Educators interested in teaching opportunites at Meter are encouraged to email or mail a resume and cover letter.
Our Faculty
Timothy Ashe • Double Bass, Electric Bass, Violin, Viola, Cello
Tim brings extensive orchestral, band and composition background to his teaching. He received his Bachelor of Music from Western Connecticut State and Master of Education from University of Bridgeport. His most recent work has been as a High School Orchestral Director in Florida. His performance experience includes work with UConn Symphony, UConn Double Bass Ensemble, Treasure Coast Chamber Orchestra.
What early memory do you have about being drawn to music?
My older brother had the biggest stereo and record collection. Even though his room was next to mine, it was always super loud! But I loved it and always asked him what group was playing on the stereo. The music he listened to really impacted me at young age.
What is something you love to do when you're not playing music?
I enjoy spending time with my wife and three cats.
Can you share a favorite concert experience?
In 1991 I attended a Red Hot Chili Peppers concert. Two bands opened for them. The first band had not released an album yet (I thought that they may have been a local band) but WOW - they rocked! The second band had one album out that I never heard of and they rocked as well! The Chili Peppers were great as always. The first band was Pearl Jam and the second band was the Smashing Pumpkins. This had to be the best concert I ever attended!
What teacher has inspired you in your music and why?
Volkan Orhon was my first classical double bass teacher. Watching him perform on the double bass inspired me to bring music out of my instrument with grace and feeling.
What is a favorite place outside of Seattle that you've traveled or lived?
Tucson, Arizona would have to be my favorite place. My wife and I traveled there on a trip and almost did not leave! It was so beautiful! Someday I could retire there.
Samantha Boshnack • Piano, Trumpet
Samantha began her musical training at a young age and has been at it zealously ever since. She is a musician with many hats. In addition to being a classically trained pianist, she also plays the trumpet and is an avid composer. She earned a BA in music from Bard College where she studied with renowned pianists German Diez and Bari Mort. When not teaching she can be found playing trumpet and composing in a multitude of bands (jazz, rock, salsa, Balkan, etc.) including Reptet, The B’shnorkestra, Picoso, Publish The Quest, Washington Composers Orchestra, and Seattle Jazz Composers Ensemble.
As a teacher she strives to find and hone each individual’s passion and aptitude for music. Each student is pushed to develop good technique and reading skills. Samantha believes that music is a fun and rewarding way to express oneself and be creative, as well as learn important lessons in patience, practice, and discipline. Performance is a priority. Students are encouraged to find joy and passion in music while becoming the best all-around musician they can be.
What early memory do you have about being drawn to music?
I remember watching videos of concerts in Central Park and thinking I'd like to play in a band one day.
What is something you love to do when you're not playing music?
I like to hike and camp, spend time at beaches, go to plays, movies, comedy shows. When I'm not playing music I'm also often writing music or attending concerts.
Can you share a favorite concert experience?
Playing in Africa on the beach to 7,000+ people was pretty great. I have also really enjoyed touring around this country and playing in rural areas for kids who haven't seen a lot of live music.
What teacher has inspired you in your music and why?
I have had a lot of inspirational teachers throughout my life. My college teacher/mentor gave 150% to her students and continues to be a close friend and mentor. She helped me be prepared for life as a musician after school.
What is a favorite place outside of Seattle that you've traveled or lived?
I loved living in New York City. I really enjoyed traveling in Brussels - its kind of the Seattle of Europe to me.
Brendan Bosworth • Guitar, Ukulele
Brendan received a Jazz Performance Minor from Carnegie Mellon University, where he studied with Joe Negri and Eric Kloss. He has been teaching in the Seattle area since 2001, including classes at Bellevue Community College, Rotary Boys & Girls Club, Music Works Northwest and Experience Music Project. Performances include work with Dolour, Friends For Heroes, Thieves Of Kailua, Josh Ottum, Shane Tutmarc, and Love In Space.
What early memory do you have about being drawn to music?
I think I was about 5 when my folks took me to a Kool & The Gang concert. I remember sharing a frozen Snickers bar and waking up from a nice nap to hear the encore.
What is something you love to do when you're not playing music?
Sounders FC games with my brother, long walks around Seattle with my wife, and listening to They Might Be Giants with my sister and niece.
