Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Gene J. Bertoncini, born April 6, 1937 in New York City and grew up in a musical family. His father played guitar and harmonica, his brother played accordion and keyboards. He began playing guitar at age seven and by age sixteen was appearing on television.
After high school he attended the University of Notre Dame, where, in 1959, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Architectural Engineering. During his matriculation he played clarinet in the Notre Dame marching band. His first guitar teacher was Johnny Smith.
Gene entered the Marines, then moved to Chicago, Illinois where he became immersed in the jazz scene, working with Carmen McRae. Returning to New York City, Gene played with vibraphonist Mike Mainieri and then in one of Buddy Rich’s ensembles. He was a member of the Tonight Show band.
He has worked with Burt Bacharach, Tony Bennett, Paul Desmond, Benny Goodman, Lena Horne, Hubert Laws, Michel Legrand, Charles McPherson, Wayne Shorter, Clark Terry, Nancy Wilson and bassist Michael Moore.
At the advice of his teacher Chuck Wayne, he began studying classical guitar and using the instrument for jazz, Latin and Brazilian music styles. Back in New York City, from 1990 to 2008, Bertoncini played solo guitar on Sunday and Monday evenings at the Bistro La Madeleine on West 43rd Street. He recorded two albums of solo guitar arrangements, Body and Soul and Quiet Now, and published ten of these arrangements in Gene Bertoncini Plays Jazz Standards.
Bertoncini has been on the faculties of William Paterson University, New York University, Eastman School of Music, New England Conservatory, the Banff School of Fine Arts in Alberta, Canada and on the staff of the Tritone Jazz Fantasy Camps.
Guitarist, arranger, and educator Gene Bertoncini continues to perform, arrange, record and educate.
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DAVE STRYKER TRIO
Whether you’ve heard guitarist Dave Stryker leading his own group (with 30 CD’s as a leader to date), or as a featured sideman with Stanley Turrentine, Jack McDuff, and many others, you know why the Village Voice calls him “one of the most distinctive guitarists to come along in recent years.” Hot House magazine awarded him Best Guitarist Fans Decision for 2017. He was recently voted once again as one of the top Jazz Guitarists in the 2019 Downbeat Critics and Readers Polls for the 10th time.
Warren Wolf is a multi-instrumentalist from Baltimore, MD. From the young age of three years old, Warren has been trained on the Vibraphone/Marimba, Drums, and Piano. Under the guidance of his father Warren Wolf Sr., Warren has a deep background in all genres of music. Vibraphonist Warren Wolf is one of the hardest swinging virtuosos in all of modern music.
The Band:
Dave Stryker – Guitar
Warren Wolf – Vibes
Jared Gold – Organ
McClenty Hunter – Drums
Tickets: $35 – $45 | $3.46 – $4.16 Fees
Shows: 6:00pm & 8:30pm
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ALICYN YAFFEE
New York City-based guitarist and vocalist, by way of Kelseyville, California, Alicyn brings a wide range and depth, earning her BM in Jazz Studies, with a Double Major of Guitar and Vocals at Cal State University in Sacramento an her Masters degree in Jazz performance under the instruction of Dave Stryker and Conrad Herwig.
Since the move to New York, she has toured the U.S. and Europe under her own name, as well as with Becca Stevens, Grammy-nominee JC Hopkins’ Biggish Band, award winning singer Allan Harris, and bassist Benny Rietveld (Santana ); released her first solo album, “Someone Else”, featuring Cindy Blackman Santana, Ronnie Foster, Jeff Cressman; and played numerous venues with her own groups and with a diverse range of jazz and rock artists, including guitarist Mark Whitfield, China Moses, Kat Rodriguez (Beyonce),Bria Skonberg, Benny Bennack III, Billy Porter, Shirazette Tinnin’s Sonic Wallpaper, Arcoiris Sandoval, Tiana Major9, Haitian singer Darlene Desca, Dawn Drake’s Zapote, and Indian progressive rock composer Anupam Shobhakar.
Tickets: $15.00 ~ $25.00
The Band:
Alicyn Yaffee- guitar/ voice
Wen-Ting Wu – Drums
Tom Amend- Organ
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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…
Michael Nickolas was born on March 23, 1962 in Southington, Connecticut. A move to Boston, Massachusetts in 1980 had him attending the Berklee College of Music. After graduating Cum Laude in 1984, the guitarist became a founding member and leader of one of Boston’s most successful local acts, High Function. The group played extensively at clubs and colleges throughout New England and toured Switzerland, New York City, and recorded an eight song album in Chicago, Illinois.
After leaving High Function, he co-found and played guitar for the Boston Music Award winning R&B band, Universal Language. In addition to performing, Michael was teaching himself the art of recording, and built a home recording studio, worked as a freelance recording engineer, and has been published numerous times in the international periodical, Recording Magazine.
His home studio, Studio Nine Productions, has clients working on everything from voice over narration sessions to digital audio editing and CD creation. As a composer, Nickolas has licensed original music for NBC, ABC and CBS television’s daytime programming. In prime time, as well as Showtime.
Guitarist Michael Nickolas continues to perform, compose, record and engineer.
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