Select Discography

As a Leader

• Originations (2020, Origin Records)
• The River (2013, Motéma)
• Another Look (2010, Motéma)
• One Sky (2007, Motéma)
• Here and Now (2001, Sirocco Jazz)
• Real World (1997, RWM)

As a Sideman

Chad McCullough
• Forward (2020, Outside In Music)
Thomas Marriott
• Romance Language (2018, Origin Records; co-producer credit with Joe Locke)
John Wojciechowski
• Focus (2015, Origin Records)
Lorin Cohen
• Home (2015, Origin Records)
Joe Locke
• Lay Down My Heart: Blues & Ballads, Vol. 1 (2013, Motéma)
• Joe Locke Quartet & Lincoln Symphony Orchestra, Wish Upon A Star (2013, Motéma)
Geof Bradfield
• Melba! (2013, Origin Records)
• African Flowers (2010, Origin Records)
Joel Adams’s Chicago Yestet
• Just Say Yes (2014)
Joe Clark
• Lush (2013, Jazzed Media)
Bob Lark
• Reunion (2011, Jazzed Media)
Kobie Watkins
• Involved (2009, Origin Records)
Orbert Davis
• Collective Creativity (2008, 316 Jazz)
• Blue Notes (2004, 316 Jazz)
• Priority (2001, 316 Jazz)
• With Strings Attached (1995, Copia)
Ed Breazeale
• Just Beyond (2006)
David Bloom/Cliff Colnot
• Duende (2004)
Sirgio Pires
• Umbigo (1999, Dende Music)
Byron Febbs
• Blue With Envy (1994, Lake Shore Jazz)

As a Composer / Arranger

Chad McCullough
• Forward (2020, Outside In Music; arranger, post production, mix engineer)
Thomas Marriott
• Romance Language (2018, Origin Records; composer, arranger, mix engineer, co-producer)
Ramsey Lewis
• The Best Of Ramsey Lewis (2006, GRP)
• Meant To Be (2002, Narada)
• Appassionata (1999, Narada)
• Dance Of The Soul (GRP, 1998)
John Moulder
• Trinity (2006, Origin Records)

Select Writing Credits

• Original composition Steppin’ Up featured in director Bette Gordon’s latest film The Drowning
• Commissioned by The Scottish National Jazz Orchestra led by Tommy Smith to arrange for the ensemble
• Commissioned by Purdue University to write original big band arrangement for their Sesquicentennial celebration
• Arranged three works for Lincoln’s Symphony Orchestra and Joe Locke Quartet
• Penned over 200 original works
• Composed original score for the feature film, Tapioca, starring Ben Vereen
• Composed theme song to Legends of Jazz nationally syndicated PBS TV series that was performed live on weekly episodes by host Ramsey Lewis and iconic guest artists including Chick Corea, Dave Brubeck, Billy Taylor, George Duke, Marcus Miller, Vinnie Colaiuta, Lee Ritenour, John Pizzarelli and Jane Monheit among others
• Composed and arranged 20 plus works for Ramsey Lewis recording and concert projects
• Arranger for the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra with Otis Clay for PBS TV
• Co-composed and produced score for Art Works Projects’s touring multimedia piece, Horn of Africa
• Composed and produced original score to short film, Dogwalker

Select Teaching Experience

• Artist-in-Residence at Guimarães Jazz (2021)

Conducted concert of original big band charts commissioned by Guimarães Jazz performed by ESMAE Conservatory Big Band; lectured on improvisation; performed featured concert with Ryan Cohan Quintet at Guimarães Jazz Festival (PORTUGAL)

• Artist-in-Residence at Purdue University (2018)

Coached large and small jazz ensembles and lectured on improvisation

• Artist-in-Residence at the University of Louisville School of Music’s Jamie Aebersold Jazz Studies Program (2016)

Private instruction on piano, composition and arranging; lectured on improvisation and theory; coached small and large jazz and hybrid ensembles