Can you share a favorite concert experience?
Steely Dan 1996 at Irvine Meadows Amphitheater with Wayne Krantz on guitar .
What teacher has inspired you in your music and why?
Pittsburgh’s own Joe Negri. Beautiful player and educator.
What is a favorite place outside of Seattle that you've traveled or lived?
Hard to beat spending time with my big fun family in sunny Southern California.
Sabrina Brazier • Voice
Sabrina brings 30 years as a vocalist and nearly 20 years as an educator to her work with singers of all ages. For over a decade she has run the vocal program at Billings Middle School, where students put on yearly productions and study the historical impact of voice across cultures. Her work as a performer includes 12 years with Jim Valley, and lead vocals with the band Zanga Zanga. Her own training has included workshops with Zimbabwean artists Beauler Dyoko and Lucky Moyo.
What early memory do you have about being drawn to music?
I always remember having music around me. My mother often had music playing around the house and sang along with it while being a mom. My earliest memory of knowing I had a voice was when I was singing with a friend in fifth grade and she looked at me and said, "Wow, you can really sing." The following year I auditioned and made it into the all city choir, the rest is history.
What is something you love to do when you're not playing music?
I love to be with good friends anywhere in the great outdoors. I grew up in Western Washington spending a lot of time with nature. When not playing in nature, I love making natural herbal remedies and body care products. And I love to grow fragrant herbal plants and flowers!
Can you share a favorite concert experience?
It was at Bumbershoot. A triple-header concert with Bonnie Raitt, Keb Mo and Joan Baez. It was when Bumbershoot started giving wrist bands to limit the number of concert goers. They did 3 separate shows, then played together for the finale. Great singers, great harmonies, and they each talked to the audience as if you were in their living rooms. At one point when Bonnie Raitt came out at the end of Keb Mo's set she asked the audience if we wanted she and Keb to make up a song about Seattle, and they did. It was awesome!!!
What teacher has inspired you in your music and why?
My junior high school choir teacher was great - she believed in me, encouraged me to share my voice, and exposed her students to ALL kinds of music. By 9th grade I was the choir president and singing solos. The beginning of my life of singing and helping others with singing.
What is a favorite place outside of Seattle that you've traveled or lived?
New Orleans, Louisiana. I loved the people, the culture, the boutiques, the French Quarter and the food. When we landed at the airport my friend said to me, "look - those people look like you." She was right. My French last name comes from my Grandfather who was part Creole and from that part of the country.
John Coons • Voice, Piano
A graduate of University of Southern Maine, John received BM degrees in Voice Performance and Music Education, and his MM in Classical Voice Performance. As a performer he is at home performing in a wide variety of styles and settings, including classical, musical theater, jazz, and popular music. John was an Emerging Artist with PORTOpera for three seasons and has performed roles with the Boston Opera Collaborative, MetroWest Opera, Lakes Region Opera and Opera New Hampshire's Outreach program. As a classical soloist, he has performed with the Portland Symphony POPS, North Shore Philharmonic, Masterworks Chorale of Boston, Portland Choral Art Society, and Granite State Choral Society. Also as a soloist, John has performed the National Anthem for the Red Sox at a sold-out Fenway Park. His experience also extends into musical theater, jazz, and pop settings, including performances with Ben Folds and the selection of one of his compositions to represent the state of Maine in the annual John Lennon Songwriting Competition.
What early memory do you have about being drawn to music?
It's a bit geeky, but I loved the Star Wars soundtrack and listened to it religiously as a kid. I could sing along to the entire score at age 7, and seeing John Williams conduct the opening with the Boston POPS at age 12 is still emblazoned in my memory.
What is something you love to do when you're not playing music?
I love hiking, reading in a hammock somewhere, or chowing down on some Indian food.
Can you share a favorite concert experience?
Some of my favorite musical moments are not the ones with the largest audiences. I was on tour in Europe with a chamber group and we sang in a chapel in the Vienna cemetery - I think some of our chords are still ringing there.
What teacher has inspired you in your music and why?
While a number of music teachers have left such an impression on my life, "Mr. Brown," way back in Elementary school, really showed me how much joy there is to be had in making music, by yourself and with others.
What is a favorite place outside of Seattle that you've traveled or lived?
