David Craig
Bass

David Craig is one of the most in demand bassists in the Houston jazz scene. He has performed with many great jazz artists including Dizzy Gillespie, Randy Brecker, Herb Ellis, Kenny Werner, and Conrad Herwig. In addition, he has performed with the Houston Symphony Pops Orchestra, and Theatre Under the Stars. His solo recording, "The Last Concert", features many of his own compositions. One of his originals was featured on the television series , "Melrose Place".

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Dennis Dotson
Trumpet

Dennis Dotson has been a professional trumpeter for forty years, having played in the house bands in Las Vegas and free-lanced in New York City and Houston, Texas, where he now lives. He was trumpet soloist in the Woody Herman and Buddy Rich big bands and as a small group player has performed alongside Joe Lovano, Joe Henderson, Marvin Stamm and David Liebman, among others, and has performed in big bands with such as Carl Fontana, Bobby Shew, Tom Harrell, and Kenny Wheeler. He is on the faculty at Houston Community College, where he teaches private lessons in trumpet and improvisation and is jazz trumpet instructor at the University of Houston and at the University of Texas at Austin. He has led several All-Region high school jazz bands and has been a guest soloist/adjudicator/clinician at over forty high schools and colleges. He is very active as a trumpet player in jazz and commercial circles throughout the state of Texas, has performed with the Houston Symphony Orchestra, and has been a sideman on numerous jazz recordings.

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Thomas Hulten
Trombone

Trombonist/composer/arranger Thomas Hulten started playing trombone in the local Salvation Army Band in Katrineholm, Sweden. He studied trombone at the Gothenburg Conservatory, and has studied with Ingemar Roos, Christian Lindberg, Bill Broughton and Bill Watrous.Proficient in both jazz and classical music, Thomas has performed not only with the Houston Symphony and the Houston Ballet, but also with Ray Charles, Natalie Cole, Johnny Mathis, the Temptations, the Four Tops, the Jim Cullum Jazz Band and the Moody Blues. He was a featured soloist at the Texas Jazz Festival in Corpus Christi in 1998 and 2000.

Before moving to Houston from Sweden in 1997, Thomas was a member of the Hässlö Brass Ensemble 1990-1997, a seven-piece full-time brass ensemble. He was also a sought-after free-lance player, and have performed with the Gothenburg Symphony, the Gothenburg Opera, the Helsingborg Symphony, the Norrköping Symphony, Stavanger (Norway) Symphony and Trondheim (Norway) Symphony.

Thomas has toured England, Wales, Denmark and Japan with the Gothenburg Brass Band; Germany, Holland and USA with the Peoria Jazz Band and Norway and USA with the Hässlö Brass. In 1997, Thomas toured Australia and New Zealand and in 1999 Switzerland, playing lead-trombone with the jazz-group Spiritual to the Bone. His works have been recorded by the Hässlö Brass, Peoria Jazz Band and the Texas Brass Ensemble. In 1995 he was commissioned to write a children's show for the Landsdelsmusikken in Bo, Norway. This show has been performed over 200 time since1996.
His arrangements for brass band have been published by the Salvation Army.

Thomas is married to Kristina, a micro-biologist at Baylor College of Medicine. Spare-time goes to chasing their sons Jakob, David and Philip around the backyard, and trying to revive a junky old MGB.Trombone player/composer/arranger. Played with Ray Charles, Natalie Cole, Barry Manilow, Moody Blues, Four Tops, Temptations, Bob Mintzer, Bill Watrous, Houston Symphony, Houston Ballet, Houston Grand Opera. Featured at the Texas Jazz Festival and the International Trombone Festival. Broadway musicals: The Full Monty, The Producers, 42nd Street Member: Spiritual to the Bone, Paragon Brass, Texas Brass Ensemble Teaching: Houston Baptist University, Houston Community College, and Tomball College.

