It all started with a pick-up band that came together to focus on the music of Django Reinhardt. The band went through several permutations of name, including the unwieldy “Hot Club of the Southwest” and the even more unpronounceable “Djangology,” which was finally shorted to simply “Django.” The group was somewhat unusual to say the least. It featured Steve Smith, mandolin; Gordon Butler, violin; Joseph Mancilla, acoustic rhythm guitar; Curt Warren, electric arch-top guitar; and Jim Shearer, tuba and vocals.

Lainie Kazan is the embodiment of the word entertainer — and artist who has reached the pinnacle in virtually every area of performance. She has come a long way since she was Barbra Streisand’s Broadway understudy in “Funny Girl.” Once she was able to display her electrifying talent in two shows, she became the “Chanteuse” of her native New York, with nightclub stints and guest appearances on virtually every top variety and talk show in network television, including an unparalleled 26 appearances on “The Dean Martin Show.” She even hosted her own variety special for NBC and opened the popular “Lainie’s Room” and “Lainie’s Room East” at the Los Angeles and New York Playboy Clubs.

Heeeeere’s Johnny!” That lead-in, followed by a big band trumpet blast, was the landmark of late night television for three decades. The ‘Johnny’ was Johnny Carson, the announcer was Ed McMahon and the bandleader was Doc Severinsen. Beginning in October 1962, The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson ruled the night air for thirty years. On May 22, 1992, it came to an end…

The critically acclaimed versatile kick butt tenor sax of Pete Mills combines with the Monster B3 of Tony Monaco on the follow-up to the saxophonist’s critically acclaimed Summit Records debut, Art and Architecture. Mills compositions combined with the incredible energy and musicianship of the band make Fresh Spin ferociously hip! This is Hot!

Caio Pagano is an internationally renowned concert pianist, teacher and scholar. He is a distinguished professor of piano at Arizona State University since 1986 having earned the honor of Regent Professor of Piano at this institution. He is the recipient of many piano performance awards in Europe and in his native country, Brazil.
Pagano has performed throughout four continents in more than 600 public performances as recital soloist, chamber musician and as soloist with orchestras. He has premiered 24 works in concert halls worldwide, 16 of these were works written and dedicated to him by the composers, including several concertos for piano and orchestra. He has also recorded several of these works. Pagano was the first pianist to perform the complete works of Schoenberg in several capitals of the world.

Jim Shearer holds a D. M. A. in Performance and Literature and a Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY. He teaches tuba, euphonium, music history, and music appreciation to graduate, undergraduate, and honors students at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, where he holds the joint titles of Regents Professor of Music and Distinguished Achievement Professor. In addition, he presents concerts, master classes, and lectures as a Yamaha Performing Artist. An active classical soloist, Dr. Shearer has appeared throughout the United States as a guest artist with various wind ensembles and orchestras and in solo and chamber recital performances in The Great American Tuba Show and The Great American Trio. In the early 1990s, he traveled to Switzerland as a participant in the 47th Concours International d’Exécution Musicale, the first time this prestigious competition included the tuba as a solo instrument. He has toured Japan as a member of the Eastman Wind Ensemble, playing concerts and recording a compact disc for the Sony Classical label. In 2006, Shearer toured Colombia with the NMSU Faculty Brass Quintet and Wind Ensemble for the United States Department of State. While in Colombia, he performed for over 25,000 people at the national band festival and gave educational classes in Bogotá and Paipa. He is a former Principal Tubist with the El Paso Symphony Orchestra, the current Principal Tubist for both the Roswell and Las Cruces Symphony Orchestras, and a former member of El Paso Brass, with whom he released three commercial recordings. His playing can also be heard on blues artist Eric Bibb’s CD Diamond Days on Telarc Records. During a regional broadcast on NPR, Saint Paul Sundayhost Bill McGlaughlin referred to Shearer and his tuba playing as the “lowest of the low brass!” (We think he meant it as a compliment.)

World famous M° Nicola Ferro is an extremely talented and versatile Trombonist, composer and arranger: his interests include classical music, jazz, electronic music, pop, film music and dance music. His professional experience led him to achieve a great expertise.