I will always have a soft spot for Portland, Maine - it's where I had my first professional gig, great people, amazing food, on the ocean, and the summers I spent singing with PORTOpera are some of my happiest memories.
Karl Fagerstrom • Drum Set, Trumpet, Guitar
Karl focused on drum set while earning his Bachelor of Studio Music and Jazz at University of Miami's Frost School of Music, but is a true multi-instrumentalist in his performing and teaching. Performance experience includes shows at venues including EMP & Benaroya Hall, and alongside acts such as Ying Yang Twins and Chick Corea.
What early memory do you have about being drawn to music?
My parents used to own an old-school turntable, as well as records that we would listen and dance to. Even though that eventually stopped, I kept listening to those records on painfully large 70's Sennheiser headphones for hours at a time, generally with greatest hits from the 60's and 70's, big band jazz standards like Benny Goodman and Duke Ellington. Later it became more contemporary music, but I still would sit for hours at a time listening to what eventually became CDs on those giant headphones until the pressure from them would hurt my head.
What is something you love to do when you're not playing music?
Writing music, watching live music, or listening to music. Outside of that I enjoy biking, longboarding, outdoorsy activities, and occasional yoga.
Can you share a favorite concert experience?
After winning the University of North Texas Jazz Festival with my high school jazz band, we got to open for Chick Corea, Christian McBride, and Steve Gadd. I had never seen such musicianship in person in my life.
What teacher has inspired you in your music and why?
Steve Rucker from the University of Miami helped me conceptualize drumming musicianship in very weird ways that stretched me outside of my typical habits.
What is a favorite place outside of Seattle that you've traveled or lived?
I have been to Boston and Austin for festivals, and found them both very appealing. I'd love to check those places out again.
Peter Fleming • Trombone
Peter's trombone performance experience has included orchestra, pop, rock and everything in between. He is a graduate of Purdue University with a Theater Sound Design degree and minor in Music History and Theory. He brings his experience working with elementary music classes and competitive marching bands to his private and group lessons at Meter.
What early memory do you have about being drawn to music?
I don't really have an earliest musical memory, but my family has always played music for fun. It was not uncommon on a weekend evening for my dad, older brother, mom, and maybe a friend or two to just sit around, pick, and sing whatever they felt like for the evening.
What is something you love to do when you're not playing music?
When I'm not playing music, I am a total geek that likes to read fiction novels and play video games.
Can you share a favorite concert experience?
My favorite concert experience was the end of my DCI finals performance with the Blue Stars drum and bugle corps. Just knowing that it was the last time that that show would ever be performed, and to have the final performance in front of a football stadium of people was an amazing experience.
What teacher has inspired you in your music and why?
A teacher that has inspired me was Melissa Primavera. She was the baritone tech for Blue Stars, and she was simply a good, engaged teacher that let you know when something was wrong without being too harsh, and praised good playing without being coddling.
What is a favorite place outside of Seattle that you've traveled or lived?
My favorite place outside of Seattle that I've traveled is Venice, Italy. I went there with a children's choir when I was younger, and am still amused by the turn around of the passengers singing to the gondoliers in the canals of Venice.
Jen Gilleran • Drums & Percussion
Jen's musical journey extends from making records and touring to teaching kids in Monteverde, Costa Rica. Her own training has been specific to each instrument she pursues: drum set with John Wagner and Frank Marino, framedrums & dumbek with Jarrod Cagwin, tabla with Samir Chatterjee & Misha Masud, and conga with Frank Malabe. She offers students the opportunity to deeply explore drum set while finding their way toward all interesting corners of the world of percussion.
What early memory do you have about being drawn to music?
My parents are classical musicians. My mother is a pianist, organist and choir director. She used to take me to her organ lessons when I was 2 and apparently I could be heard singing along with some crazy Bach fugue. Her teacher encouraged her to encourage me musically. I was forced to take violin and clarinet if I wanted to study the drums, as I was told "drums were not a melodic instrument." That confused me, as I heard tonal possibilities right away. It then became my mission to prove that drums were also musical, sensitive and textural as well as loud, thunderous and time keeping.
What is something you love to do when you're not playing music?
Read writing about musicians authored by beautiful writers.
Can you share a favorite concert experience?
