Brad Wagner (Sax) — Originally from Akron, Ohio, Brad Wagner holds a B.M. in Jazz Studies from the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music. He plays soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone saxophones, flute, piccolo, clarinet, and bass clarinet, and is an active composer and arranger. Brad has led, collaborated, performed, or recorded with numerous groups, including Pulse, The Brad Wagner Big Band, Ernie Krivda and the Fat Tuesday Big Band, Moustache Yourself, The Hendectet Jazz Collective, The Cleveland Jazz Orchestra, The Black Dog Octet, Dan Bruce’s Beta Collective, Jack Schantz’s Jazz Unit, Third Law Composers Collective, Sam Blakeslee’s Large Group, and Cincinnati-based jam band Eclipse, The Cleveland Orchestra, Cleveland Pops Orchestra, Dave Morgan and Friends, and Jazz Heritage Orchestra, among others. Brad has backed internationally known artists and performs with jazz groups, pit orchestras, and Latin and pop ensembles throughout Northeast Ohio. For more information and recordings, visit www.bradwagner.net
Garrett Folger (Trumpet) — Garrett Folger is a Cleveland-based composer, educator, and performer and a graduate of the Conservatory of Music at Baldwin Wallace University. He has performed nationwide at venues including the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall, as well as internationally in Canada and Europe and at numerous festivals across Cuba in 2023. His Cleveland collaborations include Sammy DeLeon y su Orquesta, the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra, and Jazzworks. Garrett has released four recordings as a leader: DUO (2025) with Aidan Plank; its hard to know for sure what is happening but all you need to do is listen and be a part of it (2026) with Tyler Hawes; and Horizon (2025) and Oscilla (2026) with Horizon Trio. For more information, visit www.garrettfolgermusic.com
Aidan Plank (Bass) — Aidan Plank is a double bassist, electric bassist, and composer active in a wide range of jazz settings. He has served as bassist for the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra since 2013. His collaborative ensemble, Pulse, features original compositions and explores a Midwestern sound. Aidan has collaborated with Dan Wall, Joe Lovano, Carmen Castaldi, Jamey Haddad, Dave Berkman, Terrance Blanchard, Dominick Farinacci, Bill Dobbins, Vanessa Rubin, John Fedchock, Steve Davis, Joe Maneri, Joshua Breakstone, Tim Armacost, Martha Kato, Diego Figueiredo, Sean Jones, Yoron Israel, Gerald Clayton, Maria Schneider, Michael Philip Mossman, Bobby Sanabria, Tierney Sutton, Regina Carter, Ken Peplowski, Bria Skonberg, and the Cleveland Orchestra. He was featured on NPR’s Jazz Night in America broadcast “Cleveland’s Joe Lovano Comes Home” on May 16, 2019. His recording credits include Time to Mind the Mystics by Dan Bruce’s Beta Collective (Shifting Paradigm Records), Off Brand by Collage Project (Panoramic/New Focus Recordings), Pulse by Pulse (Panoramic/New Focus Recordings), and his own album, Where We Started (Hidden Cinema Records). Aidan has taught at the Tri-C JazzFest Academy and Kent State University and currently serves as Assistant Teaching Professor of Jazz Bass at Bowling Green State University’s College of Musical Arts. For more information, visit aidanplank.com
Jackie Warren (Piano) — Originally from Colorado, pianist Jackie Warren moved to Ohio to study classical piano with Sedmara Zakarian Rutstein at Oberlin Conservatory, earning a B.M. in classical performance. She later earned an M.M. in classical piano performance from Cleveland State University. Jackie performs as a soloist, leads her own jazz trio, and arranges and performs salsa and Latin jazz with percussionist Sammy DeLeon y su Orquesta. She also performs with the DIVA Jazz Orchestra and the trio 3Divas with drummer Sherrie Maricle and bassist Amy Shook. Her collaborations include