Subject to schedules and the indulgence of various wives, girlfriends, and parole officers, the Tall Granite Jazz Band frequently features the performers pictured below in alphabetical order. Performers also include bassist Jock Irvine, pianist Craig Fahey, drummer Kurt Ekstrom, trombonist Jim Wildman, guitarist BJ Steinberg, and vocalist Rebecca Josephson.
Chuck Booth (drums), who joined the band in 2011, has backed up artists including Don Rondo, Dennis Day, and The Four Freshman. He spent 10 years on the road with various bands before coming home to roost in his native city of Manchester, NH. Chuck maintains a busy performance schedule working with the Tall Granite Jazz Band and other ensembles around the area.
Jim Cameron (tenor & soprano saxophones) has been a professional jazz musician and teacher around the Boston area since studying at the Berklee College of Music in the late ‘60s. Jim plays with Boston-area big bands, tours extensively with pianist Ron Hadley, and has performed in clubs and jazz festivals in Vancouver, London, and Japan, where he has made annual tours for the past 14 years. Jim, who lives in southern NH, ranks Sonny Rollins high among his numerous jazz influences and plays vintage Conn saxophones.
Rob Daisy (tenor & soprano saxophones, clarinet, flute) got his start in Pittsburgh where he earned his BFA in Performance at Carnegie Mellon University, performing with the Pittsburgh Symphony while appearing with jazz, latin, and funk groups on the local club scene. Rob's musical career has taken him to pit orchestras in Germany, to show bands on cruise lines, and to Hawaii with Hula Joe & the Hut Jumpers. When not appearing with the Tall Granite Jazz Band, Rob directs the Windham Community Swing Band, teaches woodwinds, and is based in southern NH.
David A. Dustin (leader, trombone, vocals) lived and performed in Texas, where the space shuttle program supported his jazz habit. He studied jazz performance with bandleader and sax virtuoso Mark Holter (The Bopmeisters), trombonist John Warner (Les Brown), and Dallas trombonist/jazz educator Don Verne Joseph, playing in big bands in Houston and Dallas. Returning home to New Hampshire he was a regular with Concord’s J’Walkn Jazz and founding member/manager of the Fountain Square Ramblers. Dusty’s inspirations include Duke Ellington and trombonists Jack Teagarden and Delfeayo Marsalis. He’s married to the polymer clay artist Kathleen Dustin and manages contracts during the day.
Sonny Feliciano (bass) is well-known on the Concord music scene. A Brooklyn native, Sonny studied there at the Muse School of Music. He has performed in rock or jazz ensembles for most of his life and is another veteran of Concord's J’Walkn Jazz quintet. When not playing with his trio or other groups, Sonny works for the post office in Concord.
Bob Maccini (trumpet, trombone, arranger) earned his degree in music from Rhode Island College and went on to study arranging with Hal Crook, formerly of NBC's Tonight Show Band. After playing for years on the jazz, rock, and folk scenes in Rhode Island and Vermont, multi-instrumentalist Bob (he also plays the Dobro) took a hiatus from music and earned a Ph.D. in theology. Recently he returned to music and started directing and arranging for his Prodigals sacred-jazz ensemble (which recently featured trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis) and subsequently the Tall Granite Jazz Band. When not arranging or playing jazz, Bob works as an editor, is married to a Congregationalist minister, is father to three daughters (and a new grandfather!), and is owned by his cat.
Whit Symmes (piano, vocals) earned a BFA in Jazz Performance at Seattle’s Cornish College of the Arts, studying with Randy Halberstadt, James Knapp, and former Duke Ellington trombonist Julian Priester. He performed regularly on the Seattle jazz scene in the ‘80s and ‘90s before moving to Concord in 1998. When not anchoring the Tall Granite Jazz Band, Whit's a regular in New York City's JT Wildman Jazz Band and leads small jazz or folk music ensembles around Concord, NH. For his day gig, Whit's a partner in an educational software firm.
Tim Wildman (trumpet, flugelhorn, vocals) moonlights as a pastoral counselor and psychotherapist in Concord, NH, when not studying or playing jazz. Jazz runs in his blood, as his father played trumpet with the great Red Nichols until yielding his chair to a New Orleans upstart named Louis Prima. Tim counts Wild Bill Davison and Chet Baker among his trumpet influences and is especially fond of “hot” jazz as performed by the bands of Davison and Eddie Condon. Inspired by his long-time teacher Sai Ghose, Tim is also a jazz pianist and appears around Concord leading other ensembles and in New York City where he co-leads the JT Wildman Jazz Band with his trombonist brother, Jim Wildman.
Satin Doll (full length, featuring Jim Cameron, tenor sax)
Song For My Father (excerpt)
Four (excerpt)
A Nonni's medley (excerpts)