[peter Lin Quartet] at Five Spot Jazz

Peter Lin - Trombone

Peter Lin is a Taiwanese-American trombonist, producer, and educator based in New Jersey & New York City. Born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and raised in northern New Jersey, Peter played violin and piano before picking up the trombone at 10 years old. His love for music continued, motivating him to pursue a jazz studies degree at the esteemed music programs of William Paterson University (undergraduate) and Rutgers University (graduate). Since then, he has become an integral part of the music scene, performing and sharing the stage with renowned artists including Ron Carter, Slide Hampton, Winard Harper, Charli Persip, Jerry Weldon, George Cables, Valerie Ponomarev, JD Allen, Josh Evans, and Radam Schwartz. He also spent a considerable amount of time studying with his influences, including trombone masters Slide Hampton, Steve Turre, Conrad Herwig, Robin Eubanks, Steve Davis, and Frank Lacy. He continues to perform prolifically as both a leader and sideman at established venues in the tri-state area such as Carnegie Hall, NJPAC, Blue Note, Dizzy’s, Birdland, Smalls, and Zinc Bar....

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Peter Lin - Trombone

Peter Lin is a Taiwanese-American trombonist, producer, and educator based in New Jersey & New York City. Born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and raised in northern New Jersey, Peter played violin and piano before picking up the trombone at 10 years old. His love for music continued, motivating him to pursue a jazz studies degree at the esteemed music programs of William Paterson University (undergraduate) and Rutgers University (graduate). Since then, he has become an integral part of the music scene, performing and sharing the stage with renowned artists including Ron Carter, Slide Hampton, Winard Harper, Charli Persip, Jerry Weldon, George Cables, Valerie Ponomarev, JD Allen, Josh Evans, and Radam Schwartz. He also spent a considerable amount of time studying with his influences, including trombone masters Slide Hampton, Steve Turre, Conrad Herwig, Robin Eubanks, Steve Davis, and Frank Lacy. He continues to perform prolifically as both a leader and sideman at established venues in the tri-state area such as Carnegie Hall, NJPAC, Blue Note, Dizzy’s, Birdland, Smalls, and Zinc Bar.

In 2018, Peter released his first album, With Respect, which included his arrangements on classic Chinese and Taiwanese folk songs. Featuring Winard Harper on drums as well as James Zollar on trumpet, this album topped at #3 on the NACC Charts and #4 on the RMR Charts. In 2019, he released his second album, New Age Old Ways, which included eight original compositions and features JD Allen on tenor saxophone. Additionally, the album included an original comic book illustrated by Kelly Lin.

Peter Lin leads the AAPI Jazz Collective, which features some of the best up-and-coming AAPI musicians in the NYC area. The group performs arrangements of classic songs from various Asian countries re-imagined in a new modern way as well as exciting originals. This group has performed at various festivals and venues, but also continues to play every year for the Met Museum’s Lunar New Year celebration. Their debut album, Identity, released on July 18, 2025 on Origin Records.

In addition to Peter’s prolific musical career, he continues to promote jazz education, holding a prestigious faculty position at Melissa Walker & Christian McBride’s non-profit organization, Jazz House Kids, as well as NJYS in New Providence, NJ. He teaches lessons, masterclasses, and provides tech consultations on a regular basis. Valuing entrepreneurship, Peter founded Yardbird Entertainment, along with his partner Abel Mireles, which has become a leading music production company. Peter produced the first AAPI Jazz Fest back in 2022 held at Rutgers Newark, which continues to this day.


Brandon McCune - Piano

This Chicago native makes his home in Newark, NJ. His musical studies began at age three, when his parents enrolled him in the Suzuki Method of Classical Piano. For the past eighteen years, Brandon McCune has been an experienced Professional Musician (pianist, organist, drummer, trumpeter, bassist, vocalist, and choir director) serving as a principal music instructor, composer, counselor, arranger, and performer with a special concentration in the jazz, classical, and gospel genres.

Brandon was selected through a national audition as a 1998-1999 U.S. Jazz Ambassador to Africa, where he traveled abroad representing the United States performing public and private concerts, master classes and workshops. He has worked as a band leader, music director, or as a sideman for artists such as Abbey Lincoln, Terence Blanchard, Nneena Freelon, Betty Carter, Miki Howard, Wynton Marsalis, Bruce Williams, Chrisette Michele, Ted Dunbar, Larry Ridley, Russell Malone, Lenora Zenzalai Helm, Mark Gross, Antonio Hart, and Orbert Davis.

Brandon has served as Minister of Music for several congregations in NJ. He currently serves as Musical Director for all music and dance ministry programs at Union Baptist Church (Montclair, NJ). His leadership acumen is demonstrated in his founding of BASIC Inc., a non-profit umbrella for Gospel Music entertainment, music education, and various other arts related entities. He, along with Pastor Amir Ballard, co-founded the "Just Cause" concert series which brings together the music departments from different congregations for an annual Praise & Worship celebration.