Seeing Tony Williams at the Village Vanguard in the late '80s. His playing, the counter-melodies, his canary-yellow drumset, the room, the history on the walls and in the seats - I could almost convince myself that it was 50 years earlier.
What teacher has inspired you in your music and why?
My mother, first. She would ask us to name the composer on the classical station while we drove in the car and taught us how to identify them. She would pull into the driveway of our house and keep the car running as one of us would be instructed to dash into the house and find the station on the stereo so that she wouldn't miss a note. She would ask us to sit at home in the living room and we were not allowed to be doing anything else while we listened to the piece she chose. If we fidgeted she would teach us how to be still and how to deeply listen. Sometimes this was encouraged, often it was demanded, but always it was an amazing example of taking music seriously and putting the ability to listen first.
What is a favorite place outside of Seattle that you've traveled or lived?
Monteverde, Costa Rica. It is a cloud forest, way up in the mountains. Big green leaves and lots of rain and wind. Very generous landscape and vegetation. Abundance and daunting wildness. A great place to learn and to remember.
Ryan Hoffman • Guitar
Originally from Kansas City, Ryan has called Seattle home for over 20 years. He’s been a working guitarist since he was a teenager and has been playing and performing Gypsy swing for over 10 years. He had the good fortune to be able to study the style with excellent guitarists Fapy Lafertin and Samy Daussat during an extended stay in Europe. He has performed on stage with well-known musicians such as Robin Nolan, Howard Alden, Andreas Oberg, Ken Peplowski, Martin Taylor, Larry Coryell, Darol Anger and Connie Evingson. He has also performed with the Seattle Civic Light Opera and the Whatcom Symphony Orchestra. He is a member of the popular Northwest Gypsy jazz group Pearl Django and is a founding member of the Seattle swing band Zazou.
What early memory do you have about being drawn to music?
Honestly, I can’t think of a memory from my really early childhood except that I absolutely loved my Kenner Close N’Play record player. I wouldn’t go anywhere without it. The truth is, I was a reluctant and lazy guitar student in my tween years and it wasn’t until I started playing in bands with my friends as a teenager that really became motivated to learn to play.
What is something you love to do when you're not playing music?
I really enjoy spending time with my wife and daughter, just playing, walking in the neighborhood, picnicking in the park. I also love to eat and I love to cook, pretty much in that order.
Can you share a favorite concert experience?
The first time I ever heard the Bad Livers (from Austin TX), they were playing in a tiny nothing little club in Lawrence, Kansas. I had always listened to and played rock and pop (classic, new wave, punk, alt whatever) before that night. The band blew me away. Three people making so much music with just a banjo, fiddle and string bass. Well, occasionally guitar, tuba and concertina, too, but you get the idea. It was a pivotal musical experience for me. The next day I bought a banjo and began a journey to discover and educate myself about traditional music which in turn led me through the evolution of popular music in this country.
What teacher has inspired you in your music and why?
I’ve had too many inspiring teachers over the years to pick out just one, but I had one particularly memorable period of study with a Gypsy guitarist in the Netherlands. This fellow didn’t mince words at all and was not shy about pointing out what he didn’t like in my playing. Though this was a pretty humbling experience, I learned a great deal from him in a short time, and came out of the experience a much better guitar player than I had been before. However, I think I should qualify this anecdote by saying that his style of teaching is not my style!
What is a favorite place outside of Seattle that you've traveled or lived?
This one is easy! Paris, no question. I love the city. I love the culture. I love the music. I love the cafes, the sidewalks and the food. I’d move there in a second if I could figure out how to make a living.
Sally Homann • Kindermusik
Sally began singing in groups at age 10, and has lent her vocal gift over the years to musical theater, choir, pop band and wedding settings. She began taking voice lessons at 13. Performance experience includes concerts with Cal Poly acapella and madrigal groups, San Fernando Valley Master Chorale, and pop cover band Flashback. She brings almost twenty years of middle school humanities teaching to her current adventure of exploring early childhood music education through the Kindermusik methodology.
What early memory do you have about being drawn to music?
I loved listening to my grandmother's "Hi-Fi" when I was 10 - great classics from Johnny Mathis and Andy Williams. There was often music at our family get-togethers with my uncles playing guitar, my grandmother accompanying on the organ, and everyone singing. Getting the lead at age 11 in "Pecos Bill" as Slue-Foot Sue really launched my musical career : )
What is something you love to do when you're not playing music?
