as Paquito D'Rivera, Dave Liebman, Joe Lovano, and Randy Brecker as well as with his own groups and as a sideman at Carnegie Hall, The Blue Note, Smalls, Fat Cat, Dizzy's Club Coca Cola, Zinc Bar, Highline Ballroom, Rockwood Music Hall and many others.
His debut album, Arrhythmia, was released in 2016 on Outside in Music Records.
Recorded with the David White Jazz Orchestra on: Live at Midday Jazz
Robert Stattel
Rob Stattel, Trombone and Euphonium, a native of the Washington, DC area, currently resides in Yonkers, NY, and performs and teaches throughout the tri-state area. His experiences include a stint with the 81st US Army Band, and a national tour with “In The Mood”, a 1940s musical review. Locally, he has performed with the Yonkers Philharmonic, the Westchester Broadway Theater, the Bensen/Scott Orchestra, the Westchester Swing Band, the Virgil Scott Orchestra, the Monarch Brass Quintet and the Bottom Line Tuba Quartet.. Rob has degrees from the University of Michigan and the University of Maryland, and has studied with Brian Bowman (Air Force Band) and Abe Torchinsky (Philadelphia Orchestra).
crestwoodmusic.com/faculty/brass
Recorded with the David White Jazz Orchestra on: Flashpoint and The Chase
Brandon Moodie
Brandon Moodie is a graduate of the University of North Texas. He currently resides in Astoria, Queens and is an active performer and educator in New York City.
Recorded with the David White Jazz Orchestra on: Live at Midday Jazz
rhythm section
Nick Consol
Nick Consol is a pianist, composer and arranger based out of New York City. Hailing originally from Rochester, NY where he studied with Andy Calabrese, Nick attended SUNY Purchase where he graduated with a BA in Jazz Performance. While at Purchase he studied extensively with New York piano master Pete Malinverni and also benefited from the guidance of Hal Galper, Charles Blenzig, Todd Coolman, Jon Faddis, Doug Munro and Ralph Lalama.
Since 2010, he has performed with vocalist Joelle Lurie in her backing band, The Pinehurst Trio. This ensemble has played at some of New York's most renowned venues such as Birdland, Lincoln Center, The Rainbow Room and many others. He is featured on Joelle's debut album, Take Me There (2014) and appeared with Joelle on Michael Feinstein's radio program Song Travels on NPR. He has also performed with the family music offshoot of this same group, Jojo And The Pinecones, who released their album, Night & Day and performed at Lollapalooza in 2017.
Recorded with the David White Jazz Orchestra on: Flashpoint and The Chase
Angelo DiLoreto
Angelo Di Loreto was born in 1990 in Buffalo, New York. He performs primarily as the pianist in the Philippe Lemm Trio, a dynamic NYC-based ensemble along with bassist Jeff Koch and drummer Philippe Lemm. In the last few years, the group has toured extensively throughout Europe and the US, with debuts at the North Sea Jazz Festival, Pori Jazz Festival in Finland, the Getxo Jazz Festival in Bilbao, Spain as well as Lithuania, Germany, and Belgium. Most recently, Angelo was commissioned to arrange music for the Metropole Orkest, the Grammy-winning pops orchestra in the Netherlands. Angelo was a finalist in the 2012 Nottingham International Jazz Piano Competition in the United Kingdom and is a three-time ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award winner.
Recorded with the David White Jazz Orchestra on: Live at Midday Jazz
Doug Drewes
Doug Drewes is a freelance bassist, composer and educator in New York City. He has over 20 album credits and his playing can be heard on tv shows for NBC, MTV, IFC and USA. Doug has performed throughout the US and Canada including performances at Carnegie Hall, CMJ and the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts. A former faculty member at Camp Encore/Coda, Doug is currently a faculty member at the New York Jazz Academy where he teaches private bass lessons, improvisation, and small ensemble. Mr. Drewes received his bachelors of music at the State University of New York at Purchase College. He has studied bass with Dennis Irwin, Todd Coolman, Mark Helias, and Scott Colley.
His latest release as a leader, Defcon 5, features Jacob Pleakis (piano) and Kenny Shaw (drums).
Recorded with the David White Jazz Orchestra on: Flashpoint
Phil Rowan
Brooklyn-based double bassist Phil Rowan received a B.A. in Jazz Studies at Purchase College and an M.M. in Classical Double Bass Performance at Stony Brook University. Phil’s current projects include indie-folk-jazz quartet Old Time Musketry and the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony, three-time winner of the American Prize in Orchestral Performance. In addition to these projects Phil has performed and recorded with the Alex Levin Trio, NYCity Slickers, the Kjersti Kveli Group, High Line Jazz Quartet, Mettawee River Theater Company, Astoria Symphony Orchestra, Stony Brook Symphony Orchestra, The Choral-Orchestral Ensemble of New York and Hunter Choir Orchestra.
Recorded with the David White Jazz Orchestra on: The Chase
Alexi David
Cypriot-American composer and bassist Alexi David grew up in Brooklyn's Park Slope neighborhood. His group, Alexi David's Patriot Act, has created the first fusion with jazz and the Greek sounds of rembetika. David is also adept on bouzouki, baglama and piano. He is a scholar on the music of the late Charles Mingus, and has worked extensively with Terry Waldo, José James, The Fat Cat Big Band, Junior Mance and many others. Being Nellie McKay's regular bassist, he naturally lives with two cats. He is currently hard at work researching for forgotten and never performed Mingus compositions, to perform at upcoming shows.
Recorded with the David White Jazz Orchestra on: Live at Midday Jazz
Paul Francis
Grammy Award-winning drummer and educator Paul Francis has extensive experience working with some of the world’s greatest musicians. He is featured on the Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett album and subsequent PBS special Cheek to Cheek, and toured extensively with the duo to support that recording. He continues to perform with Lady Gaga on a regular basis. Paul has also recorded and/or performed with Stevie Wonder, Jose Feliciano, Jon Faddis, David Hazeltine, Jim Belushi, Molly Ringwald, Megan Hilty, The Rockettes, Ralph Lalama, Brian Newman, Rich Little, The Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra and The Albany Symphony Orchestra, and the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra conducted by Buddy Morrow. Paul has also appeared on shows for HBO, ABC and MTV, and is on the soundtrack for the movie “Friends with Kids”.
Recorded with the David White Jazz Orchestra on: Flashpoint and Live at Midday Jazz
Ryan Cavan
Ryan Cavan is a professional drummer/percussionist based in New York City. Depending upon the gig, you might catch him playing a full drum set, jembe and cowbell, a toy drum set, or his garbage can kit. He has performed throughout Europe, Australia, and the United States.
Ryan has Performed and/or Recorded with: David Ippolito, Melba Moore, Celtic Cross, The Healers (Townsend), Vertigo (UK), Bob McGrath (Sesame Street), Bill Haley’s Comets, Kombo (Verve), Joseph Walsh, Elaine LaChica, Lenahan (Clandestine), Juano Lippi, Justina (Nigerian pop star), Susanna Quan (Chinese pop star), The McCabes, Kenny Asher (John Lennon/Lenny Kravitz), Jon Faddis, and Unspun (Universal), The Unskilled Labor Funk Ensemble, David O'Rourke, Vita Izabella, Station 23, Doug Munro (Shanachie), Matt Katz, Anavana (Zip), The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Anthony Mills (Harry Belafonte), Smite (Devious Semantics), Seth Horan, among others.
Recorded with the David White Jazz Orchestra on: The Chase
