Dave Rocha's "Makeshift Crew", Nov 12 2006

Dave Rocha has been playing jazz trumpet in the Bay Area for over 15 years. Prior to that he worked in Los Angeles, Seattle and New York City. In the Big Apple, he performed with a number of jazz greats, including Lionel Hampton, Larry Elgart, Joe Albany and Machito.

Dave was a student at the University of California, Berkeley. He studied trumpet privately with Carmine Caruso and Howard McGee in New York, and with Ian Racey in Los Angeles. His major influences on the trumpet have been Miles, Lee Morgan, Chet Baker and Freddie Hubbard, but he strives to learn from any great instrumentalist or vocalist who has something to say. In addition to performing, Dave has a number of compositions to his credit. He is currently working on a new CD which should be completed next year.

This performance will feature interesting original material, some jazz standards and some lesser known selections that are great vehicles to improvise on. Dave will be performing on flugelhorn as well as trumpet. His flugelhorn has the largest "bell" that has been developed for flugel, giving it a deep, mellow tone especially suited to ballads and Brazilian numbers.

Guitarist Randy Vincent began his career in Florida and moved to the San Francisco Area in 1980. Since then, he has divided his time between performing and teaching. Among the many musicians with whom he has performed and recorded are: Joe Henderson, Dizzy Gillespie, Bobby Hutcherson, Donald Byrd, Smith Dobson, Bill Watrous, George Cables, Tony Dumas, Akira Tana, Billy Childs, Bob Sheppard, Steve Smith, Harold Jones, Ernie Watts, Herb Pomeroy, and The Turtle Island String Quartet. He has performed at numerous jazz festivals such as Monterey Jazz Festival, Mount Hood Festival, San Francisco Jazz Festival, Telluride Colorado Jazz Festival, Space Coast Jazz Festival, North Coast Jazz Festival, Fairfax Jazz Festival, Benicia Jazz Festival, San Jose Jazz Festival, Sacramento Jazz Festival, Cotati Jazz Festival, Jazz on the (Russian) River, Harvest Festival, San Miguel de Allende Jazz Festival in Mexico, and at the Hollywood Bowl for Dizzy Gillespie's 75th birthday celebration. Randy has taught jazz guitar at Sonoma State University since 1981.

www.randyvincent.com/

Bassist Chris Amberger is a Berklee School of Music graduate.

He has toured and recorded with many of the greats in jazz including Tommy Dorsey, George Shearing, Rosemary Clooney, Red Garland, and Art Blakey.

He has backed top vocalists such as Ernestine Anderson, Lorez Alexandria, Ernie Andrews, Sammy Davis Jr, Bobby McFerrin, Mark Murphy, Anita O'Day, Marlena Shaw, Dionne Warwick, Nancy Wilson, Eddie Jefferson, Jimmy Witherspoon, and T.Bone Walker. His instrumental cohorts have included pianists Stan Kenton, Jaki Byard, George Cables, and Dorothy Donnegan; drummers Philly Joe Jones, Frank Butler, Charlie Persip, and Donald Bailey; guitarists Herb Ellis, Gabor Szabo, Barney Kessel, and John Scofield; saxophonists Art Pepper, Joe Henderson, Sam Rivers, Dexter Gordon, Charles Lloyd, and Sonny Stitt; trumpeters Donald Byrd, Freddie Hubbard, Kenny Dorham, Doc Cheatham, and Woody Shaw; and vibist Bobby Hutcherson.

He appeared previously at Chez Hanny with the Charlie McCarthy Quartet, and with his own trio.

In 1984, Wally Schnalle decided to unburden himself from his Silicon Valley job and become a full-time drummer. Since then, he has performed at major festivals like San Francisco's Jazz In The City, Monterey Jazz Festival, The San Jose Jazz Festival and San Jose’s SoFA festival. Clubs in the SF Bay Area are also frequented by performances from Schnalle as both a leader and a sideman. From Yoshi's in Oakland, to Kuumbwa in Santa Cruz and beyond.

A talented journalist also, Wally serves as music editor for DRUM! Magazine, where his transcriptions of the playing of such drummers as Max Roach, Joe Morrello, Dave Weckl and Dennis Chambers have served to enlighten and educate readers. Schnalle also teaches both privately and as a recipient of an Artist-In-Residence Grant from the California Arts Council. He is also a clinician and adjudicator for the San Jose Jazz Society. Schnalle uses and endorses Zildjian Cymbals and D'Amico Drums.

Wally has released four CDs as leader of his own ensembles. His latest is entitled "The Suit".