Instructors

(in alphabetical order)

Jeff Dingler

Jeff Dingler is a bassist and composer living in New York City. Born in Manhattan, and raised in New Jersey, Jeff has grown up around the New York jazz scene his whole life. Professional work in the studio and on gigs has led to playing with jazz greats such as Billy Drummond, Mike Rodriguez, Sean Jones, Brad Shepik, Rudy Royston, Rich Perry, The Nelson Riddle Orchestra, Don Friedman, Don Sebesky, Bucky Pizzarelli, David O’Rourke, Jon Saraga, and others. Additionally, his bass playing experience in pop styles has led to nationally syndicated commercial recording for the TBS network.

Jeff’s concept of bass playing and performing improvised music is varied and open minded in its approach. Equally inspired by the great lineage of jazz musicians, West African music, composers such as Debussy and Steve Reich, and Balkan folk rhythms, Jeff’s style of playing and writing finds a way to include all of these influences and more. He has appeared on numerous recordings, including a new record of his own compositions, Taking Root, which features Rich Perry and Brad Shepik.

Michael Feinberg

Born in Houston and raised in Atlanta, bassist, composer, bandleader Michael Feinberg is “fast approaching giant status in NYC” (LA Weekly). Since his arrival in 2009 Feinberg has worked with a myriad of jazz greats including Billy Hart, Ambrose Akinmusire, John Scofield, Jean Michel Pilc, Ari Hoenig, Kenny Werner, Lee Ritenour, Ian Froman, Vic Juris, Peter Bernstein, Dayna Stephens, Terreon Gully, George Garzone, Jeff Coffin, and Russell Gunn.

Feinberg holds a BM in studio music and jazz performance from the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami and a MM in jazz performance and composition from NYU. Feinberg has conducted clinics and masterclasses all over the world at elementary, middle, and high schools as well as universities like NYU, Belmont, Emory, UM, and CCU.

Feinberg has been the recipient of several awards and honors including winning student downbeat awards, headlining south by southwest, resident of Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead, winning the Six String Theory contest, and a 3 time semi finalist in the International Songwriting Competition.

Listen to Michael Feinberg playing ‘Tutuola’ from the album ‘Humblebrag’

Stephen Gauci

Stephen Gauci is recognized as one of the leading saxophonists on the New York City improvised music scene. He is a former student of Joe Lovano. Stephen Gauci performs with many ground breaking musicians including William Parker, George Garzone, Sabir Mateen, Tony Malaby, James Emory, Karl Berger, Kenny Wessel, Kris Davis, Tyshawn Sorey, Herb Robertson, Ben Allison, Marc Helias, Matt Maneri, Roy Campbell Jr., Daniel Carter, Steve Swell, Mike Bisio, Jay Rosen, Lou Grassi, Whit Dickey, Kirk Knuffke, and Graham Haynes. Stephen has released fifteen records as a leader. He performs throughout the United States and internationally, including concerts in Sweden, Germany, Austria, France, Hungary, Portugal, and Canada.

Stephen earned a Master of Music degree from New York University and a Bachelor of Arts in Music Performance from William Paterson University of New Jersey. Stephen Gauci has been teaching private saxophone lessons for children and adults of all ages for over 27 years. Stephen has taught saxophone at educational institutions including Drew University in Madison New Jersey, where he taught saxophone, improvisation, and jazz ensemble; The International School of Brooklyn where he taught music to children ages 3 to 7 years utilizing the “Orff” method; and the “Kulanu” after-school enrichment program in Stamford CT, where he coached teen jazz and klezmer ensembles.

Listen to Stephen Gauci playing ‘Warmth’ from the album ‘Tango While The World Burns’

Alex Goodman

Winner of both first prize and the Public’s Choice Award at the 2014 Montreux Jazz Festival International Guitar Competition, Alex Goodman has been hailed as “the next big thing in the jazz world” (CityTV News), “a definite musical voice” (Guitar International), “sophisticated and accomplished” (The Toronto Star), as well as “genius” (La Presse, Montreal). In 2013 his album “Bridges” was nominated for a JUNO (Canadian Grammy) as Contemporary Jazz Album of the Year.

Alex has toured extensively and has performed at such prestigious venues as the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., Massey Hall in Toronto and ABC Studios in New York City. He has played with international jazz musicians such as Charles Lloyd, Eric Harland, Gerald Clayton, Dick Oatts, Ari Hoenig, Chris Speed, Tim Ries, Rich Perry, and John Riley. He has recently completed a book of solo guitar music and has also written extensively for string quartet, philharmonic orchestra, big band and jazz ensembles.

