PHOTO: FSCInternational.com

SALVATOR CRACCHIOLO [trumpet] Sal Cracchiolo played with Poncho Sanchez which ultimately led to 18 albums and a Grammy and two Grammy nominations. Cracchiolo has traveled 35 countries globally. He also played with and recorded with such jazz greats as Dizzy Gillespie, Freddie Hubbard, Bobby Shew, Cal Tjader, Chick Corea, Stanley Turentine, Tito Puente, Mongo Santa Maria, Clare Fischer, Gary Foster, Francisco Aguabella, Arturo Sandoval, Eddie Harris, Joey De Francesco, Nancy Wilson, Dianne Reeves, Justo Almario, Celia Cruz, Warne Marsh, Lee Konitz, Peter Erskine, and the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra. He is a proud member of the Luckman Jazz Orchestra and is also a Yamaha Clinician and Performing Artist.

NDUGU CHANCLER [drums] Born in Shreveport, Louisiana, Ndugu Chancler began his music career in Los Angeles, attending Locke High School and California State University Dominguez Hills. At a very early age he performed with the Gerald Wilson Big Band, Hugh Masekela, Freddie Hubbard, Thelonious Monk, and Miles Davis. As a studio musician, he has recorded with Frank Sinatra, Herbie Hancock, Weather Report, John Lee Hooker, Kenny Rogers, and Michael Jackson (Thriller and Bad). Chancler was the drummer on the hit single “Billie Jean,” and co-wrote “Dance Sister Dance” (Santana), “Reach For It” (George Duke), and “Let It Whip” (Dazz Band). Production credits include Flora Purim, Bill Summers, and Toki, and his own solo recordings. He has co-produced for Santana, George Duke, The Crusaders, Joe Sample, Wilton Felder, Tina Turner, and a group he co-led with Patrice Rushen and Ernie Watts, The Meeting. Chancler has played on movie soundtracks (An Officer and a Gentleman, Indecent Proposal, The Color Purple), and his songs have been used in film and TV on Grosse Point Blank, Next Friday, and The New Guy.

JAMES FORD III [trumpet], a native of Perry, Georgia, is Assistant Professor of Trumpet at California State University, Los Angeles.  James has a reputation as an accomplished all-around trumpet player. He performs in diverse musical settings including orchestral, chamber, big band, salsa, small groups, musicals, and early music. A few of the artists/ensembles James has performed and/or recorded with include the University of North Texas One O’clock Lab Band, The Los Angeles Opera, The Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, The Gerald Wilson Orchestra, Rhubumba, Gideon Alorwoyie, Patti LaBelle, Benjamin Wright, Rob McConnell, Kenny Wheeler, Joe Lovano, Jiggs Whigham, Debbie Allen, and Nicholas Eklund.

LANNY HARTLEY [piano] A jazz pianist, conductor, and composer, Lanny Hartley began his career as the pianist for his church in Burlington, New Jersey. He went on to study Music Education at Indiana University, and jazz piano became his love. He performed with such great jazz artists as Wes Montgomery, Ernie Andrews, Jon Hendricks, Lou Rawls, Linda Hopkins, and Ernestine Anderson. He has also played for such pop artists as Thelma Houston, The Fifth Dimension, Joe Tex, Syreeta Wright, Al Wilson, and David Clayton Thomas. He has been the Musical Conductor/Director for Great Ladies of Blues and Jazz (Sandra Reeves), the Della Reese Musical Tour, and Dinah Was (New York, Los Angeles, Williamstown). Recent recordings that he has performed on include Linda Hopkins and Her Black ’n’ Blue Band; Live at Spaghettinis; and Yvette Freeman’s A Tribute to Dinah Washington as producer and arranger. Screen credits include: Harlem Nights (piano player); the TV movie Sinatra (blind piano player); ABC’s Soul Man, starring Dan Aykroyd (church organist); and NBC’s Working as Sam (the piano man).

FRED JACKSON, JR. [tenor sax, clarinet] Fred Jackson, Jr. is an in-demand woodwind player and has recorded, and performed with some of the top jazz, R&B, and pop artists, including Quincy Jones, Horace Silver, Benny Golson, Ray Charles, Benny Carter, Earth Wind and Fire, Patrice Rushen, Frank Zappa, Natalie Cole, Boz Scaggs, The Gap Band, Herbie Hancock, Diane Schuur, Joe Sample, Lou Rawls, The Emotions, Sheena Easton, Johnny Mathis, Sammy Davis Jr., Tony Bennett, Lionel Hampton, Ella Fitzgerald, Cleo Lane & John Dankworth, Manhattan Transfer, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Gladys Knight, David Sanborn, Janis Siegel, and others.

