Musician Biographies

John Paul

Bass

Jon’s decade-plus association with guitarist Fareed Haque has resulted in a trio of superb multi-cultural jazz recordings: Opaque (Blue Note), Déjà Vu (Blue Note), and Cosmic Hug (Magnitude). For the past four years he’s toured with keyboardist Jesus “Chuchito” Valdes and his Afro-Cuban Ensemble and appeared on the band’s three albums Herencia (Sony), La Timba (Sony), and Encantado (Town Crier). He performed alongside neo-bop pianist Deanna Witkowski at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. and also collaborated with her to cut Having To Ask (Jazzline) and Wide Open Window (Khaeon). He’s gigged with pianist Danilo Perez, singer/songwriter Tony Furtado, saxophonist Frank Catolano, saxophonist Mark O’Connor, guitarist Paulinho Garcia, pianist Steve Million and vocalist Grazyna Augiscik. Jon received his Bachelor of Music Degree with a concentration in Jazz Studies from Indiana University, Bloomington sometime back in the 90’s. While there, he studied with revered jazz educator David Baker, and performed with Baker’s 21st Century Bebop Band.

Larry Beers

Drums

Larry Beers (Percussion) was practically born with a pair of drumsticks in his hands. By the age of seven he was taking lessons (prodigy had been bantered about) and by the time he was in high school, down in Champaign, IL, he was already a professional in the jazz and R&B scene and was continuously honing his skills performing big band, bebop and free jazz. CBS recording artist Champaign saw an opportunity and scooped Larry up to record "Woman in Flames”, also taking Larry took on the road for his first U.S. tour. Upon moving to Chicago Larry performed, recorded and toured with a broad range of musicians including Bobby Enriquez, Fred Simon, Ghallib Ghallob, Daryl “Munch” Jones, Action Figures, Buddy Miles, Melvin Taylor, Chameleon Records recording artist The Way Moves, Charming Beggars, Arista recording artist Crash Test Dummies, Capricorn/Calliope Records recording artist Sonia Dada, The Freddy Jones Band, and Dennis DeYoung.

Stephen Berry

Trombone

Stephen has performed throughout the world and has recorded or performed with such artists as Tony Bennet, Lou Rawls, Frank Sinatra, the Dells, the O'Jays, Nancy Wilson, Lena Horne and Edward Wilkerson's Shadow Vignettes. As an educator, he taught trombone and theory classes at the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) School of Music and he coordinated the Jazz Express and Classical Express music education programs in Chicago Public Schools for WBEZ-FM. In the Chicago area he performs with the New Horizons Ensemble, Chicago Jazz Ensemble,Malachi Thompson's Africa Brass and Freebop Bands, Chicago Sinfonietta, Ensemble Stop-Time, New Black Repertory Ensemble and Orbert Davis' Chicago Jazz Philharmonic. He has performed with the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra, Lyric Opera Orchestra, Mike Mason's Exploratory Ensemble and Marshall Vente's Project 9.

John Bowes

Saxophone

John is one of the “go-to” guys in Chicago when looking for a soulful sax sound. His early influences include Rufus, Earth, Wind, & Fire, Tower of Power, Stevie Wonder, Steely Dan and almost anything Motown. He received musical training at Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. John has recorded with and arranged for a variety of bands in Chicago, including The Pete Special Band, BrotherBrother, Dick Holliday and the Bamboo Gang, Uneek, The Buckinghams, The Robert Cornelius 7, and the Grammy-nominated debut CD of the 911 Mambo Orchestra. As an instrumentalist, John has performed with Aretha Franklin, The Temptations, Smokey Robinson, The O’Jays, Lou Rawls, The Supremes, The Funk Bros (Motown Studio Band), The Dells, and many others. He can be heard on the soundtrack to the Stanley Tucci film, “The Impostors”. Theater performances include “Love, Janis” (based on the life of Janis Joplin) at the Royal George Theater, Chicago, and “Imagine Tap”, which had its world premier at the Harris Theater in Millennium Park. He is a voting member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (Grammy Awards).

Nick Drozdoff

Trumpet

Nick has performed with such luminaries as Bob Newhart, Bill Cosby, Sammy Davis, Jr., Dennis De Young of Styx, The Temptations and The Ojays, among many other artists. In 1981, Drozdoff did three world tours with the Maynard Ferguson Orchestra. Since leaving Maynard's band, he settled in Chicago to embark on a free-lance career in the studios and show scene. After completing his music masters in classical trumpet at Roosevelt University, Drozdoff re-directed his music career into a more creative mode. He has been writing and producing music in his own digital multi-track recording studio. Drozdoff currently works days as a high school physics teacher at New Trier High School. With a masters in music and a masters in physics, Drozdoff is sought after as an expert in musical acoustics as well as a trumpeter.