Virtual private trumpet or improvisation lessons with Jay Thomas Jay Thomas, a native of Seattle, is an exciting and highly skilled multi-instrumentalist (trumpet, flugelhorn, alto, tenor, soprano and flutes). Jay plays trumpet with SRJO. He was just awarded the Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Heroes Award!  Jay is among the leading jazz soloists in Seattle, appearing with his own group and as a member of groups far and wide. Jay’s career spans decades beginning with a 1970 recording in NYC with James Moody, and stretching to his recent recordings made with drummer Matt Wilson and Down Beat Poll winner Gary Smulyan.  He has recorded with and performed alongside numerous lumi¬naries of the jazz world, among them George Cables, Charles McPherson, Machito Latin Jazz Orchestra in NYC, Harold Land, Cedar Walton, Billy Higgins, Herb Ellis, and Slim Gaillard. He recorded with Slim in London on a record featuring Jay McShann and Buddy Tate.  Fee: $75.00/hour

Virtual private piano, improvisation, theory or ear training lessons with Randy Halberstadt
Take a virtual private piano, improvisation, music theory or ear training lesson with SRJO band member, Randy Halberstadt. Randy has been a major figure on the Pacific Northwest jazz scene for many years. A multi-dimensional pianist, he is equally at home playing be-bop, Latin, down-home blues, mainstream, free and eclectic jazz. He has appeared with national artists such as Terry Gibbs, Buddy DeFranco, Herb Ellis, Grace Kelly, Mimi Fox, Kevin Mahogany, Sheila Jordan, Bobby Shew, Marlena Shaw, Matt Wilson and Jeff Hamilton. He is featured on numerous recordings, including with vocalists Jay Clayton, Meredith d’Ambrosio, Gail Pettis, and Greta Matassa, and the Clarence Acox Sextet.  In 1990, Randy performed at the Monterey Jazz Festival with drummer Mel Brown. Randy has performed with the Seattle Symphony and is the pianist for the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra.) He has recorded five CDs of his own, and is the author an instructional text, Metaphors For The Musician: Perspectives From A Jazz Pianist (Sher Music Publishing). Randy retired in May 2018 after 41 years as a professor at Cornish College of the Arts.  Fee: $75.00/hour
 

Virtual private saxophone or composing/arranging lessons with Michael Brockman
Take a virtual private saxophone, improvisation, or composing/arranging lesson with Michael Brockman. Recently inducted into Earshot Jazz's Seattle Jazz Hall of Fame, Michael is SRJO's co-founder & co-artistic director, saxophonist, bandleader, composer/arranger, and long-time faculty member at the UW School of Music. Twenty-five years ago, Michael founded the award-winning, 17-piece Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra (SRJO) along with Clarence Acox.
Michael studied saxophone and composition at the New England Conservatory, the Berklee College of Music and the Musikhochschule at the University of Cologne. He has recorded with groups in Washington D.C. and Boston, and in Seattle with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, the Clarence Acox Sextet, new music ensembles, and chamber groups. Brockman is featured on the recent SSO recording of works by Shostakovich, and on recordings with the Simple Measures chamber music ensemble with SSO soloists including former SSO cellist Joshua Roman. A researcher and historian, Brockman's doctoral dissertation is titled "Orchestration Techniques of Duke Ellington" and can be viewed at the library of the University of Washington (national publication is forthcoming). Also a researcher in woodwind acoustics, Brockman is the inventor of a patented octave key device for woodwinds named the "Broctave Key." A two-part article on his experiments in new saxophone designs appears in the Nov. 07 and Jan. 08 editions of the nationally published Saxophone Journal (he was also featured on the cover of the Sept '99 edition, along with a lengthy feature article about him). Brockman was presented the Champion of the Arts Award from the Kirkland Performance Center. He served for many years as director of the UW's highly regarded, annual "Jazz in Paris" program. For more information about Michael Brockman, including photos and links to magazine articles and interviews, go to www.michaelbrockman.com  Fee: $75.00/hour