I love riding my beach cruiser with my cousin and friends in a group called the "Pedal Pushers." I also love shaking it up in my zumba class at the gym. Finally, devouring books is a big pastime. Got any suggestions?
Can you share a favorite concert experience?
The most exciting concert has to be my first. I remember driving into Hollywood to the Bowl from my hometown Pomona to hear The Mamas & the Papas. What a night! They sounded so terrific and I couldn't believe that I was hearing them in person.
What teacher has inspired you in your music and why?
My strict, quirky (aren't all musicians?), eccentric music teacher of 6 years, Mr. Weldon Moody. Apt name. He taught a group of us from 7th grade through high school and challenged us with pieces by Stravinski, Bach, Mozart and many other multi-cultural composers. We qualified for a trip to Hawaii in our senior year which was a highlight.
What is a favorite place outside of Seattle that you've traveled or lived?
My longtime home of San Diego is stunning, but Istanbul, Turkey has to be the most exotic place I've visited. I can still hear the sounds of callers to the mystical prayers and the rug sellers shouting. I remember lots of bright colors and rich food smells.
Katherine Isbill • Flute
University of Washington doctoral candidate, Katherine Isbill, is currently a first year doctoral student at the University of Washington majoring in flute performance. Active as a performer, Katherine has performed in many concerts with various orchestras and wind ensembles including the ensembles at the University of Washington and the University of Georgia. Additionally, she has participated in numerous performances with the Gwinnett Ballet Orchestra and the Augusta Symphony Orchestra as well as in solo recitals. She has also participated in competitions including the Atlanta Flute Club’s Young Artist competition where she was a finalist.
Committed to music education, Katherine was awarded a scholarship from the Georgia Music Educators’ Association for Future Music Educators and was the lead teacher for the University of Georgia Community Music School’s Early Childhood Music Workshop. She has also held the associate director position for the University of Georgia's Summer Music Camps, catering to over 1,000 elementary, middle, and high school students each summer.
Originally from Lawrenceville, Georgia, Isbill earned a Bachelor Degree in Music Education and a Master Degree in Flute Performance from the University of Georgia.
What early memory do you have about being drawn to music?
My mother bought me a Beethoven cd when I was around 8 years old. I can remembering being so excited after listening to the symphonies and piano sonatas and I would blast the music super loud in our house to hear every little detail. A few months later, I started music lessons!
What is something you love to do when you're not playing music?
I love to walk around Green Lake here in Seattle, and I love going Salsa dancing!
Can you share a favorite concert experience?
In 2010, I had the opportunity to attend the National Flute Association's National Conference. At this conference were many famous flutists. Along with my Beethoven cd, my mother also bought me a James Galway cd. I had been listening to this famous flutist's cd since I was very young. At this conference, I was able to attend a concert where James Galway performed live. Finally, about 15 years later, I saw the artist who inspired me to start learning the flute in person! I even got a picture with him!
What teacher has inspired you in your music and why?
My first flute teacher who I studied with when I was 11 years old has inspired me the most. He was not originally a flutist, but a saxophonist! He had such a great sense of humor and a kind and gentle nature and truly cared about all of his students. After studying with many teachers, I have found that this first teacher was the most inspirational since he really loved teaching and inspired others to love music as much as he did.
What is a favorite place outside of Seattle that you've traveled or lived?
After my hometown near Atlanta, Georgia, my favorite place is in southern Germany. Beautiful mountains, lakes, rivers, and most of all, CASTLES!
Kate Olson • Saxophone, Clarinet, Flute
Kate Olson earned her MM degree in Improvisation from the University of Michigan and a BA in Music (Jazz Emphasis) from the University of Wyoming. As a multi-instrumentalist specializing in jazz and free improvisation, Kate’s performance experience is exceptionally diverse; from cruise ship shows to performing original jazz in Slovakia at a folk music festival. She has also played in over 20 musical theater pit orchestras, including companies at the University of Michigan and the College Light Opera Company in Falmouth, MA. Currently, Kate enjoys playing with the Seattle Women's Jazz Orchestra and teaching private students. Her first record, Improvised Duets with guitarist Gary Prince, debuted in the fall of 2009.