• The Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad Program  (2009)

Led jazz workshops and performed concerts on international tour of Eastern Europe.  Countries visited: Russia (Krasnodar, Bryansk, Kursk, Chelyabinsk, Moscow, Voronezh, Tula, Kaluga, Obninsk), Ukraine (Kiev, Kharkiv), Belarus (Minsk, Borisov)

• University of Illinois at Chicago (2008): Assistant Director of Large and Small Jazz Ensembles
• The Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad Program (2008)

Led jazz workshops on international tour of Africa and The Middle East.  Countries visited: Rwanda (Kigali, Butare), The Democratic Republic Of Congo (Lumbumbashi), Uganda (Kampala), Zimbabwe (Harare, Norton), Jordan (Amman, Zarqa)

• Faculty member of Skidmore Jazz Institute (1995, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006)

Led small group ensembles; private piano instruction; taught improvisation and composition master-classes; worked with faculty members Milt Hinton, Ed Shaunessy, Curtis Fuller, Frank Mantooth, Renee Rosnes, Bill Cunliffe, Todd Coolman, Pat La Barbera, Dick Oatts, Vince DiMartino & John La Barbera

• Guest lecturer with Orbert Davis’s Jazz Alive and Jazz Academy programs (2000 – 2011)
• Bloom School of Jazz (1998 – 2001): private piano instruction; improvisation lecturer
• Private piano and composition teaching studio (1993 – present)
• Clinician (2001 – present)

DePaul University, Columbia College, Univeristy of Illinois, Roosevelt University, Old Town School Of Music (Chicago, IL); Northern Illinois University (DeKalb, IL); New Trier HS (Winnetka, IL); Lake Forest HS (Lake Forest, IL); Niles North HS (Skokie, IL); Rolling Meadows HS (Rolling Meadows, IL); Purdue University (West LaFayette, IN), LaPorte HS (LaPorte, IN); LaFayette Jefferson HS (LaFayette, IN); Bloomington High School South (Bloomington, IN); North Central HS (Indianapolis, IN); Centre College (Danville, KY); University Of Louisville, Youth Performing Arts School (Louisville, KY); Cuyahoga Community College (Cleveland, OH); Skidmore College (Saratoga Springs, NY); IAJE (NY, NY); Riverside Community College (Riverside, CA); Medicine Hat College, The Calgary Jazz Festival (AB, Canada); Kyiv Mohyla Academy (Kiev, Ukraine); National Music Conservatory (Amman, Jordan); Tavrida National University, Simferopol Music College (Crimea)

Select Awards and Honors

• Sundance Institute’s Interdisciplinary Grant (2021)

• Chicago Individual Artists Program Grant (2021)

• Chicago Individual Artists Program Grant (2020)

• Aaron Copland Recording Program Grant (2018)
• Chicago Individual Artists Program Grant  (2018)
• Sundance Music and Sound Design Lab Fellowship (2014)
• New Jazz Works: Commissioning and Ensemble Development Award – Chamber Music America and The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (2014 – 2018)
• Aaron Copland Recording Program Grant (2012)
• Composer’s Grant – American Music Center (2010)
• Guggenheim Fellowship for Music Composition (2009)
• Ryan Cohan Quartet selected for ‘The Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad’ (2009)
• Chicago Assisted Arts Program Grant (2009)
• New Works: Creation and Presentation Award – Chamber Music America and The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (2008)
• Encore Award – Chamber Music America and The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (2008)
• Ryan Cohan Quartet selected for ‘The Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad’ (2008)
• Park City Music Festival ‘Audience Favorite’ Award for original score to Tapioca (2008)
• Composition Fellowship – Illinois Arts Council (2007)
• Chicago Assisted Arts Program Grant (2007)
• Chicago Assisted Arts Program Grant (2006)
• New Works: Creation and Presentation Award – Chamber Music America and The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (2005)
• Composition Fellowship – Illinois Arts Council (2000)