Ryan Berg was born into a musical family. His parents were musicians. His grandparents were musicians. He has made himself a staple on the New York jazz scene and has traveled throughout the world. Some of the musicians Ryan has played and/or recorded with include: Gregory Porter, Mark Whitfield, JD Allen, Stacy Dillard, George Burton, Tim Warfield, Josh Evans, Lenny White, Rashid Ali, Anthony Wonsey, Gerald Clayton, Sullivan Fortner, Lindsey Webster, Bruce Williams, Marquis Hill, Roy Hargrove, and many others… In addition to this, he has played on many albums, been a band member for a television show produced by Kelsey Grammer, and played as a member of the broadway shows “Jersey Boys”, “Hadestown”, and “Summer.” He is currently a member of The Brianna Thomas Band, Frank Lacy Sextet, and leads his own group along side members Stacy Dillard, Jeremy “Bean” Clemons, and Craig Magnano. It is with all of this music and experience that Ryan seeks to bring to the world his love for music whether it be with recording, his additions as a bass player, composing, mixing, producing, or as an educator. He looks to the future with a positive outlook and uplifting attitude, heart and soul, and knows that all of our hard work is what changes this world one little bit at a time.
Pete Levin grew up in Brookline, Massachusetts.He studied at Boston University and received a master’s degree from Juilliard School in New York City. Levin was In the early 1970s he joined the Gil Evans Orchestra as a French horn player. keyboardist. His fifteen-year association with the Gil Evans Orchestra was followed by an eight-year – Levin plays piano, Hammond organ, clavinet, and Moog synthesizer. He has produced several albums as a bandleader, including the 2007 Deacon Blues and Jump! in 2010. In 2014 he released a collaborative album with his brother, bassist Tony Levin, titled Levin Brothers The album is a tribute to Oscar Pettiford and Julius Watkins.
Levin has performed for film and television scores including Missing in Action, Lean on Me, Silver Bullet, Red Scorpion, The Color of Money, Maniac, Spin City, America’s Most Wanted and Star Trek. He has composed orchestral scores of his own for Zelimo and The Dybbuk. He was awarded the Army Commendation Medal for writing the official military band arrangement of the U.S. Infantry song. He has worked with Carla Bley, Brubeck Brothers, Hiram Bullock, Jimmy Cobb, Billy Cobham, Willie Colón, Kal David, Miles Davis, Rachelle Farrell, Bryan Ferry, Gregory Hines, The Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, Annie Lennox, Chuck Mangione, Charles Mingus, Gerry Mulligan, Jaco Pastorius, Genya Ravan, Robbie Robertson, Salt-n-Pepa, David Sanborn, John Scofield, Wayne Shorter, Paul Simon, Lew Soloff, John Tropea, Joe Louis Walker, Vanessa Williams, and Lenny White. Regarding his creative work, Levin stated that “All my arranging and orchestrating work is grounded in what I experience in live performance…My best and most creative ideas come from playing live.”
Steve Rubin
Steve has a 50 year career ( with some time off in between) that runs from classic rock, to disco, traditional R&B, funk and jazz. He studied with Mel Lewis, co leader of the famed That Jones / Mel Lewis Orchestra and later on with Sonny Igoe. Coming from NYC to the Hudson Valley in 2005, he created The Warwick Jazz Festival in 2010 which became The Hudson Valley Jazz Festival in 2012. This yearly series which has been covered by The NY Times, DownBeat and JazzTimes is designed to primarily feature artists from The Hudson Valley. It’s ongoing mission, to celebrate the music and call attention to artists deserving wider recognition. He leads The Hudson Valley Jazz Trio( Quartet) and Ensemble and is a member of the improv group “Beyond Jazz”.
