Musicians

James Zollar – Special Guest

James Delano Zollar began his musical career at age 9 playing bugle in his hometown, Kansas City Missouri. At 12, he graduated to the trumpet where he began to discover his musical voice and focus. After high school he continued to study at San Diego City College and then the University of California at San Diego. At the same time he honed his chops with various funk and jazz bands and lead his own straight-ahead quintet. In 1972, Zollar moved to San Francisco and he studied with the great jazz trumpet player Woody Shaw to study jazz improvisation. In, 1984, he moved to New York City and played with the Cecil McBee Quintet for five years and then recorded with Tom Harrell, with Weldon Erving and Sam Rivers. Zollar was featured in Robert Altman’s motion picture “Kansas City”, in Madonna’s music video “My Baby’s Got a Secret”, as well as Malcolm Lee’s film “The Best Man”. He played on the sound truck of “The Perez Family” and is proud to be included in The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz (Oxford University Press 1999.). James was also a featured soloist with Jon Faddis and Carnegie Hall Jazz Orchestra as well as Wynton Marsalis and The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. He remains New York based where he stands out in a wide range of musical settings. Today, he’s playing with The Duke Ellington Orchestra, working with several of Don Byron’s Bands, and also working with NYC Blues Devil. “James is a really nice guy and very personal-sounding cat with a unique approach. He’s absorbed the history of the music, and he plays it with great care and warmth. And he doesn’t try to sound like anyone else” says Ravi Coltrane his periodic jam-session partner.

Brad Shigeta

Brad Shigeta moved to New York City in the Fall of 1990 via Montreal.

Upon arriving in New York City to study with trombonist Jimmy Knepper, he met legendary Count Basie Orchestra trombonist Benny Powell.

Through Benny, he was introduced to Clifford Jordan and was groomed by Benny to take over his chair in the Clifford Jordan Big Band.

This led to many international and national tours as well as recordings and film scores with the Illinois Jacquet Big Band, the Dave Holland Big Band, the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks and the Duke Ellington Orchestra under the direction of Mercer Ellington.

He currently can be heard re-creating Jack Jenny and Jack Teagarden solos on the soundtrack for Martin Scorcese’s blockbuster movie: “The Aviator” in the fall of 2004, as well as on the newly released CD of swing standards by Danny Aiello.

In the past few years, Brad has been able to return to the roots and the music that originally attracted him to become a musician: Traditional and Swing music. He is currently in a Duke Ellington alumni small group under the direction of Barrie Lee Hall, as well as a regular member of Vince Giordano’s Nighthawks (music of the 10’s, 20’s), John Gill’s Jazz Kings (traditional New Orleans music) and the Manhattan Ragtime Orchestra in New York City.

PJ Perry

PJ Perry has shared the stage with countless jazz greats such as Dizzy Gillespie, Woody Shaw, Michel LeGrand, Pepper Adams, Kenny Wheeler, Tom Harrell, Rob McConnell, Slide Hampton, Herb Spanier, Bobby Shew, Fraser McPherson, Tommy Banks, Joe LaBarbera, Clarence “Big” Miller, Red Rodney and many more talented artists, too numerous to list here. He was a featured soloist on the hit 2010 Broadway production of Come Fly Away, highlighting the songs of Frank Sinatra and the choreography of Twyla Tharpe.

In 2007 PJ was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from the University of Alberta.

In autumn of 1999 Justin Time Records released a JUNO-nominated recording of PJ and the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. PJ Perry has become recognized by critics, colleagues and listeners as being one of North America’s premier saxophonists.

Winner of a 1993 JUNO Award for Best Jazz Recording for his album My Ideal, PJ has received Jazz Report magazine’s Critic’s Choice Award for Best Alto Sax for a record-breaking seven years; from 1993 to 1999.

In 2016 PJ Perry was awarded the Order of Canada by His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada.

Noah Gotfrit

Double Bassist. Composter. Arranger. Educator.