Alex is an accomplished composer with over one hundred original compositions and two film scores to his name. He was awarded the 2013 ASCAP Herb Alpert Jazz Composer Award and was a finalist for the 2014 ASCAP Morton Gould Classical Composer prize. He is releasing a book of solo guitar music in 2015 and has written extensively for string quartet, philharmonic orchestra, big band and various jazz ensembles.

Listen to Alex Goodman playing ‘Family Breakfast’ from the upcoming album ‘With Thanks’

Ricardo Grilli

Guitarist Ricardo Grilli, born in Sao Paulo, Brazil and based in New York city has been called by critic Brent Black: “… one of the best original talents I have come across.”

He frequently performs with some of the most relevant jazz musicians today such as: Chris Potter, Chris Cheek, Aaron Parks, Joe Martin, Eric Harland, Jason Palmer, Billy Drewes, John Scofield, Jon Cowherd, Orlando Le Fleming, John Escreet, Matt Clohesy, EJ Strickland, Colin Stranahan, Julian Shore, among others and at world class venues such The Blue Note, The Iridium, The Beacon Theater, Scullers Jazz Club, The Rex (Toronto), The Side Door, Cornelia Street Café, JazzB (Brazil), Wally’s Jazz Café.

In 2013 he released his first record as a leader, “If On A Winter’s Night A Traveler”. The album was extremely well received and featured in the 2013 NPR’s Jazz Critics Poll as one of the best debut albums of 2013. Naras-Grammy voter, Arnaldo DeSouteiro, ranked Ricardo among the best guitarists and composers globally for his work on the record.

Listen to Ricardo Grilli playing ‘If On a Winter’s Night a Traveler’ from the album ‘If On a Winter’s Night a Traveler’

Paolo Lattanzi

Drummer and composer Paolo Lattanzi is a graduate of Berklee College of Music (Magna Cum Laude, 2005). He has studied with masters such as Kenwood Dennard, Ian Froman, Mike Mangini, Ralph Peterson, Casey Scheuerell, Massimo Manzi, Bob Pilkington, Ken Cervenka, John Ramsay and Jon Hazilla. He has also attended Master Classes and Seminaries with Dave Weckl, Bill Stewart, Steve Smith, Steve Gadd, Jack DeJohnette, Dave Holland and Pat Metheny.

Paolo has performed in numerous venues between New England, New York and Italy including the Paradise Club, the Middle East, CBGB’s, the Beehive, Smalls Jazz Club, the Lily-Pad, Caffè Vivaldi, ABC No Rio and Pianos and has performed/sat with Robin Eubanks, Simon Tedeschi, Matt Garrison, Nikolay Moiseenko, Aurelien Budynek, Marco Panascia, Ron Mahdi, Tiger Okoshi, Andy McGee, Christian Scott, Alex Terrier, Michel Reis, Evgeny Lebedev and many more.

Listen to Paolo Lattanzi playing ‘Out There (On The Streets)’ from the album ‘Multitude’

Joseph Lepore

Bassist and composer Joseph Lepore was born in New York and raised in Salerno, Italy.

While in Italy, he makes his mark by playing with some of the most important musicians on the scene as well as visiting artists from abroad including Bob Dorough, Joy Garrison, George Garzone, Steve Grossman, Tom Kirkpatrick, David Liebman, Mike Maineri, Bob Mover, Romano Mussolini, Jimmy Owens, Enrico Pieranunzi, Tony Scott and Elliot Zigmund. Between 1997 and 1999 he was also part of alto saxophonist Rosario Giuliani’s quartet.

After relocating to the US in 1999 he has played with various world class musicians including JD Allen, Jimmy Lovelace, Joe Lovano, Marc Copland, Eliot Zigmund, Mark Turner, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Terri Lynn Carrington, Lenny White, and Duane Eubanks.

In 2008 Joseph joins saxophone master Greg Osby and his group, with which he tours and records until 2011. The same year the State Department of the United States awards Joseph a grant to teach a six-week jazz performance workshop at the “Ecole Nationale de Musique” in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

Listen to Joseph Lepore playing ‘But Not For Me’ from the album ‘Where or When’

Rafael Rosa

Rafael has established himself as a premier guitarist and artist since his arrival in NYC in 2011. He has performed at renowned venues such as the Blue Note Jazz Club, ShapeShifter Lab, DROM, Shrine World Music, The Bitter End, The Rainbow Room, The Metropolitan Room, 54 Below, Dizzy’s Coca Cola Club and Bowery Electric. He has received rave reviews on his playing with Tony Award Winning Singer Luba Mason and her project Mixtura, The Prince Of Bollywood Jeffrey Iqbal & Unity Through Music, Cody Geil’s Bon Musique, as well as R&B sensation Jarrett Cato, among others.

