Woodwind Section:

Bill Fritz

baritone saxophone, alto, clarinet, bass clarinet;

Wake Forest
While residing on the West Coast, Bill was involved with the studios in Los Angeles as a woodwind specialist, arranger, and conductor. During this time he played with various dance orchestras such as Billy May, Tex Beneke, Claude Gordon, and L. Welk. He worked with Stan Kenton for four years and was Educational Coordinator at Kenton's summer workshops for an additional nine years. Moving to North Carolina in 1974, Dr. Fritz taught in the University system for 21 years. He has received grants for composition from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Idaho State Arts Council, and the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation; and is the author of several books on music theory and jazz. At present Bill is Adjunct Professor at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and UNC Chapel Hill. Besides work with NCJRO, he keeps busy playing shows and appears often with the NC Symphony and NC Ballet.

Gregg Gelb

tenor saxophone, clarinet;

Sanford
Gregg is co-founder of the North Carolina Jazz Repertory Orchestra. He is leader of the Gregg Gelb Swing Band, an eight - piece band that forms the nucleus of the NCJRO. He is founder and director of the Heart of Carolina Jazz Orchestra and Jazz Society, a community-based big band and presenter. Along with a busy performing career, Gelb teaches "Intro To Jazz" at Central Carolina Community College, and teaches privately at Marsh Woodwinds, NCSU and St. Mary's. Gelb is a recipient of the 1997 Jazz Fellowship Award from the NC Arts Council. He has a Bachelor of Music degree from Berklee College of Music (1979) and a Master of Music degree from the NC School of the Arts (1993). From 1979 - 1987 he taught music in the Wake County Public Schools and from 1987-1991 he was a Visiting Artist in the NC Community Colleges.

Jeff Bair

alto saxophone, soprano, flute;

Greenville
Jeff is currently an Assistant Professor of Saxophone and Jazz Studies at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. Dr. Bair has performed in a variety of venues and styles including a performance at The World's Fair in Seville, Spain as lead tenor saxophonist with the Dallas Jazz Orchestra and the premiere of Ross Bauer's concerto for soprano saxophone and winds and percussion, entitled This, That, And The Other, at the Music Educator's National Conference in Nashville, Tennessee. Recording credits include the CD "New Beginnings" by Henry Johnson Jr. featuring Freddie Hubbard on Heads Up Records and "Night And Day" by the Collection Jazz Orchestra on the BMG Music Group label. Other appearances have been with such notable artists and groups as The Temptations, Rosemary Clooney and the North Carolina Symphony as well as a soloist with numerous school jazz ensembles and wind bands. Dr. Bair is also on the faculty of the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Twin Lake, Michigan.

Dave Reid

alto saxophone, clarinet, flute;

Clemmons
Dave brings 50 years of professional experience to the NCJRO. While attending Northwestern University he performed extensively in the Chicago area with such names as Bill Russo, Sy Tough, Dick Marx, Fred Karlin, The Metropolitan Jazz Octet, The Mills Brothers and Sammy Davis, Jr. After college he moved to the Washington, DC area to teach band and continued performing there with notables such as Sammy Nestico, Dave Wolpe and Dave Steinmeyer. His school jazz bands won state competitions and were selected to present new music at the Mid-West Band Clinic with guest soloists Maynard Ferguson and Randy Purcell. He co-led an All Star Jazz Band performing concerts and clinics, one with Clark Terry. Several former students have held positions in the Airmen of Note. Upon retiring and moving to Clemmons he immediately became involved in the jazz in North Carolina and is currently with the Atlantic Jazz Orchestra and the Old South Dixieland Band in addition to the NCJRO.

