Ryan Cohan

Born: June 6, 1971

Throughout his critically acclaimed recordings as a leader and as a collaborator with numerous leading jazz figures and world-class ensembles, Ryan Cohan has masterfully walked the line of writer and player, proving himself time and again to be a composer of rare vision as well as a highly versatile, powerfully expressive pianist

Recognized for his “ingenuity and virtuosity” (Chicago Tribune), Cohan’s expansive oeuvre ranges from solo piano pieces to works for symphony orchestra and scores for independent films. He has produced six albums of original compositions: Real World (Real World Music); Here and Now (Sirocco Jazz); One Sky (Motéma), named one of the year’s best recordings by the Chicago Tribune and a number of jazz publications; Another Look (Motéma), hailed as “a model for modern jazz piano albums” by ICON magazine; and The River (Motéma) which features Ryan’s sixty-minute suite inspired by his travels in Africa.

Jamie Baum

NYC flutist, composer, Sunnyside Records artist, producer and educator, Jamie Baum, has toured the US and over 35 countries performing at major festivals, clubs and concert halls including the Monterey, Madrid, Oeiras, Bermuda, Edinburgh, North Sea, Winter Jazzfest and London Jazz Festivals, Tampere Jazz Happening, Guimaraes Jazz Festival, Jazztopad, Bimhuis, Unterfahrt, Jazz Gallery, Jazz Standard, 55 Bar, Dizzy’s, Blue Note, etc.. She’s performed with artists as renown and diverse as Randy Brecker, Roy Hargrove, Donald Brown, Tom Harrell, Paul Motion, Mick Goodrick and Kenny Barron to Dave Douglas, Fred Hersch, Leni Stern, Louis Cole, Jane Bunnett, David Binney, Ralph Alessi, Ben Monder, Anthony Braxton, Karaikudi Mani, V. M. Bhatt, Navin Chettri and Wadada Leo Smith.

Steve Treseler

Born: July 17, 1981

Steve Treseler is an award-winning Seattle-based saxophonist, composer, and innovative leader in teaching improvised music. Hailed by Earshot as a “firebrand of the tenor saxophone,” DownBeat calls his music “beautifully crafted...whether free, through-composed, or somewhere in between.” Steve performs and leads improvisation workshops throughout North America and Europe, performing at Birdland, Blue Note Hawaii, and live on NPR’s Jazz Night in America.

Treseler’s bold and collaborative approach to improvised music began to take shape during his early adolescence in Edmonds, WA immersed in the hypnotic rhythm of Seattle’s grunge scene. He started playing clarinet in a public school band program, adding tenor saxophone in middle school. Throughout his high school years, Steve was obsessed with the spontaneity and virtuosity of classic jazz recordings. He began composing original music and performed at festivals up and down the West Coast with a youth trad jazz band. Treseler’s musical voice crystallized during his studies at New England Conservatory in Boston, where he was exposed to group improvisational techniques and the mentorship of jazz legends Jerry Bergonzi, Bob Brookmeyer, and George Garzone.

Today, Treseler is embedded in the jazz and creative music scene in the Pacific Northwest, performing with the Jim Knapp Orchestra, Johnaye Kendrick, Jay Thomas, and as a leader in his own notable groups. Treseler’s projects as a leader include collaborations with the lauded trumpeter Ingrid Jensen: Center Song, which reached #53 on the JazzWeek Radio Charts, and Invisible Sounds: For Kenny Wheeler on Whirlwind Recordings, which was named one of DownBeat's best albums of 2019 and praised by the New York Times as “lyrical and songlike, whether moving at a quick clip or drifting as slowly as cloud cover. . .a standout album.” His sixth album, The Grind with In Motion Quartet, will be released in early 2025.

Embracing eclectic sounds beyond jazz, Treseler collaborates with songwriters Damien Jurado and Lacey Bown, layering woodwind textures to their poignant storytelling. He explores experimental sonic worlds with Scrambler Soundpainting Ensemble, a multidisciplinary artist collective, and Radiant Fields, a solo project for saxophone and electronic effects.

