Vanessa Finney

Born: May 22

Vanessa Finney grew up in southern California, where she worked as a radio DJ and attended UCLA. Now based in southern Oregon, she hosts two podcasts at Jefferson Public Radio: the pro-aging segment "My Better Half" and "The Creative Way," an artist profile series.

She performs at venues throughout Oregon's wine country and just released her first album, "Bésame Mucho," with arranger Mark Hamersly.

Swingbooty

Active since: 2010

Swingbooty got its start in 2010 playing for swing dancers, flow performers, and break dancers in clubs and festivals.  Starting out as an instrumental Manouche (gypsy jazz) band they added a vocalist in 2014 and have remained a seven-piece band ever since.  Swingbooty has the driving rhythm and danceable beat that is emblematic of Swing music.  Their shows frequently include various types of visual and performance art including fire and flow. They have released two LPs and several concept videos.  The band is based in Knoxville, Tennessee.

PLAYERS

Quintet of the Hot Club of France

Active since: 1934

The Quintet of the Hot Club of France, founded in 1934 in Paris, was a pioneering jazz ensemble that blended traditional American jazz with the rhythms and melodies of French music. Led by guitarist Jean "Django" Reinhardt and violinist Stéphane Grappelli, the group is best known for creating a unique style known as "Gypsy jazz" or "Jazz Manouche." The band gained fame for its virtuosic performances and intricate improvisation, making a significant impact on both European and American jazz scenes. Despite facing adversity during World War II, the Quintet's influence on jazz remained lasting, as they introduced new possibilities for string instruments and helped popularize European jazz globally.

Jonny Gee

Born: October, 1974

Musical polymath, London bassist Jonny Gee was appointed as a professor at the Guildhall (coaching impro & small groups) has worked across many styles of jazz and other music, performing with artists including:

Ravi Shankar, Ronnie Scott, Dame Cleo Laine, Lee Konitz, King Salsa, Roberto Pla, Antonio Forcione, Dame Emma Kirkby, Sir Roger Norrington, Sir Derek Jacobi (who toured reading poetry with Utter:Jazz), Ruthie Culver, Zum, La Mariposa Tango, Kosmos, The Sixteen, Voces8, The London Handel Orchestra, The Chinese Silk String Quartet, The Hep Chaps, Ruby & The Dukes, The Ikos, Dom Pipkin's Allstar New Orleans Trio, DJ Mista Trick ("Do what you do"/YOU Album), Aaron Liddard, England (Carmina Burana prog rock), Brian May & Roger Daltrey & Ben Elton (for Roger Taylor private shows), Gracie & The G-Spots.

Tolga During Liberdjango

Tolga was born in Istanbul in 1977 but grew up on a small island in the north of Holland. When he was eight years old he started studying classical guitar, and some years later he switched to electric guitar, and soon after started playing gigs with local rock bands. At age eighteen he moved to Amsterdam where he discovered Jazz and Django Reinhardt's Gipsy Jazz. He took lessons from time to time, but is mainly self-taught.

His first personal album 'Bohemia' (1999), was a big success, opening doors to many national and international festivals. Since then, he has played at some of the most prestigious festivals like the Montreux Jazz festival in Switzerland, and did numerous of concerts for radio and television. He got many invitations to play in Italy, and in the spring of 2005, he decided to move there all together.

Doug Munro

Born: July 9, 1953

Doug Munro is a critically acclaimed New York-based jazz guitarist. Since 1986 he has released 20 albums as a leader and has appeared on over 100 recordings as a sideman, producer, and arranger, working with artists like Dr. John, Michael Brecker, and Dr. Lonnie Smith. He has over 75 published compositions and over 300 recorded arrangements to his credit.

In the recording field, Doug has received two Grammy nominations and two NAIRD awards.His 2011 release, A Very Gypsy Christmas was a top 5 pick by the Wall Street Journal. Amazon.com picked Boogaloo to Beck, which he arranged, co-produced, and on which he played, as a Top Ten Jazz CD of 2003. Doug also did orchestration on the Oscar-winning documentary film When We Were Kings. His last CD released in 2017, The Harry Warren Songbook, received rave reviews and still enjoys strong airplay.

Courtney Freed

Born: August 2

Strong, passionate, vivacious and daring, Courtney Freed is a dynamic vocalist in a class all her own. She is a Portland based singer, songwriter, creatrix and educator. She has been called a "whirlwind of excitement" as well as "effervescent" and "breathtaking." Whether she is belting out a Queen classic or a sultry standard, she is sure to captivate many a listener. She has performed in many prestigious venues in New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles as well as Portland, where she resides. Her sparkling and smooth tribute through the Great American Songbook is not to be missed live

Keven Aland

Keven Aland (violin) began his studies with Master Miltiades Siadimas of Athens, Greece (acclaimed soloist of the N.Y. Philharmonic and Metropolitan Opera). Aland gave his solo debut with the Venice Symphony at age 14. In high school, Keven received highest honors in All-State Orchestra and received much recognition from Governor Martinez as recipient of the Southern Bell Fellowship two years in a row. A graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder, Keven had a Fellowship with the London Symphony Orchestra and has played with the South Florida Orchestra, Sarasota Chamber Orchestra, Transylvania Symphony Orchestra, Boulder Philharmonic, and the Shostakovich String Quartet

Daniel Weltlinger

Born: October 5, 1977

Born in Sydney, Australia in 1977 and of French-Austro-Hungarian-Israeli family background, the critically acclaimed Berlin-based violinist and composer-producer Daniel Weltlinger has long been renowned worldwide for his distinctive warm sound and innovations within the genres of Gypsy-swing, jazz, Yiddish-klezmer and experimental/free-improvised music. He is frequently in demand in a recording or performance capacity, often in collaboration with an array of top musicians and ensembles in a variety of different formats, and is highly sought after for his technical and musical mastery on his main instrument

Don Price

Born: October 22, 1949

Hello! My name is Don Price. I am a Jazz Guitarist who has taught and played music for over 50 years. My current musical incarnation has been (since 2010) an ensemble called Jazz Gitan [pronounced j'tawn].  The music of Jazz Gitan is the swinging jazz of the 30s and 40s, plus a cross-section of songs from the modern Gypsy Jazz repertoire together with my original compositions. It includes latin, blues, swing, and pop styles combined to create a unique foot tapping and high energy Parisian influenced experience.