Randy Porter

/by

Jazz pianist Randy Porter has a refined understanding of improvisation and the spontaneous communication between musicians. As a Steinway Artist, Randy draws from a rich palette of sonorities found within his imagination and the depths of the piano. Lynn Darroch of The Oregonian states, “Porter has built a reputation as a musician’s musician, a knowledgeable, inventive, and sophisticated player with a remarkable sense of time and gorgeous keyboard facility…”

Randy Porter has performed with many jazz greats, including Freddy Hubbard, Art Farmer, and Benny Golson. He has also performed with the Charles McPherson Quartet throughout the US and in France, Italy, Greece, and China and has toured with Diane Schuur and Bobby Caldwell, conducting the Jazz Orchestra for their “Sing in Swing” tour. Some performance highlights for Randy include appearances at Kimball’s with Art Farmer and Clifford Jordan, Lincoln Center and Kennedy Center with Diane Schuur, Seattle’s Jazz Alley with New York Voices, Yoshi’s in San Francisco with Karrin Allyson and Rebecca Kilgore, The House of Blues in Chicago and BB King’s Blues Club in NYC with Gino Vannelli, the Monterey Jazz Festival with Madeline Eastman, and the Chicago and Detroit Jazz Festivals with Charles McPherson.

Randy’s compositions and arrangements can be heard on his own recordings: Thirsty Soul with John Wiitala on bass and Reinhardt Melz and Todd Strait on drums; Brio also featuring John Wiitala and Reinhardt Melz; Modern Reflections with Nancy King on vocals, Leroy Vinnegar on bass and Mel Brown on drums; and Eight Little Feet with Bob Magnusson on bass and Joe LaBarbera on drums. Samples of Randy’s writing and playing can be found on Apple’s iLife jingles. Porter also composed the music for the 2009 documentary Deep Green.

Randy has been a performer and educator at the Port Townsend Jazz Festival for many years where he has played with Bud Shank, Maria Schneider, Ingrid Jensen, and Terrell Stafford, and where he has coached many young jazz musicians. He has also worked several years at the Stanford Jazz Workshop and at Jazz Camp West with singer Madeline Eastman. Porter teaches master classes and adjudicates student combos and bands at high school and college jazz festivals. Currently, Randy teaches jazz piano at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon.

Paul Cornish

/by

Paul Cornish is a pianist and composer from Houston, Texas, who currently resides in Los Angeles, California. Growing up in church and studying classical piano lessons from the age of 5, Paul’s musical knowledge spans a great deal in all kinds of musical genres. He studied at the world-renowned High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston, Texas which has produced the likes of Walter Smith III, Jason Moran, Eric Harland and Robert Glasper to name a few. Paul’s talents have been heard in Norway, Budapest, Canada, and numerous music festivals and venues across the United States such as Carnegie Hall and Blue Note.

Paul is currently studying Jazz Music Performance at the University of Southern California. With the USC Thornton Jazz Orchestra and Honors Combo, Paul received the Outstanding Soloist award at the 2015 and 2016 Next Generation Jazz Festival. As a composer, he won a gold medal in the 2013 NAACP ACT-SO Competition and was selected as a finalist for the 2014 ASCAP Young Jazz Composers Competition. In 2021, received 18th Street Arts Center’s (Los Angeles) Make Jazz Fellowship and was commissioned by the Apollo Chamber Players to write a piece for string quartet and two voices commemorating the centennial celebration of Houston’s Library System. Cornish was also a finalist in the 2023 American Pianists Awards and the Herbie Hancock International Jazz Piano Competition. Cornish has performed extensively across the globe with such notable artists as Joshua Redman, Louis Cole, Mark Guiliana, Snoh Aalegra, Terrace Martin, Thumpasaurus and HAIM.

.

Patrick Wolff

/by

Saxophonist Patrick Wolff has been teaching at SJW for 12 years. Originally from New York and currently residing in San Francisco, Patrick is a highly-regarded saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. He attended New York University where he studied with Ralph Lalama, George Garzone, Frank Foster, Ron McClure, and Frank Kimbrough. Patrick has toured heavily with the Glenn Miller Orchestra, worked with Shane Endsley, Josh Roseman, Judi Silvano, and Ron McClure. He has performed with many of the world’s greatest musicians including Louis Hayes, Tootie Heath, Peter Bernstein, Larry Grenadier, Matt Wilson, Drew Gress, Marcus Gilmore, Gregory Hutchinson, Joe Lovano, George Cables, Marcus Belgrave, Dayna Stephens, Taylor Eigsti, Julian Lage, and Ray Drummond. As a bandleader he led a trio in NYC with bassist Chris Van Voorst Van Beest and drummer Yujiro Nakamura. An artistic success, this group performed regularly at clubs like Zebulon, the Bar Next Door, and Louis 649, and were active in MTA’s Music Under New York program. They released an album entitled Petals.

