B. Shepik, A. Kehati, D. Blankinship, D. Ambrosio, D. Engelhard & M. Webster

Teaches at New York Jazz Academy

Brad Shepik
Guitarist and composer Brad Shepik has performed at jazz festivals across Europe and North America since 1991 both as a leader of his own groups and with Paul Motian, Dave Douglas, Joey Baron, Charlie Haden, Bob Brookmeyer, Carla Bley and many others. He regularly performs with Brad Shepik Trio, Human Activity Suite, Joey Baron’s Killer Joey, Simon Shaheen’s Quantara, Matt Darriau’s Paradox Trio, Pachora and others. His most recent recording is “Human Activity Suite” (Songlines 2009). 

Assaf Kehati
Jazz guitarist and composer Assaf Kehati has made waves in the jazz scene by working with such names as Ran Blake (piano), George Garzone (sax), Eli Degibri (sax), Anat Cohen (clarinet/sax), Ferenc Nemeth (drums), Donny McCaslin (sax), Seamus Blake (sax) and legendary drummers Victor Lewis (Woody Shaw, Stan Getz) and Billy Hart (Miles Davis, Wes Montgomery). Mr. Kehati has performed at some of the world’s leading venues as Blue Note, NYC; Regattabar, Boston; Washington DC Jazz Festival; MuzEnergo Jazz Festival, Russia; New England Cable News, MA; Tel Aviv Museum, Israel; Barranquilla Jazz Festival, Colombia; and Toronto Jazz Festival.

Dan Blankinship
Dan Blankinship is a soulful and versatile trumpet player, composer, and educator. Born and raised in Richmond, VA, he started playing the trumpet at age 11. Over the next several years he was selected for numerous regional and state-wide honor bands, leading him attend the Interlochen Arts Camp and Boston University Tanglewood Institute summer programs while in high school. Dan continued his musical education at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, where he stayed for two years immersed in classical music. At this point Dan decided to abandon a ‘legit’ musical career and took a two-year break from school to join the funk band Jay Jay. In 1999 he then moved to NYC to attend the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, where he completed his BFA. His next stop on the formal education circuit was to earn an MA from the Queens College Aaron Copland School of Music. 

Dave Ambrosio
Bassist and Bata drummer David Ambrosio, originally from the New York area, has been a vital component of New York’s Jazz scene for more than 15 years. Since the start of his career in New York City David has played with an extensive list of jazz greats such as pianist Kenny Werner, legendary vibraphone/clarinet duo Terry Gibbs and Buddy DeFranco, George Garzone, Joseph Jarmon and Ralph Alessi. As an educator Mr. Ambrosio has had much experience over the years. Since 1997 David has been on faculty at the Queens College Center for Preparatory Studies in Music where he teaches young developing artists in both Jazz and Classical genres. David was also among the first clinicians to work for the Colden Center’s City High School Jazz Residency Program, now known as the Kupferberg Performance Center, where he continues to share his music in NYC public schools where students have very little opportunity to explore Jazz music.

David Engelhard
Born and raised in Atlanta, David Engelhard is gaining recognition as an extraordinarily talented saxophonist and arranger. He is widely known for his work with GRAMMY-Award winning Zac Brown Band. Here David developed a strong reputation for his Saxophone playing as well as his arranging skills. His musical career began with years of playing classical piano, but the most influential experience was listening Charlie Parker. David has had the opportunity to share the stage with a number of famous jazz musicians such as David Sanchez, Bob Reynolds, Oscar Perez, and many others. While in Atlanta, he performed often with local legends such as Kinah Boto (Nnenna Freelon), Kevin Bales (Marcus Printup, Rene Marie), and others. During his time with the Zac Brown Band, David performed at all the large venues in the Southeast, as well as receiving performing and arranging credits on a live DVD (Pass The Jar) released on Atlantic Records. In addition to performing with Zac Brown, David performed with many other popular talents such as Coy Bowles, Clay Cook, the Wood Brothers, and John Mayer.

Michael Webster
Saxophonist Michael Webster’s compositions have been played by Joe Lovano, Tom Harrell and Arturo O’Farrill at Birdland and by John Benitez at the Blue Note in New York City. In March 2008, Michael conducted the Grammy winning Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra at Symphony Space in Manhattan, where they premiered his original commissioned composition “Mombogro”. He returned to lead the ALJO’s performance of two commissioned arrangements in October 2008 featuring guitarist/composer Michele Ramo. Michael appears regularly with the National Arts Centre Orchestra of Canada as an orchestral saxophonist, and has been a featured soloist in this capacity with John Pizzarelli, Doc Severinsen, Barbara Cooke, Lou Rawls, Ian Tyson, Glen Campbell & Carol Welsman. Originally from Ottawa, Canada, Michael earned his Bachelor of Music in Jazz Saxophone at the University of Toronto in 1999. He was awarded the J.B.C. Watkins Award for Postgraduate Studies, along with a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts, which enabled him to move to New York City in 2002.