THE WILL PATTON QUINTET
Mandolinist and all around string wizard Will Patton, also well known for his fine bass playing, draws a strong influence from jazz, Gypsy, and Brazilian music. His collaborations with the manouche guitarist Ninine Garcia from Paris, documented in the cds "Peripherique" and "String Theory" have been enthusiastically reviewed both in the U.S. and abroad. He teaches jazz mandolin at Jay Ungar and Molly Mason's Ashokan Camp and the Django in June Festival at Smith College. He has performed with Mose Allison and his bands have opened for such acts as Ray Charles, Bonnie Raitt and Van Morrison.
Guitarist Steve Blair has toured extensively through the United States, Canada, Mexico and Russia. Steve received a Master of Music degree in Jazz Composition and Arranging from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst and is now Assistant Professor and head of the jazz program at Johnson State College. Steve also continues to perform, record and compose in a broad spectrum of musical styles.
Skeeter Camera's drumming and percussion work is vast and varied, from the Parisian jazz clubs of the 1960's where he worked with jazz legends Blossom Dearie, Mal Waldron and Clark Terry, to the early Greenwich Village folk scene. playing with Caroline Hester and others. He has continued to perform extensively in New York City, San Francisco and Australia over the last 30 years.
Violinist David Gusakov's lifetime career has ranged from classical, as a member of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra since 1973, to hard driving Bluegrass with Pine Island and Banjo Dan & The Midnight Plowboys. He has performed with such luminaries as Vassar Clemens, Emmylou Harris, Peter Rowan and John Denver. Born in the heartland of America, Gusakov has travelled the world with his fiddle as his passport, and currently teaches music in his Bristol studio.
Clyde Stats has been a professional bassist for over 30 years, and has performed rhythm and blues, funk, bluegrass, and jazz throughout Vermont and New England for the past 21 years. He began his career in Chicago performing with blues greats Howlin' Wolf, Buddy Guy, and Otis Rush He has studied with internationally known jazz bassists George Mraz and Santi Debriano, and has accompanied jazz legends Mose Allison, Bobby Watson, Joshua Redman, and James Carter in their Vermont appearances. An active jazz educator, he holds an M.A. in Jazz Studies from Norwich University and teaches courses in jazz and popular music at Johnson State College, Trinity College, and the University of Vermont.