Since relocating to the Bay Area, Patrick has worked with many of the most exciting local bandleaders, including Graham Connah, Marcus Shelby, and Andrew Speight. He currently leads a trio with bassist John Wiitala and drummer Hamir Atwal, as well as a sextet with the same trio, plus trumpeter Erik Jekabsen, pianist Adam Shulman, and saxophonist Andrew Speight. Both groups perform original music and can be seen in regular performance. The trio and sextet have recorded two records, Your Obedient Ghost and Noose of Light.

Wolff’s experiences as a sideman reach far beyond the jazz world. His first national tour was with punk band/comic troupe The Loose Nuts, and his longest-running musical association was with Afro-beat/highlife juggernaut Asiko. He spent a year as a member of the seminal avant-garde compositional rock group Kayo Dot, and has played with Nigerian reggae star Majek Fashek, Fuji music legend Adewale Ayuba, and indie rock giants Calexico.

Noah Simpson

/by

Noah Simpson is a trumpet player, composer, and producer currently based in the PNW. Originally from Phoenix, Noah started his music education at Scottsdale Community College, and would finish at Portland State University. Simpson’s modern approach to trumpet playing and improvisation is described as energetic, dynamic, and attentive. While currently teaching at Reed College and George Fox University, he frequently collaborates with artists like George Colligan, Alan Jones, Domo Branch, and other PNW natives. He’s also worked with artist like George Benson, Bernard Purdie, Alex Acuna, and Ron Artis II. Currently he’s producing AR location based media under the As:Is label.

Noah Garabedian

/by

A native of Berkeley, California, Noah Garabedian holds a BA in Ethnomusicology from the The University of California Los Angeles, and a Master’s in Music Performance from New York University. In 2006 he was awarded a John Coltrane National Scholarship, and in 2007 was selected as a finalist for the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz graduate program. In March of 2011, Mr. Garabedian was selected to participate in Brad Mehldau’s master class at The Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall, and in June of that same year was selected as a finalist in the ISB Double Bass Competition.

In November of 2016, Mr. Garabedian received a Fulbright Specialist Grant to teach jazz music for one month at Silpakorn University, in Bangkok, Thailand. As an educator Mr. Garabedian currently works with the music outreach program at Jazz At Lincoln Center called Jazz For Young People. He is also currently part-time faculty at The New School in New York City and works as a teaching artist with the New York Pops. In the past he has served as adjunct faculty at NYU, taught with The Weil Institute at Carnegie Hall, the Brooklyn Friend’s Summer Jazz Camp, Stanford Jazz Camp, and participated in the music outreach program between UCLA and the Los Angeles Unified School District.

As a sideman, Mr. Garabedian has performed and toured with Ravi Coltrane, Josh Roseman, Ralph Alessi, Andrew D’Angelo, Myron Walden, Nir Felder, Frank LoCrasto, Silver City Bound, Julian Pollack, as well as his own sextet Big Butter And The Egg Men. In March of 2014, Mr. Garabedian represented the US State Department on a seven-week tour of Southeast Asia with Silver City Bound, where they performed for the public, and taught workshops on music in several countries.

Lynn Speakman

/by

Lynn Speakman (alto saxophone/flute) has been a performer, composer, arranger, and music educator for over 25 years. Her career has given her the opportunity to perform with bands such as the Christian McBride Big Band, Gerald Wilson and His Orchestra, Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Wycliffe Gordon Big Band and many small groups. She was a member of the DIVA Jazz Orchestra while in NYC, which she had the opportunity to tour, perform, and record with. Lynn is also an experienced music educator and has taught at the Stanford Jazz Workshop for 17 years as well as Calhoun School and Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Middle School Jazz Academy in NYC, Detroit Civic Youth Jazz in Michigan, and Center of Life Jazz and Judah Project in Pittsburgh. In addition to teaching and performing, Lynn spends much of her time composing and arranging as well as transcribing and engraving music for her own band, her students, and for a large list of clients in NYC, where she resided for 7 years. She currently lives in Pittsburgh, PA and is active on the music scene there, both as a sideman and with her own band, the Lynn Speakman Quintet.