Rafael is an accomplished composer. Releasing his debut as a Leader in 2014, “Portrait” was co-produced by Grammy Winning Bassist/Composer John Benitez and was awarded 4 stars from both international and local publications. “Portrait” features an incredible cast of master musicians bringing together Puerto Rico’s rhythms, jazz’s colorful harmony, and rock’s aggressive nature to form a unique and original canvas of sound.

Listen to Rafael Rosa playing ‘Bomba Oscura’ from the album ‘Portrait’

Jonathan Saraga

Trumpeter Jonathan Saraga has been said by All About Jazz to possess the “wisdom and maturity of veterans more than twice his age,” and that “…his chops, lust for musical life and don’t-box-me-into-a-stylistic-corner mentality make him seem like the musical offspring of trumpeters Dave Douglas and Ambrose Akinmusire.”

In addition to having won the 2007 International Trumpet Guild Jazz Solo Competition, Jonathan competed as one of five finalists in the 2009 Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet Competition, and participated in the 2010 School for Improvisational Music Summer intensive program in NYC, as well as the 2015 Banff Workshop in Jazz and Creative Music in Alberta, Canada.

He has been featured as part of the Night Artist Series at the Bar Next Door, and as part of the Emerging Players Series for Festival of New Trumpet Music, and has been performing regularly throughout NYC at venues such as The Douglas St. Music Collective, Seeds, the Shapeshifter Lab, and Smalls Jazz Club with artists like Scott Lee, Jeff Hirshfield, Matt Brewer, and Gerald Cleaver. Saraga has worked in the bands of Charles Blenzig, Trevor McQueen, Eric Bergen, Orrin Evans, Jason Marshall and the Grammy-winning Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra to name a few, and has performed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Carnegie Hall, the Barclay’s Center, Symphony Space, and many other renowned venues throughout NYC. He has toured nationally as a lead trumpeter for various off-Broadway productions, has toured internationally as well, having played the Putra World Trade Center in Malaysia, as well as many venues in Canada, Europe, the Caribbean, and Haiti.

Jonathan holds both Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from SUNY Purchase.

Listen to Jonathan Saraga playing ‘Rampant Teddy Bear’ from the album ‘First Vision’

Julian Shore

Julian Shore has been called “a pianist/composer who beyond the obvious elegance of his playing has a clear sense of the bigger artistic picture” (Ottowa Citizen). An “extremely precocious, serious musician” (JAZZIZ) he “riffs and waxes with a sense of space usually reserved for more veteran players.” (DownBeat)

Shore was awarded a full scholarship to Berklee College of Music where he entered in Fall 2005. During his time there, under the mentorship of Danilo Perez, he performed in a young musicians ensemble in the Panama Jazz Festival, learning alongside Wayne Shorter, Brian Blade and many others.

He graduated in 2009 and shortly after moving to New York, had a brief stint with singer Gretchen Parlato, touring with her band in early 2010 and then performing at the Stockholm Jazz Festival with her later that year. Since then he has continued to appear as both leader and sideman in New York where he is based, and across the globe.

He has had the opportunity to perform and/or record with musicians such as Kurt Rosenwinkel, Gretchen Parlato, Gilad Hekselman, Kendrick Scott, Marcus Gilmore, Chris Cheek, Ferenc Nemeth and Mark Giuliana, among many others.

Listen to Julian Shore playing ‘Which Way Now’ from the album ‘Which Way Now’

Will Slater

Will Slater, a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music, is an experienced bass player, performing regularly in New York and New England. He has performed with Jerry Bergonzi, George Garzone, Peter Bernstein, Greg Osby, Joe Hunt, Bob Moses, Mark Guiliana, Jeff Hershfield, Dave Shnitter, Phil Grenadier, Tim Miller, Vardan Ovsepian, Rob Schniederman, Jason Palmer, Leo Genovese, Yoko Miwa, and many other artists at venues such as The Blue Note, Smalls, Cornelia Street Café, 55 Bar, Scullers, the Regatta Bar, the Beehive, Wally’s, Jordan Hall, the Ryles Jazz Cub and the Lily Pad. He has recorded with Jerry Bergonzi, the Phil Grenadier trio, the Yoko Miwa trio, and the Joe Delaney trio. In 2009 Will was a finalist in the Thelonious Monk competition. Will has also appeared internationally at such festivals as the Panama and Aspen jazz festivals and has toured in Japan and Eastern Europe in Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary.

Will has taught students and Master Classes at all levels. From 2008-2103 he was the primary bass teacher at the University of Massachusetts. He has also worked as a rhythm section instructor at Berklee College of Music from 2008-2014 and instructed master classes in Panama and Japan.

Listen to Will Slater playing ‘Doin De Gren’ from the album ‘Standards’