What early memory do you have about being drawn to music?
I remember hanging out with my dad in the living room listening to records (yes, real records). Everything from Patsy Cline to the Beatles, Sam Cooke to Elton John. Sometimes we would dance (father-daughter style, with my feet on his feet as he awkwardly walked me around the room), and sometimes I'd just splay out on the carpet, too-big headphones perched over my ears, listening to songs that my dad also grew up listening to.
What is something you love to do when you're not playing music?
I really enjoy cooking and eating, and so that I can continue to enjoy cooking and eating without becoming elephantine, I encourage myself to enjoy going to the gym, running, and biking. I'm also an avid reader--some recent favorites are anything by Orhan Pamuk, Etgar Keret, Charles Baxter, and J.M. Coetzee.
Can you share a favorite concert experience?
When I was a sophomore in college I spent a semester in Minneapolis. That semester, I discovered the Walker Art Center, and their marathon concerts and festivals. I heard a band called Happy Apple, which was a "jazz" trio doing free improv. They were communicating on a level that I had never heard musicians reach before. In that same concert, I got to see the Bang on a can All-Stars, a modern chamber ensemble that rocked harder than most punk bands I'd seen in high school garage shows. It was also the year that Björk's Vespertine came out. Those three artists changed my life.
What teacher has inspired you in your music and why?
My first real music teacher was a man named Dave Rickard. He taught public school until he couldn't take the politics anymore, and now he owns a music store in my hometown of Laramie, WY. He taught me guitar lessons for 2 years, and he was full of vignettes about what it meant to be a musician, like "Don't pursue music as a career unless you love it more than anything else in the world."
What is a favorite place outside of Seattle that you've traveled or lived?
I had the opportunity to play with some improvisers in Istanbul this past spring. Istanbul is a beautiful place. Huge, historical, and incredibly difficult to navigate via public transportation, I feel like it's one of the most vibrant cities I've had the opportunity to visit. Beside that, I loved living in Astoria in Queens. I was working for a record label, being a grad student, and living the dream....
Michael Puglisi • Guitar
Michael Puglisi was born and raised in St. Louis, MO and has been playing guitar for 18 years. His specialties include jazz, rock, and blues. Michael holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Webster University in St. Louis and a Master of Music degree from Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville, IL. He has taught privately as well as in classroom settings since 2001. He has developed, in that time, an effective methodology for teaching music theory, ear training, songwriting, and improvisation in a fun and easy to understand manner. Michael has done substantial pit orchestra work, freelance gigs, and numerous recordings. His current band is called French Letters, which is based in Seattle, WA and will be releasing their debut album in the summer of 2011.
What early memory do you have about being drawn to music?
It's strange how clear some memories remain, no matter how much time passes. Like most kids of my generation, I grew up watching Sesame Street. I remember back in the early 80's when I was about four or five, they had a band of little Muppet beetles playing a spoof of the Beatles' song Let it Be. (the Sesame Street version was called Letter B). My mom happened to be watching with me and pulled out her old LP of the real Beatles. When I looked at the album jacket, specifically at George Harrison, I remember my first reaction being "Mommy what's wrong with that man's teeth?" But then she put it on our little Fisher Price record player and that was my earliest memory of wanting to hear a record again and again. I was just a child and had no idea what Paul McCartney was singing about but everything about the music was otherworldly to me. From the stark piano intro, to the beautiful vocal melody, to the wailing guitar solo in the middle of the tune, there was simply no going back to the Muppet version after hearing that. I think my mom could see that she had sparked an interest in me and rented A Hard Day's Night and Help from the video store. I couldn't follow the plot lines, such as they were, but the Beatles just made being in a band look like so much fun. I would ask for a guitar every Christmas from then on, and when I was old enough I got one.
What is something you love to do when you're not playing music?
I love to read, watch movies (Westerns have been my main interest lately), go to local art shows here in Seattle, play poker, chess, and dominoes, and go to the park and throw the frisbee with some friends.
Can you share a favorite concert experience?
One of my all-time favorite guitarists is Mike Campbell from Tom Petty's band. About five years ago I had the good fortune to hear Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers with Mr. Campbell live at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Tennessee. I don't think I've ever heard a band sound that good live before (or since). And they had Stevie Nicks waiting backstage as a surprise special guest!
