Richie Cole & the Alto Madness Orchestra
Alto saxophonist Richie Cole, with more than a quarter century of contributions to the jazz world under his belt, is perhaps best known for his four-year partnership with the late Eddie Jefferson.

The road was Jefferson and Cole's home. The pair toured the States in Cole's minivan, playing just about everywhere until 1979, when Jefferson was gunned down, gangland-style, outside Baker's Keyboard Lounge in Detroit. Cole's memories of Jefferson and the times haven't faded with the years: "A day doesn't go by that I don't think about the man. He was the world's greatest pure jazz singer."

Cole fell in love with jazz as a youngster, listening to the music at his father's jazz club in Trenton, New Jersey.

He got his first horn at the age of 10, and while in high school, he was tutored by Phil Woods, with whom he later recorded the album Side By Side for Muse Records.

A tenure with Buddy Rich's big band beginning in 1969 is also included in Cole's professional career, as are stints in the 1970's with Doc Severinsen, Lionel Hampton and others. In the early 1980's he served as saxophonist for Manhattan Transfer, but has spent most of the last 15 years leading his own bands.

Although he's made over two dozen albums as a leader, Cole has gained much of his renown and success from a touring schedule that few other jazz artists can match. His live performances, seasoned liberally with the madcap humor that has become his trademark, continuously delight audiences that extend well beyond hard core jazz purists. His popularity as an entertainer has netted Cole a sizeable and enthusiastic following - one that consistently places him high in reader's polls conducted by Down Beat, Swing Journal, and other jazz publications.

Throughout his career, Dave has been recognized by fans and critics alike for his quality in performance and recording. He received a Grammy in 2003 for “Best Latin Jazz Recording” with his group, The Caribbean Jazz Project, for the CD, “The Gathering” and was nominated a second time for a Grammy in 2004 for “Best Latin Jazz Recording” for the “Caribbean Jazz Project's” newest release “Birds of a Feather.” During his time with Spyro Gyra (1977-1994), the 5-time Grammy Nominated group was named #1 Contemporary Jazz Artist and Contemporary Jazz Group of the 80's by Billboard magazine. Dave's other awards include being voted Best Vibes Player in both Jazziz and Modern Drummer Magazine.

Born in Chicago, Samuels began his musical travels at age six, playing drums and piano. It was while attending college that he combined his interests in both drums and keyboards and began focusing his energies on the vibes and marimba.

Dave first gained international exposure in 1974 as a member of the Gerry Mulligan sextet. During the next few years he co-founded, recorded, and toured with three different, ground- breaking groups: Double Image; Gallery; and the Skylight Trio.

In 1976 Dave explored new musical horizons when he was invited to perform and record with Frank Zappa. The recording, “Live in New York – 1976,” is considered a Zappa favorite.

Dave's four solo recordings showcase his writing, performing and producing talents: “Living Colors” (MCA), “Ten Degrees North” (MCA), “Natural Selection” (GRP), and “Del Sol” (GRP) feature a variety of musical settings that include the Yellowjackets, Bruce Hornsby, Danilo Perez, Andy Narell, and Dave Valentin.

Dave's recent energies have focused on the highly original sounding, “Caribbean Jazz Project,” a sextet he founded in 1993. Six recordings have been made with this ground-breaking ensemble: “The Caribbean Jazz Project,” “Island Stories,” “New Horizons,” “Paraiso,” the Grammy-winning “The Gathering” and their newest recording – the Grammy nominated, “Birds of A Feather.” This new recording explores the rich musical traditions of the Caribbean, where music from Africa, Europe and the Caribbean Islands first joined and spread its roots into North and South America . “Birds of a Feather” introduces a new instrumentation for the “Caribbean Jazz Project” that prominently features the sound of the trumpet/flugelhorn. Featured players on this new recording include, Randy Brecker, Ray Vega, Romero Lubambo, Dario Eskenazi, Ruben Rodriguez, Robert Quintero and Dafnis Prieto.

Winston Byrd:
For a jazz musician just into his thirties (he was born Nov. 27, 1972), Winston Byrd has had a career more like his forbears than his contemporaries. Most of his peers developed their jazz skills and chops in college and music academy classrooms and band rooms. Byrd, like jazz musicians of the mid-20th Century, developed his chops and style on the road and in bands big and small.

“I graduated from Gateway Regional High School in southern New Jersey in 1991,” says the trumpeter who was born in New Jersey and grew up in Wilmington, Delaware and the Garden State, “and was set to go to The New School. But I was unavoidably detoured to go on the road (initially with The Stylistics), to never return to college.”

