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A highlight in David’s musical career was when at the age of 17, he was called on stage to play with Wallace Roney, a world-renowned, Grammy-award winning trumpet player mentored by Miles Davis. David says it was a thrill of a lifetime and a privilege to play on the same stage as Wallace Roney, as well as Ralphe Armstrong, who played bass.

David was in the jazz studies program at Michigan State University. He studied with Etienne Charles, Rodney Whitaker, Randy Gelispie, Wessell Anderson, Diego Rivera, and Rick Roe. He played in the MSU Jazz Orchestras and Octets and led an MSU Jazz Combo.

David was the leader of DTQ (David Thomas Quartet) and the Funtet while at MSU. He and his groups performed around the East Lansing area playing primarily original jazz compositions written by David, as well as standards from The Great American Songbook. The members have included Taylor Herron on alto saxophone and flute, Alex Krausman on piano, Sam Copperman on bass, Jordan Otto on drums, Griffin Vacheron on trombone, and the late Nate Woodring on drums, who is sorely missed.

While at MSU, David also played trumpet with the Bard Owls, an Appalachian folk group based in East Lansing. He is the featured artist on the song, “Blue Rail Line,” off of their album, “No Tracks.”

David is also a certified teacher in grades K – 8. He graduated from Michigan State University with his Elementary Education degree and a minor in music.

David currently leads his jazz trio, David Thomas & Co., in which he plays piano, Rhodes electric piano, trumpet, melodica, piccolo, and flute. He plays with Planet D Nonet, run by drummer, RJ Spangler, and trumpeter, James O’Donnell. David plays solo piano at the Rochester Chop House and Kabin Kruser’s Oyster Bar in Rochester, Michigan. Currently in his second year, he is the piano accompanist for the Rochester Community Schools Elementary District Choir and has arranged jazz tunes for the children’s choir to perform at their concerts throughout the school year. David can be found playing either solo or with his jazz duo or trio at restaurants, clubs, wedding ceremonies and receptions, fundraisers, churches, private events, and other various functions. Other than aforementioned, David also plays with several other bands and artists in the Detroit area.

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James grew up listening to Detroit trumpet great Johnny Trudell. His teachers and mentors included Carlos B. Rivera, who taught Curtis Fuller, as well as Russell Green, Marcus Belgrave, Herbie Williams, Charlie Hooks and Felton Jones. Playing with these men of the horn was very inspiring and helped in developing my own sound!! James & Detroit trumpet great Rayse Biggs recorded a tribute to Russell Green. James is known for his adaptation of trumpet mutes, ..ie the plunger, the bucket, the cup, the old tradition of growling.

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Native Detroiter Walt Szymanski has enjoyed a vast and exciting career of over 40 years. From his earliest days as a young choir singer he knew that his mission in life was to develop his musically artistic talent that had been bestowed upon him by the creator.

By his high school years he was already arranging for jazz orchestra as well as penning horn charts for local rock bands. His trumpet studies included Herbie Williams, Marcus Belgrave, Larry Egan, Clifford Lillya and James Tamburini.

Following his college years at Oakland University’s famed Afram Jazz program under the direction of Marvin “Doc” Holladay (studying trumpet with Herbie Williams and Marcus Belgrave) he began recording and touring with some of Motowns’ legendary acts including Johnny Taylor, the Temptations, the Four Tops, Martha Reeves, Parliament Funkadelics and Aretha Franklin. He also was a founding member of Impact, a popular and cutting edge jazz quintet for which he penned numerous compositions.

In the early 1980’s, after brief tours with Ray Charles and the Duke Ellington Orchestra (under the direction of Mercer Ellington) Walt was chosen by drum legend J.C. Heard to be his musical director as well as arranger and composer. Together they created the J.C. Heard Orchestra and employed Detroit’s finest musicians and performed extensively with jazz giants Dizzy Gillespie, Milt Hinton, Buddy Tate, Ahmad Jamal and Max Roach. Also at this time he held the position of Artist in Residence for the Detroit Dance Collective, The Acoustic Arts Ensemble and Detroit Concert Choir.