As a teaching artist, Treseler is the founder of Infinite Improvisation, offering community-centered workshops and retreats that draw from improv theater games, conducted improvisation, and the aural tradition of jazz. Seattle JazzED calls his workshops, “revolutionary. . . Steve is an expert at teaching improvisation in a fun, encouraging way.” Steve has led workshops and artist residencies throughout the U.S. and Europe, including at Berklee College of Music, Hawaii’s Pacific Music Institute, Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival, and in the Austrian Alps with Più Piano. Steve is the author of two instructional books, the #1 Amazon Bestseller Creativity Triggers for Musicians (2017) and The Living Jazz Tradition: A Creative Guide to Improvisation and Harmony (CMA Press, 2014), used in music schools worldwide.

Treseler graduated from New England Conservatory with a distinction in performance and was named “Outstanding Jazz Soloist” in the DownBeat Student Music Awards. He holds a Master of Music in Jazz Studies and Improvised Music from the University of Washington where he was a teaching assistant for groundbreaking trumpeter Cuong Vu.

Treseler is a Conn Selmer performing artist.

Robert Burton

Born: May 18, 1960

F. August Bish

Judy Niemack

Born: March 11, 1954

Born and raised in Pasadena, California, Judy gained her early experience singing in her church choir from the age of 7. She first heard jazz through her mother’s Nancy Wilson records, and discovered that she could easily sing harmonies when she and her sister sang background vocals on folk songs behind their brother. As a teenager, she sang in a wide variety of settings including musical theater, rock bands, bluegrass groups, madrigals and in a vocal jazz quartet.

Judy then studied classical singing and was encouraged to make it her focus, but the turning point in her young career was when she met the great tenor-saxophonist Warne Marsh (who followed in the footsteps of his teacher, pianist Lennie Tristano by becoming an important jazz educator). “I became Warne’s first vocal student. He treated me just like I was a horn player, and assigned me solos by Charlie Parker, Roy Eldridge and Prez to learn. He taught me to improvise. He always called it instant composition.” Attending Pasadena City College, she had lessons with alto saxophonist Gary Foster, and later studied classical singing at New England Conservatory and Cleveland Institute Of Music.

Eric Zadan

Born: April 27, 1959

45 years of professional experience (pianist/music director) coupled with 40 years of teaching experience. Has worked with many major names. Jazz pianist for the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra for 40 years. 

Hilliard Greene

Born: February 26, 1958

Hilliard Greene has been studying music for more than 30 years and has been playing professionally over twenty. His emphasis is in classical, jazz, rock, blues, R&B, Tango as well as the music of other continents and US regions, and solo performances. Greene studied at the University of Northern Iowa and at Berklee College of Music in Boston and has been teaching private students and classes for over 25 years. He is currently a faculty member at the Bass Collective in New York City. He continues to teach privately and to do workshops and master classes in upright and electric bass for both children and adults

Tobias Gebb

Born: August 26, 1968

Tobias Gebb is a drummer, composer and educator based in New York City. Over the years he has shared the stage or recording studio with a wide variety of artists. From Blue Note jazz guitarist Peter Burnstein to Donald Fegan of Steely Dan. From the famed west coast jazz pianist Smith Dobson to the famed rocker Lenny Kravits. He has a BA in composition from Berklee College of Music, an MA from Manhattan School of Music and a dual MSE in general and special education from The Bank Street School. His album Free At Last featuring Bobby Watson was in the Top 10 on American jazz radio charts in 2009 and through his licensing business his group Trio West has been heard on shows such as Dexter, Madam Secretary, Key and Peele, Pitch Perfect and others.

Edward Partyka

Born: August 23, 1967

Ed Partyka is an arranger, composer, conductor and educator specializing in large ensemble jazz music. Originally from Chicago, Illinois, he earned a BA degree from Northern Illinois University before moving to Germany in 1990. He completed a master's degree in jazz trombone at the Musikhochschule in Cologne, where he was also a member of the G.E.M.A. Jazz Composers Workshop under the direction of Bob Brookmeyer.

He was recipient of the 2000 “A.S.C.A.P. / I.A.J.E. Commission Honouring the Centenary of Louis Armstrong”. He was 1st prize-winner of the 1998 “NDR Musikpreis” (Hamburg), 1st prize winner of the Jazz Composers Alliance 1998 Julius Hemphill Composition Awards (Boston) and finalist in the 1996 HR Emerging Composers Competition (Frankfurt).