Brubeck Jazz Summit

Musician, Composer, Bandleader, Educator and Activist Roxy Coss received the 2022 Downbeat Critics’ Poll “Rising Star” award on Soprano Saxophone, is a recipient of the ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Award, the Hothouse Magazine & Jazzmobile “Tenor Saxophone” Award, and is a Jazziz Magazine “Artist to Watch”. She has performed around the world, headlining at the Newport Jazz Festival, Melbourne Big Band Festival, NYC Winter JazzFest, BRIC JazzFest, Earshot Jazz Festival, San Jose Jazz Summerfest, Jazz Standard, and Jazz Showcase. Coss has performed as a side musician with Jazz greats and luminaries including Clark Terry, Billy Kaye, Maurice Hines, Rufus Reid, Louis Hayes, Gene Perla, Houston Person, Claudio Roditi, Bill Charlap, Geoffrey Keezer, Willie Jones III, Jeremy Pelt, Darcy James Argue, the DIVA Jazz Orchestra. 

Roxy has six albums out under her own name, including her latest release, Disparate Parts (Outside in Music), which was met with critical acclaim. Her fifth album Quintet (Outside in Music), received a 4-Star review from Downbeat. The Roxy Coss Quintet, featuring some of the world’s finest young musicians, is the first-ever recipient of the Emerging Artist Project, a four-year grant from the Local 802 Musicians Union. They largely perform Coss’ original compositions. Her composition work can also be found on Jeremy Pelt’s recording, Face Forward, Jeremy (High Note).

Coss grew up in Seattle, WA where she attended the acclaimed Garfield High School Jazz Ensemble, and graduated from William Paterson University in 2008 with a BM in Jazz Studies/Performance. She has been living in the New York area since 2004. Roxy currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Jazz Education Network (JEN), is Jazz Faculty at The Juilliard School, and is the President & Founder of Women In Jazz Organization (WIJO). She is also an endorsing Artist for P. Mauriat, Vandoren, and Key Leaves products.

Tenor Saxophonist Lucas Pino works frequently as a sideman for artists including Gideon van Gelder, Richard Boukas, David Lopato, Bryan Carter, Rafal Sarnecki, Nick Finzer, and Jeremy Siskind. His past performance experience also includes Dave Brubeck, Curtis Fuller, Benny Golson, Jimmy Heath, Christian McBride, Carl Allen, Benny Green and David Sanborn. Lucas has traveled to play in Australia, Poland, Spain, Britain, The Netherlands, Brazil, Costa Rica, as well as throughout the United States and Canada. He has appeared at venues such as the Blue Note, Dizzy’s, The Jazz Standard, Yoshi’s, The Jazz Kitchen, The Rex, and Chicago Symphony Hall. As a leader, he has maintained a monthly residency at Smalls with the No Net Nonet since March 2013.

Originally from Phoenix, Arizona, Lucas grew up singing hymns in church, and in the choir at school. He started playing saxophone at age 10, and the first music he ever listened to was jazz. As a high school junior, Lucas won the Downbeat award for Best Instrumental Soloist in 2004. He attended the Brubeck Institute from 2005-2007, where he studied closely with Dave Brubeck. Lucas finished his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Jazz Performance at The New School in 2009. He attended Juilliard from 2009-2011, where he received a Master of Music.

Lucas’ major influences on the saxophone include Stan Getz, Lucky Thompson, John Coltrane, Michael Brecker, and Chris Cheek. Compositionally, he is heavily influenced by the sound of big band, and composers including Wayne Shorter, Maria Schneider, Walt Weiskopf, Thad Jones.

“Sound is like a rainbow, you hear every color. On the saxophone, the entire tonal and color palate should be available. I like to draw on a wide range of influences even within one solo, going from a very bright to dark sound, using straight tone or subtone. Music should be operatic, dramatic, and full of gesture. It should tell a story and sing a song simultaneously. Music should be a stimulus that activates the listener’s imagination and transports them to another place, where anything is possible.” – Lucas Pino

“A Grammy-nominated composer, Chris Brubeck has distinguished himself as a multi-faceted performer and creative force, creating an impressive body of symphonic work while maintaining a demanding touring and recording schedule with two groups:  The Brubeck Brothers, and Triple Play, an acoustic trio featuring Chris on piano, bass and trombone, guitarist Joel Brown and harmonica player Peter Madcat Ruth. Chris also performs as a soloist playing his trombone concertos with orchestras, and is an in-demand composer. He has served as Artist in Residence with orchestras and colleges in America, coaching, lecturing, and performing with students and faculty. Chris (along with his siblings), is a founding director of “Brubeck Living Legacy” a non-profit founded by the Brubeck family to honor and continue the legacy of Dave and Iola Brubeck.

In addition to creating an impressive body of work, including several band pieces, chamber pieces, 3 concertos for trombone, a trombone quartet, and several concertos for stringed instruments and other ensembles, Chris maintains a demanding touring and recording schedule playing bass and trombone with his two groups: the Brubeck Brothers Quartet, with brother Dan on drums, Chuck Lamb on piano and Mike DeMicco on guitar (www.brubeckbrothers.com); and Triple Play, an acoustic jazz-funk-blues-Americana trio with Joel Brown on guitar and Peter Madcat Ruth on harmonica and Chris on bass, trombone and piano (www.chrisbrubeckstripleplay.com.)