Young Winston's first jazz epiphany came when he heard Maynard Ferguson playing “Give It One” in a seventh grade music appreciation class. “It was like somebody hit me in the head with a baseball bat, but I wasn't vibing off so much on the notes he was playing as on his energy, and I said: ‘That's for me!!'”

Soon afterwards, he saw Dizzy Gillespie and Jon Faddis trading solos on “Groovin' High” on a Grammy Awards TV show. “That's when I decided I wanted to be a professional musician,” he says. The young trumpeter was enamored of high note playing, and worked at being able to articulate in the stratosphere “without

Oliver Lake, as well as the Count Basie Orchestra, Village Vanguard Orchestra, Duke Ellington Orchestra and Blood, Sweat and Tears. Faddis became an early role model and mentor, and Byrd has played in the trumpet section of the Faddis led Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band. killing myself. It's very difficult, and I mean difficult! I worked at it like a dog.”

That work paid off as he was able to earn gigs as a lead trumpeter in big bands including those of Illinois Jacquet, David Murray, Slide Hampton, Louie Bellson and Soon afterwards, he saw Dizzy Gillespie and Jon Faddis trading solos on “Groovin' High” on a Grammy Awards TV show. “That's when I decided I wanted to be a professional musician,” he says.

The young trumpeter was enamored of high note playing, and worked at being able to articulate in the stratosphere “without killing myself. It's very difficult, and I mean difficult! I worked at it like a dog.”

That work paid off as he was able to earn gigs as a lead trumpeter in big bands including those of Illinois Jacquet, David Murray, Slide Hampton, Louie Bellson and Oliver Lake, as well as the Count Basie Orchestra, Village Vanguard Orchestra, Duke Ellington Orchestra and Blood, Sweat and Tears. Faddis became an early role model and mentor, and Byrd has played in the trumpet section of the Faddis led Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band.

In the meantime, you might still find her first CD at the Ardmore Borders, or better yet, catch her live around town before she's off entertaining the Slovaks again!!

To read more about the fascinating Ms. Montgomery , check out her very own WEB PAGE which features updated performance schedules which are actually kept up-to-date (Yay, Barbara !!!)

MusiQologY
The MusQologY sextet features a distinctive blend of Jazz, R&B, Gospel and Neo Soul. Formed in 2003 by Dr. Guthrie Ramsey, a noted scholar, composer/arranger and keyboardist. MusQologY has performed for sold out audiences at the University of Pennsylvania, the Kimmel Center, and in Philadelphia's best known venues such as Zanzibar Blue and Gloria's Seafood House. MusQologY is becoming a major force in Philadelphia's jazz scene.

Dr. Guy composes and arranges all of MusQologY's music, moving far beyond the traditional Jazz idiom and experimenting with R&B, Latin Hip Hop and Fusion. The world is taking notice. In the spring of 2004, the band took its unique sound abroad to South America.

Musicologist and pianist Guthrie P. Ramsey, Jr. is currently associate professor of music history and chair of graduate studies in the music department at the University of Pennsylvania where he specializes in African-American and American Music, jazz, cultural studies, popular music, film studies, and historiography. Ramsey is the author of Race Music: Black Cultures from Bebop to Hip-Hop (University of California Press, 2003). Now available in paperback, Race Music was recently named outstanding book of the year IASPM (International Association for the Study of Popular Music). He is currently completing In Walked Bud, a book-length study of jazz pianist Bud Powell.

Ramsey was a Thurgood Marshall Dissertation Fellow at Darmouth College, a DuBois Institute Fellow at Harvard University, and has taught at Tufits University. In 2001 he received the Lowens Award from the Society for American Music for best article on an American music topic. He published in Black Music Research Journal, The musical Quarterly, Journal of Popular Music Studies, The Black Scholar, Callaloo, American Music, American Quarterly, Journal of the American Musicological Society, The New York Times and The Village Voice.

MusiQologY boasts just the right combination of musicians to create an exciting stage performance. They rhythm section is star-studded, with Philly legend Lucky Thompson on drums, the tasty, seasoned bassist Cliff Kellum, and the supremely talented Joe Battaglia on guitar. The horn section is an extremely tight duo made up of trumpeter Joe Breidemstine and saxophonist Tony Peebles. This great mixture supports the bandleader and keyboardist Dr. Guthrie Ramsey, who sometimes floats above the rest of the band on acoustic piano, but just as often gets deep into the grove on electric keyboard. MusiQologY is hard at work in the studio preparing for the release of its debut CD titled Y the Q?

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