Chad McCullough – trumpet
Trumpeter / composer Chad McCullough has been on the Seattle music scene for over a decade, and has been an integral voice in many bands and projects throughout the country. Working as a soloist, lead player, and chamber musican, Chad keeps an active performance schedule in many varieties of music. As a composer, he has scored for film, written for various brass ensembles, dancers, and string quartets and quintets. Chad graduated cum laude, with his Bachelor’s in Music from the University of Idaho as a Lionel Hampton Scholar, in May of 2003, and was the first student to graduate with a jazz emphasis on his degree. He recieved his Master’s in Music from the University of Washington in 2005. He now works closely with John Bishop and Matt Jorgensen for Origin Records and the Ballard Jazz Festival, honoring their commitment of releasing the highest quality jazz music.
Ben Dietschi – tenor and soprano sax
Toronto based saxophonist & composer Ben Dietschi grew up in Manitoba and got his start playing saxophone & piano in jazz and rock bands as a child. After a BMus and extensive performing in western Canada, he has since relocated to Toronto where he completed a masters in music, studying saxophone with Tim Ries and composition with Andrew Downing and Terry Promane. Since his early years Ben has played in a variety of styles and musical settings. He has been a part of many diverse musical ensembles, often managing and directing the groups. Ben frequently performes at many festivals and venues across Canada. His most recent projects include the The Pathways Group, The Convergence Quartet, and the Synergy Trio. Ben’s style reflects a broad spectrum of expression, and a willingness to seek out new directions. “All art should express something about the human condition; I hope that my music can do the same.”
Brian Seligman – guitar
Brian Seligman is a Toronto based freelance composer and performer. He studied extensively at the University of Toronto where he received his bachelors degree. Brian has continued to advance his career towards scoring for film and television as well as other writing and performance opportunities. As a film composer Brian recently achieved a composer credit with the Canadian Film Centre (CFC). As a performer, Brian can be seen with two established artists in Toronto: Matt Humphreys from Canadian Idol as well as the independent pop rock group Najuah. Both groups are actively performing and can be seen at such venues as The Drake, The Horseshoe Tavern, Lee’s Palace, and The Gladstone. Brian also performs with several small jazz ensembles at local venues and private parties. Brian is actively composing original material for many groups and projects. Music performance, film scoring, and teaching remain the focal points of Brian’s career as he continues to carve his own unique path through the music industry.
Andrew Oliver – piano
Andrew Oliver is a pianist and composer from Portland, Oregon. He lived in New Orleans from 2002 until 2005, where he studied jazz at Loyola University and performed as both a bandleader and sideman. After evacuating from Hurricane Katrina in the summer of 2005, he returned to Portland. He has studied piano with Randy Porter, Matt Lemmler, Michael Pellera, and Darrell Grant and composition with John Hollenbeck and Charley Gray. He has performed throughout the Northwest and Europe with various musicians and groups, and in 2007, as pianist for Devin Phillips and New Orleans Straight Ahead, he was was selected to tour West Africa as a cultural ambassador for the U.S. under the State Department and Jazz at Lincoln Center’s “Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad” program. He co-directs the Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble, a 14-piece group performing and commissioning new music by jazz composers in the region, as well as directing the Kora Band, a Seattle-based ensemble fusing jazz and west African musical elements which has recently won “2010 NW Jazz Album of the Year” from Earshot Jazz for their album “Cascades.” He is also the recipient of a 2011 ASCAP Young Jazz Composers Award and a 2011 Oregon Arts Commission Fellowship.
Ron Hynes – acoustic bass
Hailing from Clarenville, Newfoundland, bassist Ron Hynes began studying jazz at St. Francis Xavier University in 2006. By his second year in the program, Ron was playing in all the top school ensembles and had many opportunities to play with faculty members and many guest artists. By the end of his third he has performed with well-known jazz artists such as Johnathon Kreisberg and the famous Miles Davis Quintet drummer Jimmy Cobb. In 2009, he attended the International Workshop in Jazz and Creative Music under Dave Douglas at the Banff Centre with the Halifax-based group MTQ. Ron performs frequently around Eastern Canada with various jazz artists, on acoustic and electric bass.
Tyson Stubelek – drums
Drummer Tyson Stubelek began playing drums at the age of three under the guidance of his father, also a drummer. As a youth, Tyson got involved in the music scene in his hometown of Portland, OR, playing in a number of youth symphonies and jazz bands. Upon meeting and hearing Elvin Jones play live at age twelve, Tyson began to focus intently on being a jazz musician. He began studying with renowned Portland drum gurus Alan Jones, and Mel Brown, to whom he attributes much of his musical understanding. Presently, Tyson resides in New York City where he moved in 2009 after completing a Master of Music degree at the New England Conservatory in Boston, where he studied with legendary musicians Billy Hart, Rakalam Bob Moses, Danillo Perez, and Jerry Leake. He also teaches drum lessons, and has performed and toured internationally across the east and west coast of the United States as well as appearances in Scotland.
