From 1984 thru 1993, John Lee was Dizzy Gillespie’s bassist. Performing andrecording in the trumpet master’s various bands including the Dizzy GillespieQuintet, Dizzy Gillespie Big Band, and Dizzy’s Grammy Award winningUnited Nation Orchestra. After Dizzy’s passing, his family asked John tocreate an ongoing tribute to the great man and his music—and the conceptfor the Dizzy Gillespie All-Stars was born. John is the bassist and director ofthe Dizzy Gillespie All-Stars, Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band, and theDizzy Gillespie Afro-Latin Experience. John has also worked in the bands ofGary Bartz, Larry Coryell, Jon Faddis, Aretha Franklin, Roberta Gambarini,Roy Hargrove, Jimmy Heath, Gregory Hines, Miriam Makeba, James Moody,Claudio Roditi, Sonny Rollins, and McCoy Tyner. John is also a Grammy Award winning record producer and audio engineer.

He has produced over 100 recordings.Described as both a “young phenom…on piano” and an “absolute great,” Jeb Patton has earned a well-regarded reputation in the international jazz community. The multi-talented Patton is known as a “player of great expression” as well as a “simpatico accompanist” for The Heath Brothers, and an innovative arranger.

Jeb Patton graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences degree with a major in music from Duke University, where he studied piano. Studying under Sir Roland Hanna and Jimmy Heath, Jeb earned his Master of Arts degree, summa cum laude, in 1997 from the Aaron Copland School of Music, Queens College, City University of New York, where he also received the Louis Armstrong Award for composition from the ASCAP Foundation. Jeb has toured throughout the United States and abroad with the Heath Brothers, The Jimmy Heath Big Band, The Dizzy Gillespie Big Band, The Dizzy Gillespie All Stars, George Coleman, James Moody, Lewis Nash, Antonio Hart, The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, The Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, Roberta Gambarini, and with his own trio.

Tommy Campbell was born in Norristown, Pennsylvania.His father was an organist and singer, and his uncle is Jimmy Smith, the renowned Hammond B-3 master. After graduating high school he attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts where he later returned as an instructor of drums and received the Distinguished Alumni Award. Tommy lived and worked in Paris, France in the 1980s. He later spent 13 years working in Tokyo, Japan. He has worked in the bands of Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, John McLaughlin, The Manhattan Transfer, Kevin Eubanks, Jimmy Smith, Stanley Jordan, Tania Maria, Gary Burton, the Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Bands, and a host of other jazz greats. As an educator Tommy has also taught at the Drummer’s Collective and The New School of New York City.

Over the past two decades, Freddie Hendrix has become one of the most in demand trumpeters in Jazz, and beyond. Also an accomplished composer, arranger and educator, the Teaneck, New Jersey native's skill and versatility has resulted in him working with a wide array of performers that range from the Count Basie Orchestra, the Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band, the Christian McBride Big Band, the Roy Hargrove Big Band, and the Heath Brothers, to Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder and Alicia Keys. A product of the esteemed Jazz program at William Paterson University, with a Masters in Jazz Studies and Performance from New Jersey City University, Hendrix also shares his knowledge and passion for the music. He has served as a faculty member at the Hartt School of Music at The University of Hartford, Connecticut, The New School in New York, and Jazz House Kids, in Montclair, New Jersey. Whether leading his own groups, or lending his talents as a lead or section player in much larger ensembles, Freddie Hendrix continues to flourish as one of the most exciting trumpet voices on the music scene.

Born in East Baltimore, Maryland, Steve Carrington began playing the saxophone at age seven. After attending the Baltimore School for the Arts and Frederick Douglass High School (whose alumni include Cab Calloway), Carrington was awarded a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he studied with saxophonist Bill Pierce. His early influences were John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Grover Washington Jr., Hank Mobley, Dexter Gordon, and Freddie Hubbard. Carrington has played with Cyrus Chestnut’s African Reflections band, Charles Mingus Epitaph, Roy Hargrove, Milt Hinton, Frank Wess, Jimmy Heath, Elvin Jones, Joey DeFrancesco, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Wynton Marsalis, and Chick Corea among many others. Recently, he has been performing with Kool and the Gang. Carrington’s recordings include his debut album “A Caring Tone “ (2014) and “Mind Traveler” (2019).

For this special celebration of the Lunar Chinese New Year we will offer two seatings on both Wednesday and Thursday night at 5:45 and 8:00. Reservations are strongly recommended with a $40 food & drink minimum.