Luther Allison

/by

“He’s reamplifying the tradition of jazz piano and he’s lifting up a legacy that’s the foundation for many people” -New York Times. Accomplished multi-instrumentalist Luther S. Allison has set himself apart as one of the most in-demand artists in jazz today. Forging a path on both piano and drum set, Allison cemented himself as one of the leading voices of his generation. The Charlotte, North Carolina native is recognized for his blues-based, gospel inspired playing with deep roots in the tradition of bebop and soul music.

Upon completing his B.A. in Studio Music and Jazz from the University of Tennessee and M.M. in Jazz Studies from Michigan State University (both degrees with focuses in drum set and piano) Allison began a consistent touring career on both instruments supporting the likes of Jazzmeia Horn, Helen Sung, Samara Joy, Rodney Whitaker, Etienne Charles, The Baylor Project, and Ulysses Owens Jr.

Allison’s debut album, I Owe It All To You, was released on Posi-Tone Records, highlighting his noteworthy arrangements, compositional prowess, and exceptional skill as a pianist. Rated 4.5 stars by Downbeat, the album was described as “a portrait of a straight ahead pianist who seems to have no weak points in his arsenal” -Downbeat. Allison is also featured as a sideman on numerous projects – notably the GRAMMY Award Winning single, Tight, supporting vocalist Samara Joy.

Allison is a distinguished touring artist who has taken the stage at notable venues such as Village Vanguard, Dizzy’s Club, Birdland, Kennedy Center, and Blue Note Milano. He has also been featured at renowned jazz festivals including Newport, Monterey, Detroit, Washington DC, North Sea, Umbria, Marciac, and Jazz A Vienne.

In addition to his work as a bandleader and sideman, Allison is a consummate educator and curator – having operated as Adjunct Jazz Faculty (4 years) and Chair of the Percussion Department (2 years) at The Calhoun School in New York City. He has also served on faculty for numerous summer intensives, particularly the Brevard Jazz Institute and the Stanford Jazz Workshop. Allison has worked in conjunction with the National Jazz Museum in Harlem as a Curatorial Fellow where he assisted the organization by programming and curating events in the museum for an entire calendar year. Moreover, Allison has curated and music directed performances for the Louis Armstrong Museum in Queens, New York.

As a composer, Allison has already begun to leave an indelible mark, leading to him being commissioned by Wynton Marsalis to compose an original work for the esteemed Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. Allison was also commissioned by Jazz at Lincoln Center to music direct and arrange the Sacred Works of Duke Ellington – initially featured in Dizzy’s Club and later expanded for the Appel Room. Alongside his achievements as a musician/composer/music director, Allison is featured as both an actor and recorded musician on Maggie Gylenhaal’s upcoming film The Bride, contributing on screen along with several recorded tracks for the film score.

Luther Allison is a proud YAMAHA artist.

Kazemde George

/by

Kazemde George is an African American jazz saxophonist, composer, and beat-maker based in Brooklyn who exhibits a gift for streamlined, emotionally direct melodies, articulated with a warm tone and a certain guiding restraint. Raised by Caribbean parents in Berkeley, California, Kaz was exposed to a wide range of musical styles, and has been playing Piano, Saxophone, and Percussion from an early age.

During high school, Kazemde developed a passion for Jazz while studying the oral tradition under the tutelage of Khalil Shaheed, Charles McNeal and Susan Muscarella. He also began to make electronic music under the moniker “KG,B”. KG,B’s beats are inspired by Hip-Hop producers such as J Dilla, Madlib, and Flying Lotus, who he sees as modern the counterparts of early Jazz innovators.

In 2007, Kazemde moved to Boston to attend school, and in 2014, Kazemde completed the Harvard/New England Conservatory (NEC) Joint program, receiving his Bachelors in Neurobiology (Harvard) and his Masters in Jazz Composition (NEC). At NEC, Kazemde studied privately with Jerry Bergonzi, Cecil McBee, Donny McCaslin, John McNeil, Jason Moran, Danilo Pérez, and Miguel Zenón. In 2012, he received Harvard’s George Peabody Gardener Fellowship to study traditional music in La Habana, Cuba for ten months. Through his travels, Kaz has expanded his focus from Hip-Hop and Jazz to the full spectrum of musical styles which blossomed from the African Diaspora, including Afro-Cuban, Afro-Caribbean, Afro-Brazilian, and African-American traditions. As he sees it, the study of these musical styles serves as a way to regain cultural histories that were lost through the processes of African-American Slavery.