Wally West

tenor saxophone, clarinet, flute;

Greensboro
A native of Greensboro, NC, Wally is one of North Carolina's most highly respected and in demand performers and educators. Wally earned a Bachelor of Music Degree in Saxophone Performance from the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. He has performed all across the U.S., Europe, Asia and the Caribbean, touring, recording, and performing with such popular acts as Aretha Franklin, The Four Tops and Natalie Cole, as well as Tony Bennett, Mercer Ellington, Ellis Marsalis and other jazz artists. He has served on the jazz studies faculty at UNC-Chapel Hill. Wally is the proprietor of a acclaimed musical contracting agency in Greensboro, Wally West Music Resource, providing musical talent and entertainment for any type of function. Mr. West has been featured on the cover and in an eight-page article/interview in Saxophone Journal (March/April 2001). Wally serves as music director and project coordinator for the John Coltrane Jazz Workshop in High Point, NC. Wally is also on the Board of Advisors at Guilford Technical Community College's Larry Gatlin School of Entertainment Technology. He is an artist-endorser for YAMAHA musical instruments.  Wally serves as the Executive Director of the NCJRO, handling bookings, master classes, residencies, and concert programming for the band.

Trombone Section:

George Broussard

Greenville
George is professor of trombone and jazz studies at the East Carolina University School of Music where he teaches jazz history and conducts the trombone choir and the Jazz 'Bones (two five trombone and rhythm groups). Active in both the International Association of Jazz Educators and the International Trombone Association, he has contributed articles and CD reviews to the journal of the ITA and the NC Educator. Broussard currently performs with not only the NCJRO, but also The East Carolina Brass, The Tar River Symphony Orchestra, The Dick Gable Allstars, The Palmetto Posaunen (a trombone choir made up of performers from Georgia, Tennessee and North and South Carolina) and the William Cramer Memorial Trombone Choir. He is a clinician for United Musical Instruments.

Jerald Shynett

Wilmington

Jerald Shynett holds a B.M. degree from the University of South Florida and an M.M. degree from the University of Miami. Mr. Shynett has been on the faculty at University of North Carolina Wilmington for 8 years where he teaches trombone, improvisation, jazz theory, jazz arranging, jazz history, and jazz combo. Mr. Shynett is an active performer and clinician throughout North Carolina and also is a member of the “Jazz Surge”, a professional jazz orchestra based out of Florida. Before coming to UNCW in 1998, Mr. Shynett maintained an active career as a free-lance trombonist, composer and arranger in Florida. His performance credits include Chick Corea, Bob Brookmeyer , Slide Hampton, Nneena Freelon, Gerald Wilson , Ira Sullivan, Vincent Herring, K.C. and the Sunshine Band, The O’Jays, Ray Charles, Liza Minelli,  among others. His compositions and arrangements have been performed throughout the country, most recently with the UNCW, University of South Florida, University of Miami and Northwestern University Jazz Ensembles.

Caren Enloe

Fuquay-Varina
Caren originally hails from Florida, and now lives in Fuquay Varina. She graduated from Appalachian State University with a BM in Music Performance. Caren won the Greensboro Young Artist Competition in 1986. She is also an alumnus of Campbell University, earning a JD (cum laude) in law. She is a partner with Smith Debnam Narron Wyche Story & Myers and works as a commercial litigator. Caren is also an active private instructor for trombone and serves as principal trombonist in the Triangle Brass Band. In addition to her work in law and her performance schedule, she has also served as adjunct music faculty at North Carolina State University and Campbell University.

Michael Kris

bass trombone;

Wake Forest
Michael is currently the instructor of trombone and director of brass chamber music at the UNC-Chapel Hill. Mr. Kris also serves on the faculties of Duke University and regularly performs with the North Carolina Symphony, North Carolina Ballet Orchestra, North Carolina Opera Orchestra, North Carolina Theater, and a variety of chamber music ensembles. As a performer, Mr. Kris has played Bass Trombone with the NCJRO since 1994. He has also been a member of the North Carolina Symphony serving as Principal Trombone, Winston-Salem Symphony and the Greensboro Symphony. An active freelance musician, Mr. Kris has worked with artists such as Tony Bennett, Natalie Cole, Ray Charles, and others and has been invited to perform with several orchestras such as the Cincinnati Symphony, Charlotte Symphony, and the Eastern Music Festival Philharmonic. Mr. Kris attended McNeese State University and the Cincinnati College/Conservatory of Music were he studied with Mr. Tony Chipurn, principal trombone of the Cincinnati Symphony. Mr. Kris has earned a Bachelor of Music in Education as well as a Master of Music in Trombone Performance. Prior to his current position at the University of North Carolina, Mr. Kris held teaching posts at North Carolina Central University as Instructor of Low Brass and the University of North Carolina at Wilmington were he taught low brass and served as Coordinator of the University Athletic Band.

