A Professor of Biology at Amherst College, reedman Dick Poccia has played in jazz groups in Western Massachusetts for 30 years, recording with the Valley Big Band, Jeff Holmes Big Band, and the Lowe-Jaffe Repertory Big Band and the Monadnock Chorus. He is currently a member of the Amherst Jazz Orchestra, Lowe-Jaffe Big Band, and the Eclectic Jazz Quartet. Played in back up bands for the Temptations, Ernie Watts, Claudio Roditi, Yusef Lateef, John Abercrombie, Steve Turre, Al Cohn, Peter Erskine, John Fedchock, Karrin Allyson, Amanda Carr and the Ringling Brothers Circus. Has twice toured in Russia playing at the White Nights Jazz Festival. He has performed at Sculler’s, the El Morocco, Sandy’s, Berklee School of Music, the Philharmonic Jazz Center in St. Petersburg, Russia, the Estrada State Theater in Moscow, and DOCKS television program in Lisbon. He has played with the Nelson Riddle Orchestra, the Duke Ellington Festival Orchestra with Gunther Schuller at Amherst College, the swing big band The Abletones,The Valley Jazz Divas and the Afro-beat band Fenibo. He appeared as guest soloist with the La Forza Chamber Orchestra in Phoenix in 2013 performing Frank Darmiento's Concerto for Jazz Quintet and Orchestra.
http://dlpoccia.wix.com/dominic-poccia-music
Joe Belmont
Vernon David
Dick Poccia
Vernon Cyrenius David studied cello at Peabody conservatory in Baltimore Maryland with Mihaly Virizlay and has a Masters Degree in Composition from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He studied composition with Hubert Bird and Salvatore Macchia. He was also selected to participate in the June in Buffalo Festival where his String Quartet was performed by the Arditti Quartet. Recently he was commissioned to compose Metamorphosis a piece for 7 cellos and poetic recitation with Poet Banafshé Larijani for the Beauvais Festival in France. Vernon started as a blues guitarist with a particular enthusiasm for Ablert King and recently developed an enthusiasm for jazz. Recently returned from several years residing in London, he currently lives and works in Northampton, MA where he is a regular at jam sessions and gigs, exposing jazz audiences to an underutilized string instrument capable of pizzicato lines like a bass and emotive arco melodies like a saxophone.
Joe Belmont has been a professional guitarist for over thirty years, and has extensive performance and recording experience in a wide variety of styles with many musical ensembles. His discography from intimate solo work to session musician to film scores. One of the most sought-after guitarists and respected teachers in Western Massachusetts, he is a Performance Faculty member of the music department at Amherst College and is the Director of Jazz Studies at the Northampton Community Music Center. with motivated students. In 2003 Joe began his solo career, first releasing the CD “Sketches from the Journey Home.” “Sketches” is a collection of intimate guitar pieces, each depicting an aspect of Joe’s life. “Live at Leeds (Northampton),” was released in June of 2005. Joe then embarked on a two year project transcribing and learning the music of Wes Montgomery and produced the CD “Joe Belmont and the Fellowship of Wes,” released in 2007. In 2010 he released (along with flutist Sarah Swersey) the self-titled “Duo Fusion” CD. Joe works with Viva Quetzal and Duo Fusion.