JEFFERY LITTLETON [bass] Jeffery Littleton is one of the most versatile, in-demand bassists on the West Coast. He has toured and performed with a virtual “who’s who” of top jazz artists: Herbie Hancock, Freddie Hubbard, Hank Crawford, Pharaoah Sanders, Charles Lloyd, Charles MacPherson, James Newton, Harold Land, and Bobby Hutcherson, to name a few. His own band, the Littleton Brothers, which he founded with his brother Don, has recorded one CD, with another in the works.

BENNIE MAUPIN [tenor sax] A native of Detroit, Michigan, Bennie Maupin is a veteran of the seminal New York jazz scene of the sixties and seventies. Maupin came up alongside other reed-playing legends such as Yusef Lateef, John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Wayne Shorter, Joe Henderson, and Eric Dolphy. After stints with important and innovative bandleaders such as Horace Silver, McCoy Tyner, Roy Haynes, and Lee Morgan, Maupin gained international attention and recognition as the bass clarinetist on Miles Davis’ landmark recordings Bitches Brew, Big Fun, and On the Corner. This was followed by an extended collaboration with pianist Herbie Hancock’s “Sextet” and the very successful and innovative “Headhunters.” Currently, Maupin is teaching and living in Altadena, California, in addition to performing his annual tours of Europe and Asia.

DERECK McLYN [alto sax] A longtime resident of Los Angeles, Dereck McLyn is an alumnus of California State University, Dominguez Hills. He has performed with numerous local jazz bands in recent years and is currently a middle school music teacher with the Los Angeles Unified School District. McLyn has a strong passion for playing big band jazz.

GEORGE McMULLEN, JR. [trombone] George McMullen has been a popular professional trombonist for over twenty years. In that time, he has played live and recorded with a tremendous variety of musicians and artists in jazz, rock, R&B, and Latin jazz. He served as the Musical Director for Brian Setzer from 1998 to 2003. Some of the other artists McMullen works with or has worked with in the past, include Oingo Boingo, Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Tony Bennett, James Newton, George Lewis, Vinny Golia, Doc Severinsen and the Tonight Show Orchestra, Poncho Sanchez, Sheila E., Tito Puente, and Celia Cruz.

JACK NIMITZ [baritone sax] Jack Nimitz is known for his robust baritone sound and empathetic playing quality, familiar as a graduate of the Woody Herman and Stan Kenton Orchestras. Early in his career, he worked in the house band at the Howard Theatre in D.C., and Bobby Woodlen’s Sextet at the Savoy Ballroom in NYC. In addition to his well-known contribution to the Grammy-winning Supersax, Nimitz has recorded with Gerald Wilson, Oliver Nelson, Terry Gibbs, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Natalie Cole, John Mandel, Ralph Burns, Shorty Rogers, Charles Mingus, Quincy Jones, Louie Bellson, Lalo Schifrin, Herbie Mann, Diana Krall, Shirley Horn, Bill Holman, and countless others. He has three CDs with his own group and has been involved with TV shows including Steve Allen, Merv Griffin, and Della Reese; films include The Sandpiper, Lady Sings the Blues, The Blues Brothers, and The Godfather.

CHARLES OWENS [alto/soprano sax, flute, clarinet] Charles Owens is a woodwind master. He plays all of the saxophones, flute, clarinet, oboe, and English horn. He has toured and performed with a veritable “Who’s Who” of top jazz artists: Buddy Rich, Mongo Santo Maria, Frank Zappa, John Mayall, Gerald Wilson, Francisco Aguabella, Duke Ellington Orchestra, and most recently, the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra. He has three albums to his credit. He has one CD and another on the way.

WILLIAM ROPER [tuba] William Roper’s professional experience ranges from the symphony stage to free improvisation groups. He has toured the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Europe with jazz and classical ensembles. His musicianship is represented on recordings with the rock bands: Thelonious Monster, The Fibonaccis and The Other Woman; poets: Jimmy Townes and Mark Weber; avant ensemble: Motor Totemist Guild; the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Parachute Express, and Chimurenga musician Thomas Mapfumo. He has played and/or recorded with jazzmen: the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, American Jazz Institute ensembles, the Luckman Jazz Orchestra under James Newton, Bobby Bradford, Anthony Braxton, John Carter, Jimmy Cleveland, Douglas Ewart, Vinny Golia, Billy Higgins, Glenn Horiuchi, Clay Jenkins, Yusef Lateef, James Newton, Charles Owens, John Rapson, Kim Richmond, Adam Rudolph, Wadada Leo Smith, Horace Tapscott, Michael Vlatkovich and Francis Wong. He has received performance grants from Meet the Composer/CA. He is co-founder and a performing member of Judicanti Responsura, a tuba and percussion ensemble specializing in contemporary classical and improvised music.

