Jake Blanton--guitar, sk-5, changenang, yockey dulcimer

Jake blanton was born in 1978.  A player of both jazz and rock, Jake is a member of Ghosty, Slow Bros, Bowdog, SKTV, and The People's Liberation Big Band of Greater Kansas City.  In addition to playing guitar, Jake also sings, and plays bass, drums, and keyboards (with a particular fondness for Casio products from the '80s).  He has toured nationally playing keyboards and singing background vocals for Sia, and has recorded with Joey Waronker and Mike Andrews.

Beau Bledsoe--guitar, saz

Beau Bledsoe is constantly evolving by exploring new repertoire, cultures and programming.  His studies in southern Spain and involvement with the tango scene of Buenos Aires have led him to create a large body of evocative arrangements, transcriptions and compositions.  Mr. Bledsoe has worked extensively with the Guthrie Theater, classical violinist Gregory Sandomirsky and with the Argentine Tango quintet Tango Lorca, as well as Flamenco dancers Miel Castagna and Rey Duran.  His music is regularly programmed on radio1 BBC, Radio Nacional Argentina, and “All Songs Considered” on NPR.   www.beaubledsoe.com.

Christine Brebes--violin

Christine began her music career at the age of 12 playing organ in the Mormon church. Since that time she has been fired from every non-musical job she has attempted.  In 2002 Christine moved to Buenos Aires to play with Orquesta Escuela de Tango under the direction of Emilio Balcarce.  Christine and her son Benicio currently reside in Buenos Aires, where she works as a tango violinist with Miguel Angel Zotto, La Chicana, and Gabriela, among others.

P. Alonzo Conway--bassoon, baritone saxophone, percussion

Patrick Alonzo Conway has studied with such noted Master Drummers as Abubakari Lunna-Wumbie, Felipe Garcia Villamil and I Ketut Gedé Asnawa. Mr. Conway has traveled to Cuba and Bali for research in traditional music. He currently is director of the Balinese Music & Dance troupe Gamelan Genta Kasturi and performs with Gillham Park Orchtet, Paul Mesner Puppets, Traditional Music Society, Mambo DeLeon Orchestra, People’s Liberation Big Band and BCR. Mr. Conway holds a MM in Composition from the UMKC Conservatory and was a founding member of newEar.

Brad Cox--piano, rhodes, toy piano

Brad Cox is musical director of Owen/Cox Dance Group, a group he formed with Jennifer Owen in order to perform their original music and dance collaborations. Brad is a founder and contributing composer to The People's Liberation Big Band of Greater Kansas City. He has written a number of arrangements for Sony Classical recording artist Nathan Granner, and has worked with Grammy award winning producer and engineer Russ Elevado in creating arrangements for Krystle Warren and Nigerian guitarist Keziah Jones.

Shay Estes--voice

Shay Estes hails from Kansas City, Missouri. She likes riding bikes and horses and reading comic books and going to zoos and petting kitty tummies and she also likes pie. Her sister makes great pie. She gets paid to sing jazz songs at places like Jardine's and The Bulldog and Vinino and 40 Sardines with people like Mark Lowrey and Jeff Harshbarger and Zack Albetta and Jake Blanton. Sometimes she gets to sing with Mark Southerland or The People's Liberation Big Band. She enjoys that.

Nathan Granner--voice

Nathan Granner's old school timbre and natural qualities are distinctive and rare.  He is currently performing both nationally and internationally with the Sony Classical recording trio, The American Tenors.  The group's first CD reached top the five in the Classical charts.  Mr. Granner has received national acclaim on such programs as PBS, RTE1’s The Late Late Show, CNN, Fox News, E! Hollywood Extra as well as press from The Times of London, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Opera News, Opera Now and more.   www.grannerbledsoe.com.

Jeff Harshbarger--bass

Voted Kansas City's Best Bassist by Pitch Magazine in 2007, Jeff Harshbarger has had quite a varied career. A prolific composer and bandleader in his own right, he has recorded and performed across the globe with such varied groups as Forever Tango, Nathan Granner, Milt Abel, Tango Lorca, Angela Hagenbach, Krystle Warren, Snuff Jazz, Brad Cox, Ghosty, The People's Liberation Big Bang of Greater Kansas City, Jazz Discharge and Forrest Whitlow. In 2004, he co-founded Tzigane Music, an artist-run collective and record label. He has received The Kennedy Center's Betty Carter Fellowship, the Steans Institute Fellowship, and is a recipient of the 2008 Professional Development Grant from the Creative Capital Foundation. www.jeffharshbarger.com

Lidia Kaminska--Accordion

Accordion virtuoso Lidia Kaminska began playing the accordion at the age of eight, and by the age of twelve was giving solo performances in Holland, Austria, and Germany, as well as her native Poland.  After receiving her Masters degree from the Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw, Poland, she came to the U.S. to study at the University of Missouri Kansas City.  At the age of 25 she became the first (and only) person in the United States to ever receive a Doctorate in Accordion Performance. She is represented by Astral Artistic Services in Philladelphia, PA and concertizes throughout the U.S. and Europe. www.lidiakaminska.com.