He can be heard on many recordings. A partial listing includes: Brandon McCune (“Tell the Story, MAC5 Records), Nneena Freelon ("Blueprint of a Lady", "Live", “Tales of Wonder" & “Home Free", Concord Records), Abbey Lincoln (“Over the Years", Verve Records), Kahlil Kwame Bell (“Duality"), Lenora Zenzalai Helm (Voice Paintings, MidLantic Records), Alma Micic ( “Introducing Alma" & “The Hours"), Gregory Kilpatrick (“Come On Over"), and Pam Purvis (“I Had A Ball").

He has written music for choreographer Camille A. Brown’s “Matchstick" and “Groove to Nobody’s Business", which has been touring with the Alvin Ailey Dance Company. He has also written and arranged music for Nnenna Freelon and Ronald K. Brown and Evidence Dance Ensemble for the collaborative work “The Once and Future Life of Billie Holiday".

His education was garnered at Rutgers University, Mason Gross School of the Arts in New Brunswick, NJ, where he earned a Bachelor of Music degree in 1997. Privately he has studied with jazz luminaries Kenny Barron, Betty Carter, Mulgrew Miller, Abbey Lincoln, Larry Ridley, and Ted Dunbar.

Marty Kenney - Bass

Based in New York City, Marty Kenney is among his generation’s most versatile and in-demand upright and electric bassists. Originally born and raised in Palmer, Alaska, Marty received his bachelor’s degree at the University of Northern Colorado. He relocated to New York City in 2012, where he completed his Master’s degree at the Manhattan School of Music, studying under bassist Jay Anderson. Marty has performed with musicians such as Art Lande, Billy Drummond, Rich Perry, Steve Slagle, Allan Harris, Rez Abbasi, Steve Wilson, Brian Krock’s Big Heart Machine, David Berkman, and the New York Standards Quartet featuring Tim Armacost and Gene Jackson. He has appeared on recordings by Steve Slagle, Allan Harris, Brian Krock’s liddle featuring Matt Mitchell, Olli Hirvonen featuring Water Smith III, and toured throughout the United States and Europe with Allan Harris, liddle, and New Helsinki, including performances at the Montreux Jazz Festival, Pori Jazz Festival, the Mosaic Festival in Romania, Umbria Winter Jazz Festival, Porretta Soul Festival, and many notable venues around the world including the Bimhuis, Shinjuku Pit Inn, Jazzclub Unterfahrt, Smalls Jazz Club, Mezzrow, Dazzle Jazz Club, Birdland, Red Rocks Amphitheater, and Blue Note NYC.

Jerome Gillespie, Jr. - Drums

Jazz’s newest enigma, who goes by the moniker of Jerome Gillespie Jr., is a multi-talented musician, drummer, composer, bandleader, and teacher who is at the fulcrum of an evolving jazz scene. Taught in Houston by Craig Green, Joel Fulgham, and Sebastian Whittaker, Jerome Gillespie, Jr. is a very different and uniquely wired musician who isn’t afraid to break the rules and push the boundaries of our perception with his deeply layered and well-crafted syncopated rhythms. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, he later attended music conservatory schools The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, and later transferred and graduated from the Manhattan School of Music. His drive, focus, and tenacity will lead him to become a relentless and emerging force in the independent circuit. Jerome Gillespie, Jr. is making music that is driven by a desire to motivate, inspire, and tell his story his way.

Jerome grew up as a musically inclined child going to church, where his god-mother, Theola Booker, a well-known educator, and gospel composer was the minister of music. He also attended Johnston Middle School (now Meyerland Middle School) and Houston’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (HSPVA). Music is the vehicle by which he expresses himself. He has always been fascinated with instruments and the amazing way in which performing can touch and move people. He makes music that draws from his experiences and by using his musical acumen he articulates stories, emotions, and shared perspectives that will connect with audiences across the spectrum through his intricate drumming and innovative sounds. Jerome Gillespie, Jr. combines various unique and experimental elements from across genres as well as his own ideas resulting in Jazz-centered fusions that are still firmly stitched together by emotive undertones. Jerome Gillespie, Jr. has worked with legends such as Reggie Workman,

Frank Lacy, Bobby Watson, Valery Ponomarev, Mark Gross, and Antonio Hart and he cites them as the pivotal influences in his music. This all culminates in Jerome Gillespie, Jr. producing an enjoyable, and easygoing musical experience that is authentic and grounded in reality. His overarching ambition is to empower people through his gift. He is driven by the desire to share emotion through music and to impact lives in a positive way. Jerome Gillespie, Jr. released his latest single dubbed “The Gift of Brotherhood” which will showcase his distinct style, taking listeners on a journey through various emotions and bringing them to a place where they can escape the world and be lost in the music. His upcoming projects will highlight his passion and love for music as an art form. He explores various themes by delving deeper into the emotions that encompass the human psyche. The talented Percussionist and Composer is here to reshape and leave an indelible mark in the industry.

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