Daily Dose Of Jazz…
John Troy was born on June 3, 1989 in Buffalo, New York. He began playing the saxophone at age twelve. After showing exceptional ability in the classical realm throughout middle school, with the tutelage of William Eicher, his attention gradually turned toward the study of Jazz Saxophone. He honed his skills with lead alto saxophone for Concert and Jazz All-County Ensembles, and New York All-State Bands as well.
John played both lead alto and tenor in the Fredonia Jazz Ensemble, student big band. He can be heard on the 2009 release of the FJE’s, Still Kickin’ and his debut album All Ahead Flank. He led his own small groups, Jazz Quintessential, and an organ trio, the JT Trio both with significant success.
He has performed and/or studied with the likes of Eric Alexander, Grant Stewart, Ralph Lalama, Todd Coolman, Tim Armacost, Chris Potter, Tom Harrell, Stacy Dillard, Hal Galper, Arturo O’ Farrell, and Pete Malinverni, among others.
Tenor saxophonist John Troy continues to find his musical way through performance and recording in the hard bop genre..
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Steve Holt was born on May 9, 1954 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and exhibited musical ability in early childhood, playing piano at the age of four. By the time he was a teenager he was a regular on the Montreal club scene.
He was self-taught until he entered McGill University where he was taught by pianist Armas Maiste, whose bebop playing influenced him. Becoming a student of Kenny Barron he regularly traveled to New York City for private lessons. Holt graduated from McGill in 1981 with that university’s first Bachelor of Music major in Jazz Performance, and went on to teach jazz improvisation there.
His 1983 debut album, The Lion’s Eyes, was nominated for a Juno Award. He has worked with jazz musicians Larry Coryell, Eddie Henderson, and Archie Shepp. He moved to Toronto, Canada in 1987 and worked as an equity analyst and for a while Steve continued playing clubs at night.
In the Nineties he released three albums then decided to concentrate on music full-time. Three years later, his fifth album, The Dream, was released. Moving into music production he stopped performing jazz live until 2014. Following a move to the countryside, his interest in jazz performance returned.
In 2017, he opened a health food store in Warkworth, Ontario, Canada that operates as a jazz venue once a week. After a twenty year absence from the recording field, pianist Steve Holt released Impact, his new album in 2025 under the new band, The Steve Holt Jazz Impact Quintet.
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Daily Does of Jazz…
Jerry Rusch was born on May 8, 1943 in St. Paul, Minnesota and studied at the University of Minnesota from 1962 to 1964, then played in an Army Reserve band before moving to Los Angeles, California in 1966.
Becoming a fixture in the city he played with Gerald Wilson from 1967, Ray Charles, Clifford Jordan, Joe Henderson, Willie Bobo, Louie Bellson, Teddy Edwards, Frank Foster, and Thad Jones/Mel Lewis. In Europe he played with Joe Haider’s Orchestra from 1982 to 1984.
As a sideman he recorded extensively among his credits are work with Charles Kynard, Benny Powell, Henry Franklin, Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson and Stan Kenton, as well as Gladys Knight, the Rolling Stones, Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross, the Temptations, and many others.
Trumpeter Jerry Rusch, who was also credited as Jerry Rush and performed in the hard bop and post bop genres, died of liver cancer in Las Vegas, Nevada on May 5, 2003 at the age of 59, three days shy of his 60th birthday.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Andrea Ventriglia was born in Capua, Italy on April 29, 1953 and studied the saxophone with the masters Franco Florio in Salerno and Eraclio Sallustio at the GB Martini Conservatory in Bologna, Italy. He later studied the flute with Aldo Ferrantini.
His professional career began while he was still a music student around the end of the 1960s, following the rhythm & blues and soul of James Brown, Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles and Joe Cocker in fashion at that time and still today. At a very young age he was part of the best and
As a soldier Andrea was part of the National Band of the Italian Army. He moved to Verona, Italy in the mid 1970s and began playing in small bands in night clubs. He was invited to join the Big Band Citta’ di Verona directed by Maestro Mario Pezzotta, in the first tenor saxophone. At the same time he performed in Fernando Brusco’s small orchestra as an arranger and saxophonist.
Moving to the United States he initially played in small bands that performed on cruise ships where he met among others Count Basie, Mercer Ellington, Sarah Vaughan, Harry James and Bob Crosby. Settling first in San Francisco, then in Los Angeles, California he played on the road with small bands collaborating with Harry James and Bob Crosby in the latter city.
Back in Italy he gained membership into Franco Rosselli’s orchestra and did the night club circuit in Florence, San Remo and Riviera Romagnola. Leaving Roselli he toured with Bobby Solo throughout Italy. His passion for jazz and big band led him to the Luciano Fineschi Orchestra, again sitting in the first tenor saxophone and flute chair.
After the orchestra disbanded Ventriglia went on to play in other big bands, duos, artistic partnerships, and guest appearances. For a decade he was a professor of saxophone at the Giuseppe Martucci Music High School in his hometown. He trained musicians currently working with famous artists or with their own groups and some of whom practice the profession of musician in the USA.
By the Eighties the public became more sensitive towards jazz, so Andrea led quartets performing in various Italian jazz clubs. that sprung up a bit everywhere in Italy. During his career and for professional reasons, saxophonist and flutist Andrea Ventriglia has performed on nearly every continent and continues to perform, tour and record.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Czesław Kazimierz Bartkowski was born April 19, 1943 in Łódź, Poland. He has been involved in music since he was six years old. He graduated from the Secondary Music School in Wrocław, Poland in percussion class. He made his official debut in 1960 as a drummer in Jerzy Pakulski’s Far Quartet.
In 1963 he started working with Zbigniew Namysłowski Quartet and also played with Czesław Niemen’s Niemen Enigmatic, and Michał Urbaniak’s Grupa .
He has played in a variety of trios with pianists Adam Makowicz, Wojciech Karolak, Artur Dutkiewicz, Andrzej Jagodziński, tenor saxophonist Tomasz Szukalski, guitarist Marek Bliziński, trumpeter Tomasz Stańko, and double bassists Andrzej Cudzich, Zbigniew Wegehaupt, Adam Cegielski.
Moreover, he took part in the recording of such singers as Ewa Bem, Urszula Dudziak and Stanisław Sojka, and American musicians Freddie Hubbard, Clark Terry, Joe Newman, Art Farmer, Ben Webster, and the Polish band Novi Singers.
He has collaborated with the Polish Radio Jazz Studio and with Sławomir Kulpowicz’s Mainstream and InFormation bands. He has performed in Poland, India, United States, New Zealand, Australia and numerous European countries. He has been a lecturer and participated in jazz workshops.
Drummer and teacher Czesław Bartkowski continues to perform, record and educate..
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