Trumpet Section:

Jerry Bowers

Raleigh
I grew up in California where I studied music and graduated from Fullerton College. I studied privately with world-renowned trumpet teacher Claude Gordon for three years until I went on the road with various groups. I have played with Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey, Guy Lombardo and Dennis Noday. In 1978 I went to Atlantic City with the comedian Rodney Dangerfield . Shortly after arriving in Atlantic City I got married and worked with my wife, Patsy McRae. Together we formed the Patsy McRae Show. As the Patsy McRae Show, we worked in Atlantic City and the Poconos. We also entertained troops for the USO on tours to Germany, Iceland, Italy, Greece, Spain, Turkey, Greenland, Bahrain, and throughout the US. We decided to settle down near Nashville, where I played trumpet with the 101st division Army Band at Ft Campbell. During this time I also played with the Bo Thorpe Band. Since arriving in Raleigh, NC in 1988, I have played with Smothers Brothers, Temptations, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, Barnum and Bailey circus and with the North Carolina Symphony as the lead trumpet player for Rosemary Clooney and Tony Bennett. I have also played with the Charlotte Symphony, Winston Salem Symphony, and the Raleigh Symphony. Currently I play with the Casablanca Orchestra, and the North Carolina Army National Guard Band, and with the Moonlighters Orchestra.

Jim Ketch

trumpet and music director;

Durham
I have enjoyed a rich life as a musician and educator. I have been a member of the faculty of the Department of Music at UNC-Chapel Hill for 25 years. Presently I serve as Chair of the Department. Although my teaching is naturally restricted somewhat by my recent administrative assignment I enjoy serving students as Director of Jazz Studies and as Professor of Trumpet. My performing career has also been a divided one. I am active in both the jazz and classical idioms primarily working in the NCJRO, with colleagues from that band in smaller jazz combos (Ed Paolantonio, Gregg Gelb, Don Gladstone etc), the North Carolina Theater and in a variety of freelance settings. As a jazz educator and performer and as a trumpet clinician for Bach Trumpets and the Selmer Corporation I have had wonderful recent experiences performing in New Orleans, conducting the Nebraska All-State Jazz Band, offering clinics at ECU and UNC Greensboro. In March I will adjudicate a jazz festival in New Hampshire and I have received an invitation to perform a Louis Armstrong concert in Alaska next fall. I feel richly blessed to have been a co-founder (along with Gregg Gelb) of the NCJRO, the President of the Jazz Foundation (the NCJRO's parent organization), and a music educator for so many years. To all the guys and girls in this band, I say thank you for 10 great years of music.

Le'Roy Barley

Raleigh

Ramon Kenan

Raleigh

Ramon is a Raleigh native who holds a Bachelor’s Degree of Music from Oral Roberts University. Has been performing professionally since high school. In the late ‘90’s Ramon was the Adjunct Trumpet Professor at both NCCU and NCSU, and is now the current Trumpet Professor at Campbell University in Buies Creek, NC. Ramon has performed with jazz greats such as Clark Terry, Byron Stripling, Fred Wesley, Stanley Turrentine, and the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. His international travels include Canada, Indonesia, Europe, the Bahamas, and Russia. Not only is Ramon a current Member of the NCJRO he is also the lead and solo trumpeter for the Raleigh Jazz Orchestra and the North Carolina Brass. He is a local radio producer, song writer, and composer. He has composed a five movement symphony with plans to premiere it by year 2009.

Rhythm Section:

Jason Foureman

bass;

Greensboro

Jason Foureman was born in Durham, NC. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2000. In 2005 he was awarded a teaching assistantship at the University of Louisville where he taught and received his Masters degree in Jazz Studies. While at the University of Louisville, Foureman had the unique opportunity to travel throughout Russia, Finland, Estonia, and Sweden performing and teaching jazz clinics. In 2006, Foureman was awarded a position in the Betty Carter Jazz Ahead program and had performances in Washington, DC at the Kennedy Center.
Jason has performed with Cedar Walton, Eric Alexander, Corky Hale, Harry Pickens, Jim Snidero, Jamey Aebersold, and Slide Hampton among others.