David “Fathead” Newman, Richie Cole, Clark Terry, Benny Bailey, Sean Jones, Ken Peplowski, Harry Allen, Joe Lovano, Regina Carter, Frank Morgan, Bobby Watson, Frank Foster, Vanessa Rubin, Greg Bandy, Bobby Sanabria, Jane Bunnett and the Spirits of Havana, Roberto Occhipinti, Los Muñequitos de Matanzas, Othello Molineaux, Donald Harrison, Gerald Wilson, Jimmy Heath, Royal Hartigan, Wes Anderson, Wendell Logan, Billy Hart, Gary Bartz, Donald Walden, Marion Hayden, Impacto Nuevo, Ray de la Paz, Ismael Miranda, Humberto Ramirez, Cano Estremera, Tommy Olivencia, Tony Vega, Tito Rojas, Tito Puente Jr., Hector Tricoche, Percy Sledge, King Solomon, the Tuscarawas Philharmonic, the Jazz Heritage Orchestra, the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Jazz Orchestra, the Oberlin Jazz Faculty group, and the Afro Cleveland Orchestra. Her festival and venue appearances include Dizzy’s Coca-Cola Club at Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors concert series, New World Stages in New York, the Deer Head Inn, Shanghai Jazz Club, New Brunswick Jazz Society, Washington Women in Jazz Festival, Vail Jazz Festival, Tri-C Jazz Festival, and Rubber City Jazz Festival. Her recordings include Near You and Live at the Wi-Fi Café under her own name; Steppin’ Out with the Jazz Heritage Orchestra; Salsa con Sabor with Sammy DeLeon y su Orquesta; Midwest Coast and Into the Night with Josh Rzepka; Strunkin’ with Leigh Pilzer; Oblivion with the Jackie Warren Trio; and 3Divas with 3Divas. Jackie is an educator and clinician who has taught jazz arranging and composition and coached jazz combos at Oberlin. She currently serves on the Jazz Studies faculty at Cuyahoga Community College’s Metro Campus, coaching jazz ensembles and teaching piano classes and private lessons. She also teaches at the Cleveland Music School Settlement. For more information, visit jackiewarrenmusic.com
Jim Rupp (Drums) — Jim Rupp is the drummer for the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra and the Cleveland Pops Orchestra. He toured extensively with Woody Herman’s band, appearing on three recordings, one of which was Grammy-nominated, as well as with the bands of Maynard Ferguson and the Glenn Miller Orchestra. He also spent eight years with Grammy-winning jazz singer Diane Schuur and has performed with Tony Bennett, Ray Charles, Joe Lovano, Henry Mancini, Vince Mendoza, John Fedchock, John Faddis, Byron Stripling, Maria Schneider, Clark Terry, Joe Williams, Cab Calloway, Rosemary Clooney, Natalie Cole, Hank Marr, Rusty Bryant, the Columbus Jazz Orchestra, and the
Smithsonian Masterworks Jazz Orchestra. As a Pops drum set player, he has performed with orchestras in Boston, Dallas, Nashville, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Columbus, St. Louis, Dayton, Cincinnati, and other cities. His touring and educational experience has led to clinics and performances at colleges and high schools nationwide, including workshops at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention, the International Association of Jazz Educators Conference, Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Jazz Educators National Conference, OMEA, and numerous schools. Jim has taught at Indiana University and the University of Michigan and currently teaches at The Ohio State University, where he received the School of Music’s Outstanding Alumni Award in 2021. He co-authored the acclaimed drum set method book Baby Steps to Giant Steps, previously chaired the Percussive Arts Society’s drum set committee, and served on the board of NAMM (the International Music Products Association). He is also president of Columbus Pro Percussion Inc., one of the country’s largest and most respected percussion specialty shops. Jim plays and endorses Zildjian cymbals, Remo drumheads, Noble & Cooley drums, and ProMark drumsticks. For more information, visit jimrupp.weebly.com
