TROMBONE

Jennifer Wharton is a trombonist based in New York City. Jen has planted deep roots in jazz, classical and commercial music. She can usually be found honking out low notes in a Broadway pit, a recording studio, on stage or in a big band section.

Jennifer has been a member of many Broadway orchestras, like Sweeney Todd, West Side Story, Beautiful the Carole King Musical and more. She is currently performing in The Great Gatsby. Jen also leads the jazz septet, Jennifer Wharton’s Bonegasm, releasing 3 records in 6 years. Bonegasm’s third album, Grit & Grace (Sunnyside 2023), was awarded a Chamber Music America Grant and a Jazz Road Foundation Grant. 

She is a member of the Grammy-nominated bands: Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society, Alan Ferber Big Band, Remy LeBoeuf’s Assembly of Shadows, Generation Gap Jazz Orchestra and the Terraza Big Band. She has also performed/recorded with the New York City Ballet, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Dizzy Gillespie All Star Band, Woody Herman Orchestra, Big Heart Machine and The Westerlies, among many others.

Jen is on faculty at Rutgers University and Montclair State University. Explore more at www.jenniferwharton.com.

TROMBONE

John Fedchock’s over 40 year career has established him as a world-class trombonist, a heralded bandleader and a multiple Grammy nominee. An in-demand performer and writer in New York City, he is one of NYC’s premier jazz artists. His New York Big Band features his expert arranging, and his small groups showcase top sidemen aside Fedchock’s consummate trombone. His career began in 1980 with Woody Herman, becoming chief arranger for Herman’s last 2 albums. Fedchock has toured with TS Monk, Gerry Mulligan, Louie Bellson and the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, and has traveled the globe as a soloist/clinician. www.johnfedchock.com

TUBA

Nate Mayland straddles the worlds of classical and jazz performance, and is co-founder of Maple & Brass, which aims to inspire and educate students in high schools and colleges across the country. Nate has recently performed with The American Ballet Theater at The Met Opera, The American Symphony Orchestra, The Orchestra of St. Lukes, and recorded with The Knights Orchestra. He has performed nearly 50 Broadway shows, been hired for 10 shows of his own, and played tenor trombone, euphonium, bass trombone and tuba.​

TROMBONE 

3-time GRAMMY-nominated trombonist/composer Alan Ferber has been recognized annually over the last decade in Down Beat magazine’s International Critics’ Poll and Readers’ Poll. He has released nine albums as a bandleader, most recently Up High, Down Low (Sunnyside 2023). Since 2011, he has been on the jazz studies faculty at New York University. Ferber has been a band member for artists including Esperanza Spalding, Miguel Zenon, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Charlie Hunter, Lee Konitz, John Hollenbeck, and Don Byron. He has recorded extensively in other genres with artists including Peter Gabriel, Paul Simon, Sufjan Stevens, The National, and Dr. Dre.

PIANIST

Michael Eckroth, pianist and keyboardist, is an active performer in New York and worldwide, having worked extensively with musicians such as John Scofield, Ron McClure, Eliot Zigmund and Paul McCandless. Equally at home in jazz and latin-American music forms, Michael‘s work for Orquesta Akokan has received a Grammy nomination. Eckroth earned a PhD in jazz performance at NYU and currently leads and co-leads a number of projects in varied genres of music. Michael was a 2023-24 Fulbright Scholar.

BASSIST

Evan Gregor is an in-demand acoustic and electric bassist that performs with many world renowned artists in a variety of genres. He has been hired as a sideman by masters including Gary Burton, Dave Liebman, Phil Woods, Bob Dorough, Phil Markowitz, John McNeil, Vic Juris, Ed Cherry, Urbie Green, and is a member of drummer Bill Goodwin’s working trio. He has toured internationally with Grammy Award winning vocalist Patti Austin, playing in a variety of acoustic and electric styles with ensembles from the Baltimore Symphony to radio big bands.

DRUMS

The band began with drummer Don Peretz and has since had visiting drummers like Eric Halvorson, Ross Pederson, John Sturino and more.