Loren Tilley
Michael Guzalak
Guitarist Loren Tilley and Michael Guzalak on clarinet and saxophone often perform together in the band “Swing Star” playing Gypsy jazz in the style of Django Reinhardt’s Hot Club of France. This musical style includes swinging jazz, waltz, passionate ballads, Bossa Nova as well as the sound of European gypsies. Multi-instrumentalists, they have played in many different bands and styles of music, from accordion to zydeco.
Chad Lefkowitz-Brown is a New York-based saxophonist and recording artist recognized for his work as a soloist in the genres of jazz and pop music. Hailed as a “Sax Phenom” by the New York Daily News, Chad is a featured artist on two Grammy winning albums, and has toured through six continents playing venues from Carnegie Hall to the Super Bowl. As a bandleader, he has headlined jazz venues and festivals around the world. As a soloist, Chad has joined acts like Chris Botti, Arturo Sandoval, and Christian McBride. No stranger to the big screen, Chad has been featured on numerous TV shows with pop icons like Taylor Swift, rock legends like Don Henley, as well as the Hollywood film, “Here Today” with Billy Crystal and Tiffany Haddish.
Visit www.chadlb.com
Casey Nagata is in his third year of teaching at King Kekaulike High School. He serves as the school’s music director for its symphonic band, jazz band, marching/pep bands, pit orchestra, concert choir, ukulele ensemble, and guitar ensemble, Tri-M Music Honor Society faculty advisor, and music theory and composition course instructor. He is also a co-founder of the Chop Suey Jazz Orchestra and one of its current music directors along with Siuai Laufou and Richard Tadaki.
Casey graduated from Gonzaga University in 2009 with degrees in music education, music composition, and jazz performance. Prior to his position at KKHS, he worked as a substitute teacher, GED tutor, and Home Hospital instructor in the Maui and Spokane school districts, reed manufacturer at Jones Double Reed Products, and freelance musician and composer. His teachers include Sylvia Baker, David Fague, Robert Spittal, and Fr. Kevin Waters, SJ.
DeShannon has played jazz trumpet and flugelhorn professionally in both Hawaii and New York City for over 20 years. He has performed around the world and in famous venues such as Birdland, Carnegie Hall and Radio City Music Hall. DeShannon is one of the founding members of the group “Bop Tribal” whose recording received a 4-star review in Downbeat Magazine and contended for a Grammy Award in the Best Jazz Solo category (DeShannon’s solo on “Jellyfish”). His styles range from be-bop to New York-style hard bop and Latin jazz. As a bandleader, composer, recording artist, and visionary, he has assembled two bands of his own creation: gr00ve.imProV.arTists (an urban jazz-electronica dance band) and Quadpod (a neo-bop quartet).
Born and raised in Japan, Shiro Mori brings a unique and original flavor into his musical expression. Honing his skills on the New York jazz scene, he has developed his own personal style as a performer, composer, and arranger. Presently his artistic and creative home is on the island of Maui, where he is a major player of both guitar and piano.
Ellen Bellerose began studying jazz at 14 and started singing professionally at age 16. She performed as vocalist with the Glenn Miller Orchestra, then conducted by the great clarinetist Buddy DeFranco, touring the US, Canada, Japan and Europe. Ellen played lounges and nightclubs with jazz trios, quartets and orchestras on the mainland and in Honolulu before moving to Maui in 1984. She continues to pursue her lifelong passion of jazz singing in her weekly appearances at Kahana Grill with Shiro Mori.