John Hanks

drums & percussion;

Durham
John Hanks, a 1980 graduate of the North Carolina School of the Arts, is staff musician for the Duke Dance Program and percussion faculty for the Duke Music Department. A busy free-lance percussionist, he performs regularly with many Jazz, Classical, Theater, and Contemporary music groups throughout North Carolina. As a jazz drummer he has had the opportunity to perform with many notable artists, including: Mose Allison, the Glen Miller Band, Stephanie Nakasian, Warren Vache, Butch Thompson, Scott Hamilton, Tom Harrell, Mary Lou Williams, and has been a featured guest artist several times (including February 2007) at the Sunday Jazz Showcase in New Bern, NC. In Fall 2005, he was the accompanying percussionist for Wu Man, internationally known Pipa (Chinese lute) artist, in the premiere of Ancient Dances, by composer Chen Yi. He is a long-time dance accompanist for the American Dance Festival and the Jazz Dance World Congress, composes electronic music scores for many choreographers, and has released three CDs of his music for dance. Visit his website at www.drumjazz.com.

Baron Tymas

guitar;

Durham
With tremendous intensity, buoyancy and lyricism, Baron Tymas makes fiery, beautiful original jazz music that draws inspiration from the bebop, blues, Afro-Cuban, Brazilian, reggae and west African masters. The melodies are striking, the harmonies modern, and the rhythms driving, but unpredictable. Tymas is a skilled and passionate performer, composer and educator who plays regularly with various artists in the southeast and abroad.  He currently works with his own trio, featuring bassist Damon Brown and drummer Thomas Taylor.  In addition to the trio, Tymas performs throughout NC with the North Carolina Jazz Repertory Orchestra and the John Brown Orchestra.

 A native of the Washington, D.C. area, Tymas is an alumnus of Nebulous (jazz quintet, Raleigh, NC), F.R.E.N.S. (r&b/funk/jazz quintet, Richmond, VA), Cross Currents (fusion quartet, Washington, DC) and Black Sheep (reggae band, Washington, DC).  He is an assistant professor of music at North Carolina Central University in Durham, NC.  At NCCU, he heads the guitar program and is Assistant Director of Jazz Studies.  During his career as a performer and educator, Tymas has been privileged to perform with notable recording artists such as Antonio Hart, Ingrid Jensen, Jim Snidero, Rene Marie, Freddie Cole, Grady Tate and many others.  In the summers, he teaches at National Guitar Workshop's New Milford, Connecticut and McLean, Virginia campuses.  He holds a master of music degree from Howard University and has taught at the University of Richmond, Virginia Commonwealth University and J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College. Blues for the Tribe is Baron’s debut CD as a leader.

        Along with their eclectic original music, Tymas and his group are no stranger to the standards, and they know how to cook up unique interpretations of great songs by Ellington, Gershwin, Shorter, Stevie Wonder and other masters. Underpinning it all is fantastic interplay, which can spin a song in surprising directions.

Ed Paolantonio

piano;

Durham
Ed Paolantonio, piano. Ed is currently on faculty at UNC-CH as a visiting lecturer teaching jazz piano, jazz combos, and jazz history. Ed has also taught at NCSU, Elon College and Duke University. He studied jazz improvisation with the legendary Lennie Tristano. Mr. Paolantonio has performed with many jazz greats including Tom Harrell, Slide Hampton, Jimmy Heath, Carol Sloane, Peter Erskine, Jiggs Whigham, Nnenna Freelon, and Claudio Roditi. Ed toured North Carolina with Max Roach on an educational tour in 1990. He has also won the North Carolina Jazz Composer's Fellowship in 1993 and 1997. He also toured the Middle East on a US Information Service tour in 1994.

Vocalist:

Kathy Gelb

Sanford
Kathy Gelb, vocalist. Ms. Gelb is a fine jazz vocalist in the tradition of Ella Fitzgerald, June Christy and Carmen McRae. In either an intimate trio setting or with a big band, she swings with the best of them. She has sung most of her life and has worked with most of the major jazz musicians in North Carolina in some capacity - from club work to concerts to master classes. When not performing with the NCJRO, she works primarily with husband Gregg in their group, The Gregg Gelb Swing Band, or with her own trio.

last edited April, 2007