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swojoplayers Saxophones | Trumpets | Trombones | Rhythm | Musical Director
Lisa Gordanier: Lisa has been an active professional musician in the
Seattle area for 20 years. She is an original member of Roadside Attraction,
a big band institution in Seattle, and is one of Seattle's respected lead alto players.
She has played back-up for many touring concert artists and has also put her
"doubling" skills to use (all saxophones, clarinets, flute and piccolo) in the
pit orchestras for the Paramount and Fifth Avenue Theaters for dozens of shows.
Lisa combines her love of music with the world of food and cooking. Lisa is
the pastry chef at the Crow and teaches
cooking classes both privately and in several cooking schools around town.
Educational accomplishments include a bachelor's degree in Music Performance
and two masters degrees (Public Affairs and International Studies) from the
University of Washington.
Stephanie Dupuis: Steph graduated with a Bachelor of Music
in Music Education from the University of Idaho. She performs in the Buzz
Whitely Big Band and several other local jazz groups. Steph maintains a large
private teaching studio in Kitsap County. She has received the Who's Who
Among America's Teachers Award (2005, 2006) two years in a row, placing her
in the top ½ percent of teachers nationwide. Steph clinics, adjudicates and guest
conducts throughout the Pacific Northwest and has served as adjunct faculty
on saxophone at the University of Idaho.
Cynthia Mullis: Cynthia is an alumnus of the New York all-women big band Diva.
With Diva she appeared with artists Diane Schuur, Joe Williams, and James Brown at venues such
as the NYC Blue Note, Birdland, the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, and jazz festivals
in Berlin, Austria, and Switzerland. In Seattle, Cynthia has performed with the Jazz Police,
the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra, the Washington Wind Symphony, Philharmonia NW, the
Tacoma Symphony, Jay Thomas and others. Cynthia released her debut CD Inside Job on
OA2 Records and leads her own group,
New York Confidential.
She maintains a large teaching studio at Music Works Northwest in Bellevue.
She holds a Master of Arts in Jazz Performance from Queens College in NYC and a
Bachelor of Music Performance degree from the University of Northern Colorado. Cynthia also earned a
Certificate in Arts Management from the University of Washington and is currently working on an
Associate Degree in Graphic Design.
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"While his music isn't easily limned in a few words, pianist Jovino Santos
Neto comes reasonably close in his liner notes to The Music of Daniel Barry,
writing that the composer produces "a wide spectrum of colors, creating an
aural rainbow of moods" and "knows how to speak the language of the big
band....avoiding easy cliches and focusing on the untouched possibilities of
the ensemble." A credibly accurate summary." -- Jack Bowers / AllAboutJazz.com
"The love, joy and zest for life that this talented arranger mentions in his
liner comments are evident throughout this fine release." -- Bill Falconer /
Jazzreview.com
In addition to serving as the
Musical Director for SWOJO, Barry currently directs the Jazz Combo at
Musicworks Northwest, and is a Master Artist and Mentor for the Artist
Apprenticeship and Young Jazz Composers program at Seattle's Experience
Music Project. He is the owner/operator of Marina Music Service and Daniel Barry
Publications, and holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in Music Composition from the
University of California at Santa Barbara. (photo by Jim Levitt)
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Jenny Ziefel: Jenny's bio is coming soon.
Ann Babb: Ann has been been a member of Seattle's hardest working swing
band, 
Dennis Haldane: Dennis Haldane graduated with a B.A. in Music
Education from Central Washington University. He is playing and has
played lead and assistant lead trumpet in many of Seattle area music
groups including Civic Light Opera, Musicomedy, Seattle Rep's production
of 'Blues in the Night', Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra (SRJO),
Jazz Police, Roadside Attraction, Friendly Fire, Usual Suspects,
Olympia Jazz Initiative, Pierce College Jazz Band, Daniel Barry's
Red Fish Blue Fish Octet, 88th Street Band, and solo trumpet in the
Northwest's premier salsa band Latin Expression. He teaches music
privately, with students coming from Roosevelt, Garfield, and
Edmonds-Woodway High Schools. He was a featured guest artist with
the Roosevelt High School jazz band on one of their tours to
Mazatlan, Mexico. He is a clinician and has conducted various brass
clinics, including the Mt. Baker Jazz Festival (Bellingham, WA),
the Music Conservatory in Tatui (Sao Paulo, Brazil), and the
Lima (Peru) Jazz Festival.
Marge Rosen: Marge has been playing trumpet for over 25 years, both in
classical and jazz genres. She has enjoyed performing on stage at
Carnegie Hall and Benaroya Hall. A previous member of the
United States Navy Band, she has performed for the President of the United States, numerous
foreign dignitaries, and at the 1994 World Cup. She earned a masters degree
in music education from Ithaca College in New York.