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Warren Sneed
Jazz Big Band

Warren Sneed is the Director of Jazz Studies at Houston's High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. Sneed has a Master’s degree in Applied Music from the University of Houston, and a Bachelor’s degree in Jazz Education from the University of North Texas. He is also an HSPVA graduate.

Prior to teaching at HSPVA, Sneed directed various jazz bands and taught improvisation and jazz history at the University of Houston and at Houston Community College’s Westchester Campus.

Sneed is very active in the Houston jazz scene and has performed at most of the top jazz venues in Texas.

Some of the artists he has performed with include: Louis Hayes, Freddie Hubbard, Doc Cheatum, Kenny Wheeler, Carl Fontana, Jimmy Haslip, Helen Sung, Kent Jordan, Rosemary Clooney, Hal Crook, and Joe LoCascio.

Recording credits include: The Late Show, Warren Sneed/Joe LoCascio, Pathway Music, 2004; In the Mood, Champion Sisters, Capstone, 2004; Window of Light, Dave Catney, Urbana Records, 2000; Brothers, Warren Sneed, Pathway Music, 1999; Fly By Night, John Adams, Congruent Music, 1999; Tomato Kiss, Kellye Gray, Proteus Records, 1996; Gliders, Joe LoCascio, CMG Records, 1987; Texas State of Mind, Pete Peterson and the Collection, Pausa Records, 1980.

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Mike Wheeler
Guitar

Mike Wheeler was born in Houston Texas in 1961 and grew up listening to the western swing music that his grandfather played on guitar. He formed various pop and rock groups in his teens until finding his true path in jazz. He studied in San Antonio with Jackie King before going to the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Mike later received a Bachelor of Music from the University of St.Thomas, Houston. Well established in the Houston Music scene: Mike has worked in clubs, formed jazz groups, and played with most of the major orchestras and performance groups in the Houston area including the Houston Symphony Orchestra. He has performed with jazz artists such as Clark Terry and Joe Williams. He has also backed up many pop artists such as Willie Nelson, Charlie Pride, Andy Williams, Larry Gatlin, Jennifer Holiday, and John Denver to name a few. In addition to leading his own jazz group, he has worked on many projects, including some with alto sax great Jimmy Ford, who was one of his major musical mentors. His first CD entitled Indian Summer , which was produced by Willie Nelson, spotlights his guitar style. In addition to performing and recording, he teaches private lessons in the Houston area and is currently instructor of jazz guitar at the University of St. Thomas and the University of Houston.

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Pamela York
Piano

Canadian pianist Pamela York won the 2007 Great American Jazz Piano Competition in Jacksonville, FL. She is a graduate of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto and Berklee College of Music and has studied with jazz greats Ray Santisi, Diana Krall and Donald Brown. Her current recording The Way of Time has received outstanding reviews from jazz fans and critics alike. She has conducted master classes for the Thelonius Monk Institute. Pamela's trio includes bassist Lynn Seaton and drummer Sebastian Whittaker.

Pamela has performed with many renown jazz artists including John Clayton, Jeff Hamilton, Russell Malone, Carl Allen, Conte Candoli, Buddy Defranco, Eddie Daniels, Rufus Reid, Joe LaBarbera, Warren Vache, Wycliffe Gordon, Ernie Watts, Louis Hayes, Pete Christlieb, Andre Hayward, Christopher Hollyday, Virginia Mayhew. Holly Hofmann, Herlin Riley, Rickey Woodard, Carmen Bradford, Kellye Gray, Roseanna Vitro, Lynn Seaton, Kristin Korb, Bob Magnusson, Jim DeJulio, Guy Barker, Gregory Hutchinson, Ben Riley, Jerry Coker, Donald Brown, Cathy Segal-Garcia, Jay Leonhart, Danny Gottlieb, Bob Mintzer, Rich Matteson, Rob McConnell, Marvin Stamm, Steve Houghton, the San Diego Symphony Pops, Monica Mancini, and Michael Feinstein.

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