Results for "swinging"

Alex Slomka

Born: August 23, 1989

Alex Slomka is a trombonist located in the NYC Metropolitan Area whose work spans big band, jazz, and contemporary ensemble performance.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in trombone performance from the Crane School of Music and a master’s degree in jazz performance from the Purchase Conservatory of Music, where he honed his voice as a performer through intensive ensemble work, improvisation, and collaboration with artists across genres.

Alex has performed with numerous notable groups including The Birdland Big Band and Latin Jazz Big Band, The Stan Reuben Orchestra, and the Dan Pugach Big Band with Nicole Zuraitis, and CeCe Winans.

Joe Syrian

Born: April 22, 1952

Joe Syrian is a veteran jazz drummer, bandleader, arranger, and producer best known as the founder and leader of the Motor City Jazz Octet, a Detroit-rooted ensemble devoted to hard bop, soul-jazz, and large-ensemble jazz arranging. Drawing from both classic jazz repertoire and American popular song, Syrian has developed the Octet into a flexible “little big band” featuring musicians from Detroit, New York, and beyond.

The Motor City Jazz Octet’s recent recordings include 2024’s Secret Message and 2026’s A Blue Time. The group’s repertoire blends jazz standards with inventive treatments of material by artists including the Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Antônio Carlos Jobim, Leon Russell, and Fleetwood Mac. Syrian has described the band’s approach as taking familiar songs and reshaping them through a modern jazz vocabulary while preserving strong melodies and groove.

Ted Chubb

Born: November 17, 1980

For more than two decades, trumpeter and composer Ted Chubb has built a life in jazz as a bandleader, educator, community builder, and artistic director in Jersey City. He leads his own ensembles, teaches jazz trumpet at Princeton University, and co-owns and helms The Statuary in his chosen hometown.

“Ted Chubb is a very talented trumpeter, composer, improviser, bandleader and educator,” says bassist, composer, and 11-time Grammy Award winner Christian McBride. “Ted is the total package, and most of all, he is just one great guy.”

Chubb’s playing is grounded in melody, bebop, and blues phrasing. He draws from the trumpet lineage of Miles Davis, Booker Little, Lee Morgan, Dizzy Gillespie, Blue Mitchell, Freddie Hubbard, Kenny Dorham, and Art Farmer, alongside modern voices such as Tom Harrell and Nicholas Payton. He has also cited vocalists including Frank Sinatra and Sarah Vaughan as formative influences. 

Chris Ingham

Born: March 18, 1962