Karen Frisk is a jazz vocalist with a five octave range. She has performed in several areas of the country with local and world-renowned jazz artists.
Donn Trenner, Pianist, arranger, conductor. Leader of the Hartford Jazz Orchestra…
Donald “Donn” Trenner (born March 10, 1927) is an American jazz pianist and arranger born in New Haven, Connecticut.
He began his career playing with Ted Fio Rito from 1943-45, and followed this with a slot in Buddy Morrow‘s orchestra in 1947. He worked with Charlie Barnet in 1951 and following this with Jerry Gray, Charlie Parker, Stan Getz, Georgie Auld, Jerry Fielding, Skinnay Ennis, Les Brown, Dick Haymes, Jack Jones, Lena Horne, Ann-Margret, and Nancy Wilson. In 1957 he played with Oscar Pettiford and toured Europe in 1958 with Anita O’Day. Additionally, he recorded with Tommy Dorsey, Vic Schoen, Howard McGhee, Francis Faye, Betty Roche, Nelson Riddle, Paul Broadnax, Charles Mingus, and Ben Webster....
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Karen Frisk is a jazz vocalist with a five octave range. She has performed in several areas of the country with local and world-renowned jazz artists.
Donn Trenner, Pianist, arranger, conductor. Leader of the Hartford Jazz Orchestra…
Donald “Donn” Trenner (born March 10, 1927) is an American jazz pianist and arranger born in New Haven, Connecticut.
He began his career playing with Ted Fio Rito from 1943-45, and followed this with a slot in Buddy Morrow‘s orchestra in 1947. He worked with Charlie Barnet in 1951 and following this with Jerry Gray, Charlie Parker, Stan Getz, Georgie Auld, Jerry Fielding, Skinnay Ennis, Les Brown, Dick Haymes, Jack Jones, Lena Horne, Ann-Margret, and Nancy Wilson. In 1957 he played with Oscar Pettiford and toured Europe in 1958 with Anita O’Day. Additionally, he recorded with Tommy Dorsey, Vic Schoen, Howard McGhee, Francis Faye, Betty Roche, Nelson Riddle, Paul Broadnax, Charles Mingus, and Ben Webster.
In the 1960s, Trenner worked as a studio musician, and led the Steve Allen Show house band. He also did work with Bob Hope.
Brian Torff is a renowned jazz double-bassist and composer. He is currently music program director at Fairfield University in Connecticut. The Fairfield Arts Council named him its 2008 Artist of the Year.
Brian is a featured bass soloist leading his own trio, and is the musical director for the Django Reinhardt New York Festival, which has appeared at Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center and Birdland in New York City. He has performed at Carnegie Hall for Fiddle Fest where he appeared with Mark O’Connor, Dave Grusin, Regina Carter, Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, and Pinchas Zukerman. He performs in jazz festivals around the U.S., has founded the Fairfield University Summer Jazz Workshop and has served as co-chair person for the music advisory board for the National Endowment for the Arts.
BERNARD “Pretty” PURDIE was born June 11, 1939 in Elkton, Maryland as the eleventh of fifteen children. Purdie began already as a six-year-old to bang out rhythms on improvised equipment. At 14 years of age he purchased his first real drum set and became the most important provider for the family – earning his pay with country and carnival bands. This “schooling” enabled Purdie to “feel my way into nearly every kind of music, ’cause I had to know all styles and was never afraid to try something new.
"The World’s Most Recorded Drummer”
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