Angela Smith: Angie began playing the trumpet in the Shoreline Public
Schools in the fifth grade, and played in a variety of classical and jazz
groups throughout junior high and high school. She continued her extensive
musical involvement during her college years at Willamette University in
Salem, Oregon, and played in a number of small and large jazz groups while
in graduate school at Harvard University. She is currently a professor in
the Philosophy Department at the University of Washington.
Sarah Nelson: Sarah recently graduated cum laude from the University
of Washington with Bachelor of Music degrees in Jazz Studies and Music Education.
While at the UW, Sarah studied jazz trumpet with Dr. Vern Sielert and
classical trumpet with Alan Vizzutti. She played in the Studio Jazz Ensemble 1,
the Modern Jazz Ensemble, the University Orchestra, and the University Wind Ensemble.
In March 2007, Sarah had the opportunity to tour Japan with the University
Wind Ensemble. Sarah currently teaches middle school band full time in Fall City, WA.
She also plays with singer/songwriter Sarah Shannnon, and is a regular
sub in the Seattle big band scene.
Carolyn Caster: Carolyn is an active trombonist in the Seattle big band scene and
has performed with the ConEd Art Ensemble, Brian Kirk's
Jazz Orchestra, the Jazz Police, Jay Thomas' Friendly Fire, Kings of Swing, Route 66, Portage Bay Big Band,
Issaquah Jazz Orchestra, and others.
She studied music and computer science at the
University of Idaho, and has studied trombone with Jeff Hay and Dave Keim. Carolyn is an original member of
SWOJO and its current Executive Director (2004 - present).
Mariah Ralston: Through jazz, Mariah has disovered her passion for
travel. She had the honor of sharing this wonderful form of music with
the Chinese military band in Beijing, China as well as students of music
in Milano, Italia. Both of these great experiences were under the direction
of Dr. Hal Sherman in the renowned Bellevue Community College Jazz Band
where she played for the past two years. Her favorite trip abroad was,
of course, with SWOJO to Lima, Peru. She has stayed in contact with
many musicians in Lima and plans to return in February 2005 to add a
little Latin flavor to her playing. Mariah is very proud to have been
a member of SWOJO since 2000. (photo by Jim Levitt)
Ann Reynolds: Ann's love of music was evident at a young age.
Classical piano studies and composing were part of her college career
alongside studies in biology. Pursuing biological research following
college, she had a successful career as a molecular biologist, educator,
and science writer. In the 90's, however, her love of music found her
pursuing jazz studies in Seattle. As music became a greater part of
her life, she traveled to Cuba to study the infectious, complex rhythms
of Cuban music. She can be heard with her own trio in clubs in the
Seattle area. She has studied with Jerome Gray, Randy Halberstadt,
Daniel Barry, and in Cuba with Andres Alen. 
Maria Joyner: As a previous member, Maria is excited to be returning to SWOJO.
Her big band experience includes working in Washington, Oregon, and Texas. In addition
to SWOJO Maria has performed locally with Phil Kelly's Prevailing Winds, the Emerald
City Jazz Orchestra, and Rich Wetzel's Groovin Higher Jazz Orchestra. Maria studied
with Ed Soph at the University of North Texas where she played in the esteemed Two
O'clock Lab Band. While in Dallas she performed with the Dallas Jazz Orchestra and
Pete Peterson and the Collection, and also toured with In Full Swing, a vocal jazz
quartet specializing appearances with pop's orchestras throughout the country. Maria
was recently chosen to perform in Sisters in Jazz, a collegiate all-women jazz combo
sponsored by IAJE and Black Entertainment Television. With the Sisters in Jazz she had
performances in New York City and the Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Festival at the
Kennedy Center. Maria stays busy as a mother of two boys, is a private teacher,
and is also on faculty at Pacific Lutheran University where she teaches drum set
and percussion methods classes. (photo by Jim Levitt)
Rachael Contorer: Rachael is a relative newcomer to the Seattle jazz scene,
picking up a bass for the first time eight years ago as an antidote to her
career as an environmental engineer. Lessons led to a desire for education,
which she received from Cornish College of the Arts, culminating in a bachelor
of music degree in jazz performance in 2002. Over the past four years she's
served as principal bassist for the Route 66 and Mach One big bands as well
as in the Monday Night Band, a Bellevue-based big band under the direction
of the formidable Hal Sherman. Rachael recently co-led a jazz sextet
performing original music that has played in the Tacoma Jazz Festival
the past two years. She has also appeared in numerous other small groups,
from duo to quintet, in settings ranging from clubs to airplane hangars
to the fertilizer section of a plant nursery. In addition to playing,
Rachael entertains herself and occasionally others by composing music
for solo instruments or small ensembles.
Dr. Daniel Barry: Daniel Barry is a composer, arranger, music educator, publisher and trumpet
player currently living in Seattle, Washington. Barry's recent commissions
include orchestral, big band, chamber, and choral music compositions. His
most recent recording, The Jazz Police: the Music of Daniel Barry, has
received the following comments: