Big Band Jazz - Seattle's Jim Cutler Jazz Orchestra

Jim Cutler (lead alto, bandleader)

Jim's crazy idea to have a weekly house big band at Tula's resulted in the formation of the Jim Cutler Jazz Orchestra. Initially playing lead tenor, it was only natural for Jim to eventually move to the lead alto chair, running both the saxes and band from the front-center of the band. In Jim's own words: "I'm very fortunate and grateful to have such great musicians play in my band each week - my goal every week is be the worst player in the band, preferrably through no fault of my own."

Gordon Brown (alto)

Originally from Canada, Gordon Brown began playing alto saxophone at the age of 12. He later moved to the Dallas area for high school where he was first introduced to jazz and where he landed his first lead chair in the school big band. Several summer jazz camps, numerous winter music festivals, countless private lessons, and guest spots with the Dallas Jazz Orchestra and the UNT Alumni's "Holiday Inn" Tuesday Night Big Band later, he packed his bags and headed down to Austin where he played lead with the prestigious University of Texas jazz ensemble for his 5 year tenure. During this time he was fortunate to collaborate with Bob Brookmeyer, Conrad Herwig, Phil Woods, Michael Brecker, Rick Margitza, Randy Brecker, Wynton Marsalis, and Wessell "Warmdaddy" Anderson. Outside of school, he was a founding member of the Austin-based hit 8-piece cover band Siringo Pass.

He then moved to Atlanta for graduate school where he played lead with the Georgia Tech jazz ensemble while moonlighting on the lead chair with the Georgia State University big band as well. During this time he worked with Kevin Hays, Don Braden, Nicholas Payton, and Kenny Garrett. He was also given what he considers the best gig in the world: playing *the* saxophone chair in the 10-piece Atlanta Falcons house cover band where he was responsible for blowing solos from the sidelines to crowds of 70,000+ fans every home game during the commercial breaks over the 2004 regular season.

After moving to Seattle in 2005, he founded a small jazz group, Toaster Child, which featured his original compositions and arrangements. Today, in addition to the Jim Cutler Jazz Orchestra, he continues to jam with the members of Toaster Child and plays lead alto for the Jazz Police Big Band.

Mike West (lead tenor)

Mike West is a saxophone, clarinetist and flutist living in the Seattle area. Mike attended Roosevelt High School and Central Washington University playing in the award winning Jazz Groups led by Waldo King and John Moawad. Mike later went on to study privately with Bert Wilson, Billy Pierce, Bill Evans, Rick Britestein and Jerome Gray. Performance credits include Doc Severinsen, Dizzy Gillespie, James Williams, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Frankie Valli, Don Rickles, Brian Nova, Steve Miller, Stephanie Porter, The 5th Avenue Musical Theater, Ernie Andrews, Bob Newhart, Joan Rivers, Diane Schuur, Bobby Caldwell, Brian Lynch and John Pizzarelli. Mike maintains a busy private teaching schedule and continues to work on arranging and music publishing projects.

Paul Gillespie (tenor)

Paul Gillespie is a tenor saxophonist who performs regularly in the Seattle area as a member of the Jazz Police, Jim Cutler Jazz Orchestra, PGM Trio, Kevin McCarthy Quartet and others. He aspires to compose and perform modern music and develop a unique style and sound as a jazz artist. Paul studies composition with William O. Smith and recently finished writing a string quartet. A graduate of Indiana University and the University of Washington, Paul currently teaches music at Highland Middle School and Interlake High School in the Bellevue School District in Bellevue, Washington.

James DeJoie (baritone)

James hails from the Pacific Northwest and revels in the practice of bringing together diverse musical genres in distinctive combinations. Jim writes and performs music that broadens the scope of what may be defined as "jazz," and through his use of electronics and world-influenced rhythms, creates a genre unto itself. He is equally fluent on baritone and alto saxophones, clarinet, bass clarinet, flute, and percussion. In addition to playing in the Jim Cutler Jazz Orchestra, he performs and composes for his own groups, Joietet, Dr Fleek and the Army of Experimental Children, and the Ocular Proof, and is a regular contributor to such top-flight Northwest ensembles as Moraine, Wayne Horvitz's Washington Composers Orchestra, Daniel Barry's Walk All Ways, and the Jim Knapp Orchestra. He is also active performing classical music and was the featured soloist in a Baritone Saxophone Concerto written for him by composer David Gaines, which he recorded with the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra in Bratislava in 2008.