Additionally, Chris performs as a soloist playing his trombone concertos with orchestras and has served as Artist in Residence with orchestras and colleges in America, coaching, lecturing, and performing with students and faculty. Once a year he tours England with the group Brubecks Play Brubeck along with brothers Darius (on piano) and Dan as well as British saxophonist Dave O’Higgins. Chris had been a long-standing member of the Dave Brubeck Quartet, writing arrangements and touring and recording with his father’s group for over 20 years. Dave and Chris co-wrote the orchestral piece “Ansel Adams: America” which has received dozens of performances and in 2013 was a Grammy finalist for Best Instrumental Composition. brubecklivinglegacy.com

     Born in Oakland on May 4, 1955, Dan Brubeck was a highly energetic child who found his calling at the trap set. Mentored by two consummate polyrhythmic masters, Joe Morello and Alan Dawson (at the Berklee College of Music), he was working professionally before he finished his teens.

Over the years Dan was featured on nearly a dozen albums with his father, and toured widely with the Dave Brubeck Quartet, including many appearances with the world’s leading orchestras. He’s been an integral part of the various Brubeck bands, including the Darius Brubeck Ensemble, Two Generations of Brubeck, and the New Brubeck Quartet. He’s toured internationally and recorded three widely played albums with his electric jazz group, The Dolphins, and co-led the Brubeck LaVerne Trio with his brother Chris and pianist Andy LaVerne. A stylistically versatile musician, he’s toured with acts ranging from The Band and David Benoit to Gerry Mulligan and Paul Desmond. He’s recorded with jazz guitar legend Larry Coryell, singer~songwriter Livingston Taylor, jazz~pop singer Michael Franks, and pioneering blues guitarist Roy Buchanan.

Dan’s drumming style is both mesmerizing and unparalleled, and his distinctive, and astonishingly textured drum solos have received standing ovations all over the world! His uncanny sense of timing and use of odd time signatures, combining melodic phrases with polyrhythms that often stretch far beyond the bar line, has earned the respect of many jazz critics worldwide. His mastery of complex rhythms has led to his reputation as one of the most talented and creative drummers in jazz!

Dan continues to perform and record with his siblings  —  Chris Brubeck, a bassist, trombonist, and noted composer, in the Brubeck Brothers Quartet, and pianist/composer Darius Brubeck in Brubecks Play Brubeck. Dan also plays with the Vancouver-based Dan Brubeck Quartet (DBQ), featuring vocal powerhouse Adam Thomas. The DBQ recently released Celebrating the Music and Lyrics of Dave and Iola Brubeck, which showcases his father’s music and little-known lyrics of his mother. This recording was nominated for a coveted Juno Award  in 2016.

“Dan turned in one of the most masterful and inspiring performances I have ever witnessed.” — MODERN DRUMMER Magazine

Brubeck Jazz Summit 2022. photos by Austin Kruczek and Lindsay Stover.

Chad Lefkowitz-Brown, 2022 Artistic Director & Saxophone

Connie Han, Piano

Eric Harland, Drums

Gilad Hekselman, Guitar

Sean Jones, Trumpet

Rodney Whitaker, Bass

Saxophone
Nico Colucci, 18, Colorado Springs, CO
Aidan Farrell, 17, Agoura Hills, CA
Isaiah Javier, 17, Brentwood, CA
Ryan Kaplan, 15, Miami, FL
Jacob Merrill, 17, Ithaca, NY
Nathan Palmer, 18, Menlo Park, CA
Emma Rawicz-Szczerbo, 20, UK
Trevin Snow, 18, Las Vegas, NV

Trumpet
Zeb Jewell-Alibhai, 16 , Durham, NC
Tai Wieler, 16, Carmichael, CA

Trombone
Andre Perlman, 17, Miami, FL
Sebastian Zamarripa, 18, Walnut Creek, CA
Andrew Zhang, 18, Sammamish, WA

Guitar
Simon Aks, 17, San Francisco, CA
Casey Kendrick, 17, Stockton, CA
Vincent Maclauchlan, 16, Oakland, CA
Alejandro Merlos, 18, Orangevale, CA

Piano
Sahn Cannon, 19, Brentwood, CA
Isaac Goodman, 19, Sacramento, CA
Brenda Greggio, 18, San Diego, CA
Talli Kimani, 18, Lynnwood, WA
Robert Tweedie, 22, Australia

Bass
Carlos Bareto, 19, Cape Coral, FL
Emile Berlinerblau, 17, Washington DC
Nicholas Doan, 16, Long Beach, CA
Cass Evans-Ocharern, 22, Australia
Marco Lenzi, 17, Menlo Park, CA
Joel Vettel, 17, San Diego, CA

Drums
Max Bartron, 17, Edmonds, WA
Chris Davis, 20, UK
Reese Hsu, 16, San Carlos, CA
Samson Hulett, 21, Sacramento, CA
Adarian Roberts, 17, Duncanville, TX
Calvin Simmers, 18, Tuscon, AZ

Brubeck Brothers with the All-Star Faculty Concert

Chris Brubeck, trombone
Dan Brubeck, drums

with

Chad Lefkowitz-Brown, saxophone
Sean Jones, trumpet
Connie Han, piano
Gilad Hekselman, guitar
Eric Harland, drums
Rodney Whitaker, bass

Free community jazz concert featuring Summit Stars Students, top jazz students from around the world. This performance is the culmination of the mentorship and study from the Summit: July 10 – 16.

Free and open to the public. More info to come soon.

Free with reservation.