ALBERTO SALAS [Latin percussion] Alberto Salas brings his unique flair as an arranger/pianist/percussionist to any Afro-Cuban rhythm or mainstream pop tune of which he may be part. Applying his extensive knowledge of Cuban techniques, he can simplify or intensify intricate “world beat” rhythms to fit into today’s sounds of Pop, Rock, R&B, Hip-Hop, Jazz, or any combination thereof. Born in Los Angeles, Salas began playing piano at the age of six. Completely self-taught, today he finds himself sharing the stage and touring with such legendary artists as Santana, Mana, Justo Almario, Poncho Sanchez, Luis Conte, Israel Lopez “Cachao,” Olga Tanon, Albita, Cheo Feliciano, Tito Nieves, Raul Malo, Rick Trevino, Los Super Seven, The Winans, Helen Baylor, Andrae Crouch, the Luckman Jazz Orchestra and the Nashville Chamber Orchestra to name just a few.

NOLAN SHAHEED [trumpet] Tours have included: Aretha Franklin television show Live at the London Paladium (1974); Marvin Gaye music director (1975-79); Count Basie (1976-1978); Natalie Cole (1979); Stevie Wonder (1980-83); Diana Ross (1982-85); Image Award, Palladium (1978); American Music Awards — Phil Collins (1985); Anita Baker (1986). He also worked with Duke Ellington. Since 1986, Shaheed has worked as a studio musician, and has played on numerous records, motion pictures, and TV soundtracks. Albums include: Earth Wind and Fire; Stevie Wonder — Hotter than July and Conversation Piece; Marvin Gaye — Here My Dear; Al Williams; Teddy Edwards; Miles Davis; Count Basie; Montel Jordan — This is How We Do It; and Jeanne and Jimmy Cheathem — Good News Blues.

ISAAC SMITH [trombone] Isaac Smith has been playing trombone since the age of 13. Now based in New York City, he graduated from UCLA with a degree in Ethnomusicology. He has studied with George Bohanon, Slide Hampton, and Curtis Fuller. In addition to the Luckman Jazz Orchestra, he has performed and recorded with Oscar Brashear, Francisco Aguabella, Charles Owens, Slide Hampton, George Duke, Freddie Hubbard, and the Clayton-Hamilton Orchestra, among others. Current work includes performing with the Mingus Dynasty Band.

JACQUES VOYEMANT [trombone] Jacques Voyemant has performed, toured, and recorded on six continents with a long list of leading and respected artists, most notably Grammy Award-winning Latin jazz artist Poncho Sanchez, jazz trumpet great Tom Harrell, singers Paul Anka and Al Jarreau, as well as jazz luminaries such as Dave Brubeck, Clark Terry, Rosemary Clooney, Bobby Shew, Peter Erskine, Eddie Daniels, Ernie Watts, and Larry Coryell. Equally comfortable in the classical genre, Voyemant has appeared with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pasadena Symphony, Los Angeles Symphonic Camerta, and as principal trombone and soloist with the Santa Monica Symphony. Voyemant is currently a Professor of Trombone at California State University, Los Angeles, a jazz faculty member at the USC Thornton School of Music, and Adjunct Professor of Trombone at Santa Monica College.

BIJON WATSON  [trumpet] Born and raised in Massachusetts, Bijon Watson has been classically trained since the age of eight and has performed to audiences around the world. Watson has had the opportunity to record on numerous movie soundtracks with studios such as Paramount, Warner Brothers and Disney. His credits include performances and/or recordings with Joe Williams, Michael Crawford, Arturo Sandoval, Ramsey Lewis, Natalie Cole, Diane Schuur, Michael Brecker, Nicholas Payton, Barbara Morrison, Dianne Reeves, Nancy Wilson, Mariah Carey, Carl Thomas, Carl Anderson, and Eric Benet, to name a few. Watson has performed with the Boston Pops Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He is lead trumpet for the critically-acclaimed Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, the Gerald Wilson Jazz Orchestra,  the Jazz on the Latin Side All Stars, and many other jazz, salsa, and pop bands throughout the United States. A dedicated educator as well, Watson is the director of the Jazz and Commercial Music Program and the Frederick Fennell Wind Studies Program at the Orange County High School of the Arts in Santa Ana, California.