Mike Hackbert (BMI) is the creative force behind Hackdaddy, which provides an outlet for Mike's music projects. Mike has been an active musician since the early 70's, when he began playing brass instruments (trombone, cornet and trumpet). Settling on the trumpet as a primary instrument, Mike was involved with a number of bands and ensembles in... [+] Read More

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George Gruntz's Concert Jazz Band, an orchestra that sticks to originals by bandmembers (both past and present) and the leader's arrangements, has long been one of the most stimulating of all jazz big bands. Gruntz, a fine pianist, played locally in Switzerland and then debuted in the United States when he appeared with Marshall Brown's... [+] Read More

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While George Russell has been very active as a free-thinking composer, arranger and bandleader, his biggest effect upon jazz has been that of the quieter role of theorist. His great contribution, apparently the first by a jazz musician to general music theory, was a book with the intimidating title The Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal... [+] Read More

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One of the most significant arrangers in jazz history, Gil Evans' three album-length collaborations with Miles Davis (Miles Ahead, Porgy and Bess and Sketches of Spain) are all considered classics. Evans had a lengthy and wide-ranging career that sometimes ran parallel to the trumpeter. Like Davis, Gil became involved in utilizing electronics in... [+] Read More

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When he debuted with Stan Kenton's Orchestra in 1950, Maynard Ferguson could play higher than any other trumpeter up to that point in jazz history, and he was accurate. Somehow he kept most of that range through his career and since the 1970s has been one of the most famous musicians in jazz. Never known for his exquisite taste (some of his more... [+] Read More

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over 40 years in Reno/Tahoe area as a drummer and percussionist I have performed with such greats as Sammy Davis, JR., Ray Charles, Tony Orlando, Charo, Susanne Somers, Bernadette Peters, Roy Clark and many other accomplished performers/artists as well as various orchestral venues. Musical education includes a Bachelor"s of Music from San... [+] Read More

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