Today, his focus is aligned towards music, but Kazemde is also a biologist at heart, and his quest to understand this wide breadth of styles is driven by an analytical mind with a scientific approach.

In October 2021, Kazemde released his debut album, I Insist, on Greenleaf Music by Dave Douglas.

Kazemde has performed with Solange Knowles and Saint Heron, David Murray, Román Filiú, and Jason Moran, at venues and festivals such as, Dizzy’s Coca-Cola Club, Zinc Bar, The Jazz Gallery, Irving Plaza, Yoshi’s, Black Cat, Cafe Stritch, The David Rubinstein Atrium at Lincoln Center, Panama Jazz Festival, Made In America Festival, AfroPunk, and Panorama NYC Music Festival

My Mission
My goal is to establish my own style as a creative innovator of African-American music, and to help in elevating communities of underprivileged youth through music and other cultural education. I will travel and immerse myself in American communities heavily influenced by African musical traditions in order to study, teach, and perform. I also hope to have the opportunity to explore places like Brazil, The Caribbean, West Africa, and the American South as part of my journey.

Jonathan Richards

/by

Jonathan Richards joins the SJW faculty for the first time this year, and we couldn’t be more excited. Based in Los Angeles, Jonathan has developed deep professional relationships with some of the top artists in jazz and pop, including David Foster, Khalid, Toni Braxton, Joe LaBarbera, Marquis Hill, Snuffy Walden, Van Hunt, Jeff Goldblum, Anthony Wilson, and the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra.

You can see Jonathan in many videos featuring Postmodern Jukebox, Sara Neimietz, and the Sarah Reich Tap Music Project. He’s also all over scores recorded for TV and film, including Beyoncé’s The Gift, Katharine McPhee’s PBS Soundstage Special, The American Music Awards, and scoring sessions for shows such as The Night Of (HBO), Mrs. America (HULU), and Dear White People (Netfilx).

Even better for us at SJW, Jonathan is a very high-level jazz educator, currently on the faculty of Pasadena City College, long noted for its excellent jazz program.

Jhoely Garay

/by

Jhoely Garay is a New York-based guitarist, composer, arranger, and educator from Mexico, whose music expresses her passion for straight-ahead swing, contemporary jazz, and musics and rhythms from Latin America. She uses her voice as an artist to raise awareness about topics often overlooked by the public, such as climate-related issues and untold or hidden histories left out of official narratives.

Garay has become an integral part of the dynamic jazz scene in New York and Mexico, collaborating with iconic artists such as Dee Dee Bridgewater, Steve Wilson, Darcy James Argue, Jim McNeely, Mike Holober, among others; and performing at renowned venues, such as Carnegie Hall, The National Jazz Museum in Harlem, The MET Museum, Jazz Institute Berlin, The Public Theater, Stanford University, Aaron Davis Hall, The Clemente Soto Cultural Center, Shea Center for Performing Arts, Colima International Jazz Festival, National Arts Center in Mexico, and as a guest composer, arranger and conductor of the NYO Jazz Orchestra, the Berlin Youth Jazz Orchestra.

Her gifts as both a guitarist and composer have earned her numerous accolades, including five Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation awards, the Stanford Jazz Mentor Fellowship (2022-23), the Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble Prize (2020), and the Repsol Emerging Artist Award (2017). She was selected to participate in the Woodshed Network Residency directed by the Tony Award-winning NEA Jazz Master Dee Dee Bridgewater and participated in the International Workshop for Jazz and Creative Music at The Banff Centre in Canada.

Garay has received recognition as a composer and for her jazz orchestra and large ensemble works from ASCAP, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, New Music USA, American Composers Forum, Pathways to Jazz, New York City Artist Corps, and the National Fund for Culture and the Arts in Mexico, and her commitment to fostering musical talent extends to her role as a Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation Ambassador.

Garay is a passionate educator committed to sharing her love for music. In addition to the Stanford Jazz Workshop, she is a faculty member at Jazz House Kids New York, 92NY music program, El Paso Jazz Girls, and the Riverdale Music Studio. Garay has also taught masterclasses in jazz guitar and composition at higher education institutions in Mexico and the U.S., such as Portland State University, Jazz Education Network Conference, Universidad Veracruzana JazzUV, Universidad de Queretaro, Universidad Autónoma de Colima.

Garay holds a Master’s degree in Jazz Composition from the Manhattan School of Music and a Bachelor’s degree in Jazz Guitar Performance from The City College of New York, graduating with honors from both institutions.