Erin Keller--voice

Erin Keller, an Iowa native, has been active in the highest quality choral singing since her first days in the Des Moines Children’s Chorus.  Ms. Keller earned a degree in Voice Performance from UMKC in 2002, and went on to join the Kansas City Chorale under Charles Bruffy.  She has performed as a soloist with the Kansas City Chorale, Kansas City Civic Opera, New Ear, and Owen/Cox Dance Group.  Ms. Keller has taught piano and voice extensively throughout the Kansas City area, including Penn Valley Community College and Paseo Academy of the Fine and Performing Arts, and she is currently the children’s music director and soloist at Asbury United Methodist Church in Prairie Village.

Lory Lacy--flute, piccolo

Lory Lacy holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Peabody Institute and a Master’s from San Francisco Conservatory. She studied classical flute with Robert Willoughby and Tim Day, and jazz improvisation with Nathan Davis. She is included in Women in Jazz at the American Jazz Museum. Lory sings and plays flute and saxophone in the hard rock band, Firebox. She has been a part-time DJ on rock stations 97.3 MAX FM and 99.7 KY, and she freelances as a fiction writer. Lory also freelances as a seamstress, and has made Ace costumes for two KISS tribute bands.

Scotty McBee--drums

Scotty began playing guitar at the age of 4, and drums at 6, and in relatively short order, earned a degree in percussion performance from UMKC. Respected for his musical versatility, Scotty plays drums and sings for Ida McBeth and Friends, is a regular studio musician for Berry Music Group, hosts Jerry’s Jam Night playing guitar, bass and drums, and plays the role of Gene Simmons in the tribute band KISSED. Scotty is an Eagle Scout, and a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation.

Valery R. Price--voice

Valery’s musical career has taken her across the nation, performing from Los Angeles to New York, Michigan to Texas. She currently performs in the Kansas City area as a lead and back-up vocalist singing a variety of styles--Jazz, Swing, Latin, Blues, Motown, Contemporary R&B, Country, and more. She has been recognized by the Pitch in 2004 in their "Best Female R&B Performer," and was the winner of Bar Natasha Idol 2006. She was also recognized by the KC Star in 2006 as being one of "...Kansas City's emerging artists on the cusp of fame," in the article "On the Verge."

Gregory Sandosirsky--violin

A violinist who brings the Russian violin tradition to international music, Gregory Sandomirsky started his violin education in the USSR at Krivoy Rog Lysenko Music School where he graduated with honors.  He received his Masters in Violin from the Odessa Conservatory in 1971.  He began his teaching career at this conservatory as an assistant to Professor Mordkovich, and later taught violin and chamber music at Kirovograd and Krivoy Rog Colleges of Music.  Mr. Sandomirsky has performed with consistent critical acclaim as an orchestra member, concertmaster and soloist with symphonies all over the world. Currently he is associate concertmaster of the Kansas City Symphony.  In addition to his work with symphonic and chamber orchestras, Mr. Sandomirsky has joined his artistic talent with other distinguished musicians such as the Odessa Trio, pianist Bair Shagdaron and pianist Stanislav Ioudenitch.

Sam Wisman--drum set, percussion

Sam Wisman was born into a musical family in Topeka, KS. He graduated Summa Cum Laude from the UMKC Conservatory in 2005 with a degree in percussion performance. He has performed in a variety of settings and with numerous musical groups including the Kansas City Symphony, the Topeka Symphony, the St. Joseph Symphony, the Northland Symphony, the Jewish folk music ensemble - Yachad, Marimba Sol de Chiapas, the Coterie Theater, the Topeka Civic Theatre, Bobby Watson, Terrell Stafford, the Westport Art Ensemble, The Brad Cox Ensemble, and the Boulevard Big Band. In addition to jazz and classical, Sam has studied and performed the music of Cuba, Brazil, West Africa, Southern Mexico/Central America, and Israel. Sam also teaches drums and percussion privately and is a clinician in the Kansas City area.

Krystle Warren--voice

Krystle Warren is a singer/songwriter/poet who stems from the song stylings of the greats who have come before.  After buying her first guitar at fifteen, she immersed herself into the song book of Lennon/McCartney, first casting her interest into Rubber Soul, then Revolver, until finding that the sound she made in covers was shaping her own.  Her beginnings trail back to Kansas City, Missouri, where she attended Paseo High School of the Performing Arts. Since moving to New York City in 2004, Krystle has performed at the legendary Newport Folk Festival and toured the United States with the likes of Martha Wainwright, Zap Mama and Erykah Badu.  Ms. Warren's live shows have been garnering praise from fans and critics alike.  She recently released "Diary," her first recording with her band, The Faculty.  She is currently completing her first full-length album with two time Grammy award winning producer Russ Elevado at the fabled Electric Lady Studios in New York.    www.krystlewarren.com.