Mike Mines (lead trumpet)

Mike Mines has played trumpet professionally in the Seattle area since 1985. He has played lead trumpet with the Jazz Police Big Band since the band was formed in 1986. Mike has appeared with such touring artists as the Mills Brothers, the Temptations, Dee Daniels, Dave Weckl, Eddie Daniels and many others.

In addition to playing the trumpet, Mike Mines has taught band at Valley View Middle School in Snohomish since1985. His concert bands and jazz bands have won numerous awards including 1st Place at Bellevue Jazz Festival in 2002 and 2003 and are known for their consistent excellence throughout the Puget Sound region. Mike has also presented clinics on band room management and middle school jazz band repertoire at Washington Music Educators and All Northwest conferences.

Pete Kirkman

Pete has been teaching and performing as a freelance trumpet player in the Pacific Northwest for over 26 years. He attended Western Washington University as a Performance/Music Education Major from 1979-86 where he studied with Wayne Gorder, Tom Parriott (former co-principal, Vancouver Symphony), Steve Keene, and Syd Potter (Jazz). He has been a brass coach for the Ferndale School District and the North Sound Youth Symphony. He currently teaches trumpet at Shoreline Community College. During his teaching career his students’ accomplishments include: attending and placing first in the State MENC Solo/Ensemble Festival, principal trumpet with The Seattle Youth Symphony. Several students have gone on to attend prestigious institutions such as The Cleveland Institute, San Francisco Conservatory, Tanglewood, Interlochen Performing Arts School, and The Berklee School Of Music.

Pete performs with Latin Bands, Big Bands, Chamber groups, R&B/Soul Bands, Theater Orchestras, and in various other genres throughout the Pacific Northwest as well as on national tours. Artists worked with include Mary Wilson and the Supremes, The Platters, The Coasters, Toni Tenille, The Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, The Artie Shaw Orchestra, The Steve Miller Band, Lenny Williams, Dee Daniels, The Whatcom Symphony Orchestra, and local acts including Doctor Funk, Andy O, Type-A!, The Blues Power Revue, and many other acts.

Al Keith

Al graduated from the University of Washington School of Music with a Bachelor of Arts in Trumpet Performance in 1985. Al is a veteran of Seattle's Jazz and R&B scene for over 30 years, and in addtion to the Jim Cutler Jazz Orchestra, he leads his own quartet (the Al Keith Jazz Quartet, and has performed with Annie Rose and the Thrillers, the KPLU Jazz All Star Band, the Rhythm Boys, ACT Theatre, Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra, the Jazz Police, and was a founding member of Seattle's Roadside Attraction big band

Recording Credits include work for the Toyota Motor Co., Macy's, trumpet "Voice" for Vivendi/Universal Hoyle Casino Video Games(as a featured soloist and orchestra member), PBS's "The Kumon Diaries" (National Televised Release), along with dozens of local projects as leader and side man. National credits as a side man include Natalie Cole, the Manhattan Transfer, the Four Tops, James Cotton, Twyla Paris (w/LA great Frank Szabo), the Smothers Brothers, the Greg Kihn Band, and many others.

Daniel Barry

Daniel Barry is a composer, arranger, conductor, music educator, publisher and trumpet player currently living in Seattle. Although Daniel's work as a composer falls primarily into the jazz category, his music contains elements garnered from advanced classical music studies along with residencies and festival performances throughout the world, in particular the Caribbean, Central America, Peru, Brazil and Southeast Asia.

He has served as guest Composer/Performer in Residence for the Banda Amazonas in Manaus, Brazil, the Conservatoire de Tatui in Sao Paulo Brazil, and as a featured composer at the 2003 Lima Jazz Festival in Peru.

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.

Chris Amemiya (lead trombone)

Originally a euphonium player all through high school, Chris started playing the trombone seriously in college in order to play in the jazz orchestra, but never majored in music. In addition to being a trombone freak he holds a Ph.D. in genetics and is a professed science geek (his day gig as a mad scientist at Virginia Mason helps to support his trombone addiction).

Chris has performed with Gabe Baltazar, Bobby Shew, Jimmy Borges, Ed Calle, Anthony Brown and the Afro-Eurasian Eclipse, James Newton, Phil Wilson, Gene Ramey, Manfredo Fest, Tony Lada, Jon Jang, Andre Hayward, Francis Wong, Ben Rietveld, Yasko Kubota's PowerJazz Orchestra, Ryles Jazz Orchestra, Bobby Blue Bland, and numerous salsa bands.

Steve Kirk

Ryan Shepherd

Ryan, a native of the Salt Lake City area, started performing frequently with Mambo Jumbo, the then-premier salsa band in Salt Lake while studying computer science at the University of Utah. This collaboration led to performances at the 2002 Olympics medals plaza opening for the Dave Matthews Band, and post-award parties at the Sundance Film Festival. Working as a freelance musician Ryan frequently appeared in pit orchestras for premier local productions and national Broadway tours. He also played lead trombone in the Salt Lake City Jazz Orchestra, worked with many top local musicians, and had the privilege to perform with nationally recognized artists including Conrad Herwig, Andy Martin, Chuck Findley, Bobby Shew, Eddie Daniels, Ira Nepus, Frank Sinatra Jr, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Don Rickles, Debby Boone, Mary Wilson, and Gladys Knight. In 2010, Ryan and his wife Lori co-founded the Utah Wind Symphony, the region's premier concert band, and the ensemble's rapidly-spreading reputation led to guest appearances with composer David Maslanka, trumpeter Allen Vizzutti, and trombonist Larry Zalkind.

After working as a professional software developer for ten years, Ryan was hired by Microsoft and relocated to the Seattle area in 2012, where he now performs with the Jim Cutler Jazz Orchestra and the Seattle Wind Symphony.

Jennifer Hinkle (bass trombone)

Jennifer Hinkle is the bass trombonist of the Tacoma Symphony Orchestra and Adjunct Instructor of classical trombone at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle. As a freelance trombonist in the Seattle Metro Area, she currently holds positions with the Jim Cutler Jazz Orchestra, Jay Thomas' ‘Usual Suspects’ Big band, and is a founding member of the Vibrance Brass Quintet. She has also appeared with the Pacific Northwest Ballet, the 5th Avenue Theater, the Fisher Ensemble, the Avanti Brass Quintet, the Saratoga Chamber Symphony, the Bellevue Philharmonic, the Olympia Symphony Orchestra, and the Pony Boy All-Star Big Band.

While at Indiana University, Hinkle received her Masters degree in bass trombone performance, where she studied trombone with M. Dee Stewart, Peter Ellefson and Fabio Sampo, as well as music composition with P.Q. Phan. She holds a Bachelors degree in trombone performance from Truman State University where she was a trombone student of Dr. Jay Bulen and a music composition student of Dr. Warren Gooch.

Hinkle currently resides in the Seattle area with her horse, Sierra.

Gregg Robinson (piano)

Gregg has played professionally in Chicago and Seattle for over 35 years. In addition to composing and arranging, Gregg has accompanied singers, worked with big bands, and done cabaret and theater work. In Seattle, he also plays with the Jump Ensemble and the Momentum Jazz Quartet, and has worked with Hadley Caliman, Rick Mandyke, Stephanie Porter and Perry Robinson, among others.

Philip Demaree (bass)

Phil has been playing bass for over 25 years. A native of Boulder, Co., he attended the University of Northern Colorado under Gene Aitken. He spent several years touring the US and Canada and appearing with such artists as Ray Charles, The Mills Brothers, Dianne Schuur, Joe Williams, and John Gary.

In addition to playing bass, Phil sings with the Jim Cutler Jazz Orchestra on a regular basis. He also plays and sings regularly with Roadside Attraction big band and vocal trio Trish, Hans and Phil, and plays with the Jim Cutler quartet. He also composes and arranges for each of these bands.

Phil has been arranging choral pieces for the Seattle Choral Company, including "Santa Through the Swing Years," which was performed for the first time in SCC's Christmas 2004 concert.

A Renaissance man for the new millennium, Phil also has extensive expertise in the computer industry, having worked with computer hardware and software troubleshooting for almost 20 years.

Garey Williams (drums)

With a Masters degree in Percussion Performance and Jazz Studies from Central Washington University, Garey has been a fixture in the Northwest scene, having performed with such musicians as Diana Krall, Kristin Korb, Bud Shank, Barney McClure, Howard Roberts, Joe Williams and Dizzy Gillespie.

With over twenty-five years of experience, Garey teaches private lessons, master classes and clinics throughout the Northwest. He has served on the music faculties at Central Washington University, Yakima Valley Community College and Olympic College where he has taught Applied Lessons in Drumset, Percussion Methods, Jazz Ensemble and History of Jazz. Garey currently has endorsements with and is a clinician for DW drums, Sabian cymbals, Vic Firth sticks, Remo drumheads and Latin Percussion.

A published author, Garey Williams' articles have been seen in Rhythm Magazine, Modern Drummer, Percussive Notes and Band World. With his own publishing company, Drumset Artistry, Garey has released two method books and three educational DVDs.