What teacher has inspired you in your music and why?
I had the opportunity in college to study with a man named Rob Block, who is one of the best jazz players in the midwest. Rob's lessons frequently lasted for hours and he was a good friend as well as a great player and teacher. He was one of the few jazz teachers I've encountered that could teach the music in a very "nuts and bolts'" sort of fashion without all of his students coming out sounding just like carbon copies of him. He fostered a sense of individuality in those he taught.
What is a favorite place outside of Seattle that you've traveled or lived?
St. Louis, because that's where my family is. I also enjoy Chicago, and Philadelphia.
Dana Radcliffe • Guitar, Piano, Songwriting
Part rock, part pop, part folk, part soul, part blues!? Spent some early years across the ocean. Mostly a Virginia boy. Dana has released two albums as a solo artist, and has made contributions as a piano and guitar player to multiple projects. In his five years as a member of The Nice Jenkins, they released two albums and toured throughout the eastern seaboard and into the midwest playing in such notable venues as CBGBs, the Knitting Factory, Sin-e, Pianos, the Charlottesville Pavilion, and DC9. His training in blues, jazz, rock, and pop styles has been via private instruction with an assortment of players.
What early memory do you have about being drawn to music?
I remember dancing and sliding across the kitchen floor to Michael Jackson’s Thriller and the Footloose soundtrack while my mother cooked dinner. Later, maybe I was nine or ten, we visited my grandparents in Massachusetts for Thanksgiving. They had a Steinway piano. Once I sat in front of the thing, I was captivated. My little fingers banged away at it while everyone else was in a tryptophan comatose. I suppose food and music were interrelated in my childhood.
What is something you love to do when you're not playing music?
When I am not playing music, I enjoy being outdoors, and being with friends and family. Hiking, backpacking, and camping have always been passions of mine, but I also enjoy a good walk or bicycle ride around town.
Can you share a favorite concert experience?
Stevie Wonder at the Old Dominion University Ted Constant Center in Norfolk, Virginia in 2009. I sang along to every song.
What teacher has inspired you in your music and why?
Friend, teacher, and producer Matt Wyatt - a beautiful, unique, and versatile rhythm machine. I also have to mention bassist Cameron Ralston – always finding the pocket.
What is a favorite place outside of Seattle that you've traveled or lived?
Mallorca, Spain. Specifically, the northern portion of the island where the limestone face of the Sierra de la Tramontana’s terraced olive orchards and stonewalls dive into the clear and crystal blue Mediterranean. The towns are cut into these cliffs – breathtaking!
Adrian Van Batenburg • Drums & Percussion
Adrian earned his BA in Music from the University of North Texas (UNT). While there he studied with Ed Soph, a world renowned drum set instructor. He also studied Ghanaian drumming with Gideon Foli Alorwoyie, and South Indian Karnatic music with Poovalur Srinivasan. He participated in UNT big bands, jazz combos, jazz vocal ensembles and steel pan orchestra. Since moving to Seattle in 2003 he has worked with hundreds of students, traveled to Senegal to continue his own study, and worked with projects including Polygraph Liar, Argo, Laurie Katherine Carlson, Kelli Hanson, The Kindness Kind, and Uncle Roman’s Jetboat. His current project is Gems.
What early memory do you have about being drawn to music?
Spending time with my friends listening to tapes of Nirvana. We would rock out in my basement after school. I enjoyed the feeling of playing music with my friends and making really LOUD sounds with the drums!
What is something you love to do when you're not playing music?
Traveling. I'm always planning my next adventure! My last trip was to Senegal in West Africa. I heard amazing music, met interesting people and experienced a rich unique culture.
Can you share a favorite concert experience?
Hearing Jazz great Elvin Jones in New York City at the Blue Note, shortly before he passed away. It was very musical, moving, and inspirational. His drumming continues to amaze me.
What teacher has inspired you in your music and why?
My college drumset instructor, Ed Soph at UNT. He taught me to listen, to think about what I play and why. He pushed me to develop clear ideas on the instrument.
What is a favorite place outside of Seattle that you've traveled or lived?
Germany. Spent some time there in 2001, meeting musicians and just hanging out. I ate a lot of delicious food too!
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