About the Artists

Brad Dutz

Brad Dutz has twenty-four cds as a leader and composed the entire body of music on more than fifteen of those cds. The ensembles he has written for cover a wide range of instrumental combinations. Everything from solo pieces to nonets are featured on his compact discs. 2011 saw the third release, Fashionably Impared, of his latest quartet project. This unit has the unique combination of mallet percussion, oboe, cello, and bass clarinet. Other recent ensembles include The Other Three (a trio with Kim Richmond and John Fumo), Obliteration 4tet (found objects for percussionists), Polarity Taskmasters (keyboards, voice, theremin, percussion) and the duet CD with reedman Vinny Golia. He can be heard on cds for artists like Alanis Morissette, KISS, Willie Nelson, Michael Wolff, Tribal Tech, David Beniot, LeAnn Rimes, Mitch Forman, Kim Richmond, Rickie Lee Jones, Hands On’Semble, and actors Jeff Bridges and Ronny Cox.

He can be heard on TV shows King of the Hill, Family Guy, American Dad, Enterprise, and Firefly. Some of the movies that Brad has played on are The Dictator, Battleship, Bourne Legacy, Cowboys and Aliens, Prince of Egypt, Syriana, Hidalgo, Rugrats Go Wild, Star Trek 5, Ocean’s Eleven, The Anchorman, Transformers 1 and 2, Rush Hour 3, Run Down, and Bucket List.

His teaching experience includes four years of a monthly column for Drum Magazine on hand percussion and he has written three books of his compositions: Manipulations In Sound And Time, Music for Hand Percussion, and Percussion Pieces For Duos, Trios and Quartets.

Bill Cunliffe

Jazz pianist, composer and Grammy Award-winning arranger Bill Cunliffe is known for his innovative and swinging recordings and compositions. Bill began his career as pianist and arranger with the Buddy Rich Big Band and worked with Frank Sinatra, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Benny Golson and James Moody. He has since established himself as a solo artist and bandleader, with more than a dozen albums under his name.

Bill currently plays with his trio; his big band; his Latin band, Imaginación; and his classical-jazz ensemble, Trimotif. He performs in the U.S. and around the world as a leader and sideman as well as a soloist with symphony orchestras.

His latest recording is the Bill Cunliffe Trio album “River Edge, New Jersey,” with bassist Martin Wind and drummer Tim Horner, released in April by Azica Records.

Other recent releases include his Overture, Waltz and Rondo for jazz piano, trumpet and orchestra (BCM+D Records, 2012). Bill performed the work with trumpeter Terell Stafford and the Temple University Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Luis Biava. The recording won Bill his fifth Grammy nomination, in the Best Instrumental Composition category.

Bill was awarded a Grammy for Best Instrumental Arrangement for “West Side Story Medley,” on the album “Resonance Big Band Plays Tribute to Oscar Peterson” (Resonance Records, 2009). In addition to receiving five Grammy nominations, he is a two-time Emmy nominee.