KATHY GELB is one of NC's finest jazz vocalists. With the influence of her father, jazz pianist Paul Montgomery, and the early inspiration and guidance of the great jazz singer, Carol Sloane, Kathy has been singing for over 20 years. She has worked with most of the major players in the area in some capacity -- from club work to concerts to stage work. From 1985-1990 she was a member of Ed Paolantonio's vocalese group, String of Pearls. She and her husband, Gregg Gelb, currently have their own jazz group, The Gregg Gelb Swing Band, which has been in existence for the past 12 years and performs regularly throughout the state. She is also the vocalist with the North Carolina Jazz Repertory Orchestra. She has recorded four CDs with The Gregg Gelb Swing Band and three CDs with The North Carolina Jazz Repertory Orchestra.

GARY BRUNOTTE, piano, is a seasoned jazz pianist currently living and performing in North Carolina. Born and raised in a small town in Minnesota, Gary started learning and playing music at age 9 on the accordion, playing polkas and waltzes. As he progressed through his teen years performing in various rock bands, he also developed a fondness for the great American standard. In his early twenties he joined a touring band and traveled the United States. He attended Berklee College of Music in Boston and went on to become a faculty member. In 1980 he moved to New York City and formed his own big band which performed regularly. During that time he was awarded a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts for the composition and performance of a big band jazz suite. He also performed at several night clubs and restaurants in the Hudson Valley area. In 1987 he moved back to Minneapolis, Minnesota where he performed in a variety of venues, from concert hall to night club to classroom. In addition, he formed his own music publishing company, Summit Music Publishing. In 1993 he successfully released his debut CD ("Yesterday's Dream") on the Altenburgh record label. The CD received excellent reviews in both JazzTimes and Billboard. In addition, it received airplay throughout the United States and Europe and remained on the Gavin Chart Bound list for 8 weeks straight. Gary moved to North Carolina in 1997 and performs regularly at jazz clubs and concert settings in the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area. Over the years, Gary has performed with such notables as Mark Whitfield, Lionel Hampton, Tom Harrell and the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra. He continues to perform his own jazz originals and specializes in the American jazz standard; songs by George Gershwin, Harold Arlen, Henry Mancini, Duke Ellington, Cole Porter, Hoagy Carmichael, Antonio Jobim, Jimmy VanHeusen and many others. "Brunotte is a crisp, indeed, intelligent player whose charts sizzle and yet leave plenty of space for inspired soloing . . . tres musical." -- JazzTimes Magazine, (July/August 1993) Gary's homepage

MITCH BUTLER, trombone, is a native of Raleigh, NC and a graduate of East Carolina University receiving his Bachelors and Masters degree in music performance. With the reception of awards such as Top Soloist in the UNC-W Jazz Festival, Butler has been recognized for a burgeoning career in the music field. His performances have included concerts with Carroll Dashiell, Aaron Graves, Slide Hampton, Tom Harrell, Bob Mintzer, Melton Mustafa, Dick Oates, Steven Riley, Grady Tate, and Billy Taylor. His membership in the North Carolina Jazz Repertory Orchestra has helped in the further development of musical concepts as he has premiered compositional and arranged works with this and other groups. Butler is also trombonist and leader of the Nebulous jazz/fusion quintet and the newly formed big band Jazz !Alive! Ensemble. Education is also an important aspect of the musicianship of Butler. Much time has been invested as a community educator in music and jazz studies providing private lessons as well as participating in clinics/workshops throughout the state of North Carolina. Mitchell Butler is currently Visiting Instructor at North Carolina Central University where he is the primary professor for low brass studies.

JOHN HANKS, drums, is a 1980 graduate of the North Carolina School of the Arts, is staff musician for the Duke Dance Program and percussion faculty for the Duke Music Department. A busy free-lance percussionist, he performs regularly with NCJRO, the Gregg Gelb Swing Band, the Willie Painter Band , including a recent Mallarme concert at the National Gallery in Washington DC. As a jazz drummer he has had the opportunity to perform with many notable artists, including: Mose Allison, the Glen Miller Band, Stephanie Nakasian, Warren Vache, Butch Thompson, Scott Hamilton, Tom Harrell, Mary Lou Williams, and has been a frequent guest artist at the Sunday Jazz Showcase in New Bern, NC. He is a long-time dance accompanist for the American Dance Festival and the Jazz Dance World Congress, composes electronic music scores for many choreographers, and has released two CDs of his music for dance.

JAMES KETCH was born in Evanston, Illinois in 1952. He studied music at Indiana State University (B.S. 1974) and at the University of Illinois-Urbana (M.S. 1976). Ketch joined the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1977. He has held prior teaching positions at Southern Utah State University and Illinois Wesleyan University. He serves as Instructor of Trumpet and Director of Jazz Studies at UNC where he teaches applied trumpet, classroom courses in jazz history and improvisation, and conducts the UNC Jazz Band.

Ketch enjoys a varied career as both professional trumpeter and educator. As a Bach trumpet artist and clinician for the Selmer Corporation, Mr. Ketch is in demand as both a classical and jazz artist. As Music Director of the North Carolina Jazz Repertory Orchestra (NCJRO) he has established himself as an outstanding performer in both traditional and contemporary jazz styles. His leadership of the NCJRO has resulted in three compact disc recordings Holiday Jazz Blizzard (1998), Benny Goodman: The Swing Collection (1999) and Duke Ellington: A Centennial Collection (1999) and two statewide PBS-TV broadcasts Duke Ellington: A Concert of Sacred Music (1995-1996) and This is Jazz! (1997). The NCJRO and Professor Ketch have received praise from nationally known figures including Wynton Marsalis, John Edward Hasse, David Berger, Mark Tucker, and David Baker. read more.

RODNEY MARSH, alto saxophone. Having been a flute player in high school and college band, I found myself, while finishing up my degree at N.C. State and working at a local jazz club in the late sixties, getting a healthy dose of the greatest jazz in the world at the time. It changed me forever. I quickly took up the sax and started playing gigs; weddings, concerts, shows, clubs, playing jazz, rock, Latin, swing, and big band...you name it! Its ten years and counting in the NCJRO and a little longer in the Gregg Gelb Swing Band and aside from traffic on I-40 and parking at Hill Hall, its been fun. Oh,yeah, and my day gig is a music shop I've run since 1976. Marsh Woodwinds

JOHN SIMONETTI, bassist, has recently returned to his native North Carolina after nearly a decade of freelancing in New York City. Currently, John is performing a full season of off-Broadway shows (including “42nd Street,” Thoroughly Modern Millie,” and “The Producers”) under contracts with the City of Raleigh and the A.J. Fletcher Performing Arts Center; and may be heard weekly at local and regional venues and festivals and at selected dining and entertainment destinations. While in the Big Apple, John performed and recorded with the Lew Picardi Big band, the Nassau Pops Symphony Orchestra, and the Bootleg Remedy Dixielanders. As a former member of Duke University’s Paul Jeffery Jazz Ensemble, John was for several years part of an international jazz exchange in Perugia, Italy, touring widely throughout Tuscany. He also won back-to-back scholarships to the prestigious Aspen Music Festival; and was awarded first place in the 1995 Tubist Universal Brotherhood Association’s international jazz competition held at Northwestern University.. John’s music education commenced under the guidance of both his mother and father, professional flutist and tubist, respectively; and was formalized when he matriculated at the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem. John’s college years took him subsequently to the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and to North Carolina State University, where he was an honors chemistry major.