Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Bill Ohashi was born on March 29, 1949 in New York City, New York. His formative years were spent learning at Julliard, Mannes College, U. of PA, Berkley School of Music, and bandstands in NYC, New England and the southern corridor. He was making the jam session rounds in the city with jazz legends Kenny Dorham, Roy Eldridge, Charlie Mingus, Jack DeJohnette, Joe Henderson, Jaki Bayard, Carla Bley, George Cables, Lenny White, Billie Cobham and Art Blakey’s Messengers, among others.
Bill’s early work was with Willie Colon, Eddie Palmieri, Larry Harlow, Machito, Slide Hampton, Chuck Israels, Chico O’Farrill, Joe Farrell, Elvin Jones, Bruce Fowler, Ray Charle’s Big Band, Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra, Charlie Mingus, Gil Evans, as well as Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Eddie Kendricks & The Temptations, Franki Valli & The Four Seasons, Marvin Gaye, The Spinners, Aretha Franklin, The Four Tops, Jay & the Americans, Yoko Ono, The O’Jays & Stevie Wonder.
After a brief to move to the west coast and a short hiatus from playing, the legendary Ray Charles wisely gave Bill the opportunity to join his band on the road for about a year, bringing Bill back into the working music scene; Bill subsequently toured Europe three times with Lionel Hampton, playing around NYC and began his own record label, EAR Records, Inc.
As an educator he taught at NYC’s Third St. Music School, Henry St. Settlement, Boy’s Harbor, New England Conservatory, Metropolitan School of Music and others. Trombonist Bill Ohashi, who subs on Saturday Night Live, continues to perform and record.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Gary Bruno was born in New Jersey on March 26, 1962. Showing an interest in music at the age of five he began learning drums and two yers later started studying guitar. Taking weekly lessons he showed prodigious technique and a hunger for learning music. His parents gave him a radio that he took everywhere as early as age three. It only took a short period of guitar lessons that he began to learn the songs of the day from the radio.
By age thirteen Gary had his first professional job with his band. Hired by a family friend he played a Christmas party, and that job was the first of what would become a livelihood. By his junior year in high school he was playing three to four nights a week as well as teaching. All four years of high school also found him playing first chair in the local jazz ensemble and winning outstanding soloist awards two of the four years.
After high school he began to get calls for recording sessions from unsigned local songwriters and local producers creating jingle ads for radio. Local club dates with bands served as his night job, and the days found him teaching, recording and studying guitar. The club dates kept Bruno within the New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania area with occasional outside tri-state travel.
Gary landed a seat in the Dave Mason Band, which took his playing to a national & international level. This led to playing Greenpeace concerts with John Denver. Moving to Las Vegas he got gigs playing the Las Vegas Strip as much as six nights a week. Leaving Las Vegas, he settled in Southern California where he currently resides.
Guitarist and educator Gary Bruno will continue composing, recording & performing.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Ofer Assaf was born on March 10, 1976 in Israel and went to the Thelma Yellin High School of the Arts dividing his time between his two passions: music and dance, and started training as a professional ballet dancer at the age of eight before switching to a full-time jazz career. He won the Israeli National Competition in Jazz and Contemporary Music for young musicians in 1991. He went on to become a member of the Air Force and IDF Orchestras of the Israeli Army, played with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, and a diverse array of national TV and radio shows. He has performed with leading Israeli musicians and was a member of the Tel Aviv Big Band in the mid-1990’s.
Moving to New York City in 1997 he entered The New School University’s jazz program and also studied with tenor saxophonist Billy Harper, bassist Reggie Workman, pianist Richie Beirach, trumpeter Jimmy Owens and percussionists Bobby Sanabria. Upon graduation in 2002, Ofer performed with Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock at Carnegie Hall as part of the JVC Jazz Festival.
A recipient of scholarships and awards from the Eubie Blake National Jazz Institute and the America-Israel Cultural Foundation, he was pre-nominated for the Grammy Awards in the “Best Jazz Instrumental Album” category in 2009 for his debut album Tangible Reality for Summit Records. With the Bernie Worrell Orchestra he was awarded “Best Funk/Fusion/Jam Song of the Year” at the 12th annual Independent Music Awards in 2013.
Tenor saxophonist, composer and educator Ofer Assaf continues to perform and conduct workshops around the world.
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LAKECIA BENJAMIN
Lakecia Benjamin is a 5-time Grammy-nominated saxophonist, composer, arranger, and educator whose music blends jazz, funk, R&B, and hip-hop. Known for her warm tone and dynamic performances, she has collaborated with artists such as Missy Elliott, Alicia Keys, Gregory Porter, and Terri Lyne Carrington.
Benjamin has released several acclaimed albums, including Pursuance: The Coltranes (2020) and Phoenix (2023), which earned three Grammy nominations. A New York City native, she studied at the New School under jazz legends like Gary Bartz and Reggie Workman, honing her craft while touring with luminaries across genres.
Tickets: $45.00~$50.00
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Raymond Michael Pizzi was born January 19, 1943 in Everett, Massachusetts. His first instrument was clarinet and he attended the Boston Conservatory and Berklee College of Music in the 1960s.
Pizzi taught in Randolph, Massachusetts public schools from 1964 to 1969 before relocating to California. In the 1970s he worked with Thad Jones and Mel Lewis, Frank Zappa, Shelly Manne, Willie Bobo, Moacir Santos, Mark Levine, and Dizzy Gillespie.
The Eighties saw him accompanying Nancy Wilson and was a sideman for Milcho Leviev and Bob Florence. He worked with the American Jazz Orchestra into the early-1990s. Ray recorded as a leader, including in a quartet called Windrider.
As an educator he joined the faculty at the Henry Mancini Institute at the University of Miami in 1997.
Saxophonist, bassoonist, and flautist Ray Pizzi, nicknamed Pizza Man, died on September 2, 2021.
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