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Pianist/Composer Michael Pelz-Sherman has been performing professionally since the age of 16. Since winning first place at a regional High School Jazz Quartet competition in 1980, he has continued to refine his sound, absorbing influences from a wide variety of styles and cultures. A graduate of Indiana University and UC San Diego music programs, Michael studied formal music composition with Earl Browne, Donald Erb, Harvey Sollberger, Roger Reynolds, and Brian Ferneyhough, and improvisation with George E. Lewis and Bert Turetsky. His keyboard work on the album "Jazz from Mars" by Minneapolis group Little Green Men earned a "Best Jazz Album" Minnesota Music Award in 1988, and his playing is featured on the album "Standing On This Earth" by Big Sky, called "The Greatest Undiscovered Band in America" by MP3.com. Michael's formal musical training, combined with years of experience playing rock and jazz clubs throughout the country and internationally, provides him with a huge expressive pallete and an endless wellspring of musical ideas. His Ph.D. dissertation, "A Framework for the Analysis of Performer Interactions in Improvised Music", demonstrates his deep love and understanding of improvisation and the innovations of great jazz artists.
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Jeff Crouse received a Bachelors of Arts in Percussion Performance from Virginia Tech. and a Masters of Music in Studio Jazz Drumming from the University of Miami. His teachers included Howard Curtis, Dr. John Floyd, Chip McNeil, Steve Bagby, and Steve Rucker. Jeff performs regularly with many jazz groups in the Triangle and has appeared on many great jazz recordings. We are fortunate indeed to have him in our trio.
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Stephen Boletchek has been performing professionally since the age of 19. As a child he studied privately for a combined seven years on the piano, classical guitar, and the trombone. In college he studied musical performance, theory and composition at Virginia Tech. After handling a variety of jazz, classical, and rock gigs in the early 80?s, Steve served a 7 year stint with the Washington D.C. based hard bop quintet The Big Beat. He subsequently moved to central North Carolina and joined the rhythm section of Marie LeBleu & the Comitz, an indie jump blues and swing outfit that earned a write-up in Billboard magazine in 2002. Mr. Boletchek has been playing jazz bass since 1979, and performs regularly in a variety of jazz groups in the Raleigh, NC metropolitan area.
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