Walt relocated to New York City in 1992 and quickly found himself in the company of many of the music world’s greatest practitioners. Among his associations were Clark Terry, Frank Foster, Lionel Hampton, Dizzy Gillespie, Eddie Hendersen, Kirk Lightsey, Cecil McBee, Charles Tolliver. Along with acting as principal trumpet for the Billy Strayhorn Repertoiry Orchestra at Lincoln Center He also led two extensive tours for the U.S. State Department under the banner of their Jazz Ambassador program.

In 2007 he began a relationship with Ray Chew at BET as an arranger/orchestrator for the show Sunday’s Best, working with Reverend Kirk Franklin and other gospel artists and also arranged the music for President Obama’s first inaugural ball featuring Beyonce. Walt became an orchestrator and arranger with the TV show American Idol in 2011 and in 2014 added Dancing With the Stars.

Upon relocating to Ecuador in 2010 Walt served for a season as Maestro of the Nacional Sinfonica at the Teatro Sucre in Quito and in 2011 began a 2 year tenure as professor of Jazz studies at the University of San Francisco de Quito’s (Ecuador) College of Music, an international affiliate of the Berklee School of Music in Boston. His duties included head of the brasswinds department, contemporary arranging and composition for large ensembles and director of the mini and big bands.

2016 was very busy compositionally for Walt and included the composition and performance of a trumpet concerto plus orchestra written in a tribute to his hometown of Detroit, MI entitled “Motor City Reflections” which was premiered by the Orquestra Sinfonica Nacional del Ecuador and conducted by Andrey Astaiza

Presently Walt lives in Tumbaco Ecuador, performing with his second line ensemble, the ZULU KINGS BRASS BAND and writing for a myriad of clients globally including the World Wrestling Federation, London Symphony Pops and Broadway (two original shows; “Sleigh Bells Swing” and “Trouble Man”).

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James grew up listening to Detroit trumpet great Johnny Trudell.  His teachers and mentors included Carlos B. Rivera, who taught Curtis Fuller, as well as Russell Green, Marcus, Herbie, Charlie Hooks and Felton Jones, playing with these men of the horn was very inspiring and helped in developing my own sound!! James & Rayse Biggs recorded a tribute to Russell to Green. James is known for his adaptation of trumpet mutes, ..ie the plunger, the bucket, the cup, the old traditional growling.

James will bring the veteran pianist Charles Green and top flight bassist Jeff Pedraz.

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Taylor has performed and recorded with Patrice Rushen, Billy Childs, Gary Novak, Bob Sheppard, Ed Motta, Marvin “Smitty’ Smith, Rodney Whitaker, Antonio Hart and great gospel luminaries Karen Clark-Sheard, Kierra Sheard and the Singletons. More extensively Taylor’s stint with jazz pianist Cyrus Chestnut included a notable concert performance at Kennedy Center recorded for NPR’s Jazzset, an appearance at the Spoleto Jazz Festival, and a week long engagement at Dizzy’s Club in NYC. In addition, Taylor had the great opportunity to tour internationally with virtuosic saxophonist James Carter’s Quintet, performing in: Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Canada, and Austria. Rounding out the experience, was a week long stint at Yoshi’s in California again with the James Carter Quintet.

In 2014, Taylor relocated to southern California where he fostered a musical relationship with friend and mentor Kamau Kenyatta. Kenyatta, is a two-time Grammy-award winning producer for Jazz vocal-star Gregory Porter. While building the musical team for Porter’s “Liquid Spirit” album, he chose Taylor for the trumpet chair. Kenyatta stated that Taylor “graced the session with his elegant solos and precise ensemble playing” and noted his musicianship as “impeccable.” Gregory Porter’s “Liquid Spirit” would go on to receive the Grammy-Award for Best-Jazz vocal album of 2014.

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