Miranda Agnew is a trumpet player, composer-improviser and recent graduate from the dual degree program between Harvard and New England Conservatory of Music.

She is deeply invested in building supportive and bold spaces for music-making, and lasting connections to others through creative practice.

Miranda has been mentored by musicians such as Dominique Eade, Claire Chase, and Jason Palmer, attended the Banff International Workshop in Jazz and Creative Music, and performed at venues such as Jamboree in Barcelona, Scullers in Boston, and Dizzy’s Club NYC.

Her compositions emphasize collectivity and fluidity, while centering the personalities of her collaborators, and she has performed and improvised with musicians including Francisco Mela, Kris Davis and Yvonne Rogers.

She is also involved in education, having organized multiple workshop series for highschool students and curated the WJCM project, a guide for high school educators that centers women in the story of Jazz and Creative Music.

From playing in the Sahara Desert, just North of Timbuktu, with Roswell Rudd’s Trombone Shout Band (2004), to creating music in a grain silo at an artist colony in upstate New York, to traveling all over the world with Frank Sinatra (1987 - 1994); trombonist/composer Deborah Weisz’s life in music has been filled with diversity. 

Originally from Chicago, IL, Deborah’s family moved to Phoenix, AZ where she began playing the trombone at the age of 10. When asked why she chose the trombone... “when the band director was naming instruments I thought I would play flute or clarinet, but when he said ‘trombone’ my hand went up. I don’t know why, it just did. It was the beginning of my life-long love of the trombone!”

As a young musician coming up in the public school music programs there was plenty of opportunity to play all styles of music, but Deborah was always attracted to jazz and improvisation.

“I had many wonderful teachers, in particular, Mr. Pat Lebs. He was my band director my first two years of high school (Alhambra High School, Phoenix, AZ). While working with me on Ave Maria, as a solo piece, he would have me sing the melody and spoke about how I should always focus on ‘singing’ through my trombone."

MCC

After high school Deborah chose to attend Mesa Community College (MCC) in Mesa, AZ. “I had heard from other young musicians that if you wanted to be creative and play jazz, that this was the place to go. The program at MCC was all about communicating through music, and what I learned there, from the incredible teachers that I was so fortunate to study with (Grant Wolf, Don Bothwell, Roger Harris & Jim Hendricks), has stayed with me and continues to influence me.” 

"TROMBONE SCHOOL"

After finishing her A.A. in Music Performance (1982) at MCC, Deborah moved to Las Vegas, NV to finish up her B.A. in Music Performance (1984) at University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). “While attending UNLV I began studying trombone with another wonderful teacher, Bobby Scann, who showed me what was really there in Las Vegas; an amazing community of great trombone players. The 11 1/2 years I spent in Las Vegas were what I call my years in ‘trombone school.’ I had the opportunity to play with all the trombone players in town, study with some of them, and learn from all their own experiences.”

It was a great opportunity for Deborah as Las Vegas, at the time, was filled with many musicians who had worked extensively with all the great jazz big bands, and had moved to Las Vegas to settle down and work there in the 1950s & 1960s. “I was the age of their own kids, and they told me their stories of being on the road with groups such as Stan Kenton, Woody Herman, Buddy Rich, Count Basie, and Duke Ellington. The musical history lessons were just as important as the trombone lessons. It was an amazing place to be as a young trombonist.”

"BUT CARL..."

Special mention has to be made of one particular trombonist that Deborah was fortunate to work and study with; Carl Fontana. “I would hear these musicians speak about knowing Charlie Parker and other great jazz artists, hearing their idols play, in person, many times. Well for me, that was Carl Fontana; one of the greatest jazz trombonists. I can tell my own students that I knew him and heard him play hundreds and hundreds of times. Truly this is one of the greatest gifts I received from my time in the ‘trombone school’ of Las Vegas.”

SINATRA

While in Las Vegas Deborah began working as a free lance musician; performing for production shows, different star acts such as Joe Williams, etc... Eventually forming her own groups, composing music/contracting work for them. It was during this time that she began performing for Frank Sinatra. “It was an honor to work for him. I saw so much of the world, while in the presence of this great artist.”

For the past twenty years with four albums as a leader, several studio projects as a side man, and countless worldwide performances, saxophonist, vocalist and composer Juli Wood has established herself as a solid, swinging, lyrical and entertaining performer on Chicago’s music scene.  Juli has played many jazz clubs and festivals nationally and internationally; Chicago Jazz Fest, Hyde Park Jazz Fest, Milwaukee’s Summerfest, Chicago’s main jazz clubs – Jazz Showcase, Green Mill, Andy’s and Katerina’s. Skansen Jazz and Blues (Stockholm , Sweden), Pori Jazz Fest (Finland), Bent J’s club (Aarhus, Denmark), Storyville (Helsinki Finland), Arlandia Jazz Fest (Aaland Islands, Finland) and the ” Made in Chicago ” jazz festival in Poznan Poland to name a few.

Juli is in the tradition of saxophonists who were also great vocalists; Cleanhead Vincent, Eddie Harris, and Louis Jordan. Never has that been more apparent than in “5 4 3 2 1 Juli Wood,” her latest recording and most ambitious project to date.

Juli’s love for the saxophone goes way back. “I remember watching SOUL TRAIN as a kid on T.V. in the 70’s and seeing Maceo Parker playing alto sax with James Brown. I thought that was the coolest looking and sounding instrument in the world! So the love affair with the saxophone started in the sixth grade and has been going strong ever since.”

Patrick Langham joined the Conservatory of Music in the fall of 2003 as associate professor and Director of Jazz Studies. He holds the Bachelor of Music and the Master of Music both with a concentration in jazz studies from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. Langham has taught at the University of South Carolina-Spartanburg and Tusculum College in Knoxville, TN.

As a saxophonist, Professor Langham has performed with distinguished jazz artists and on numerous jazz festivals throughout the southern United States. As a director, he has developed and taught courses in jazz history, theory, improvisation, and performance, and has created and operated a jazz camp at USC-Spartanburg.

At Pacific, Professor Langham directs the Pacific Jazz Ensemble, the jazz combos, teaches courses in improvisation, jazz history and theory, as well as in the Pacific Jazz Ambassadors program, the  Summer Jazz Colony and Pacific Music Camp.

A man of many passions, Erik Applegate is a bassist, composer, and songwriter. His latest album, Two’s Company, was featured in Jazziz Magazine. Current projects include touring and recording with the Dana Landry Quartet and Born To Wander (an indie jazz & Americana trio), creating a jazz “concept” album, and contributing to an upcoming Julia Dollison big band project.

Called “a top-notch acoustic bass performer” by JazzReview.com, Applegate has performed with the Bob Mintzer Big Band, Nnenna Freelon, Milt Jackson, Louis Hayes, Jeff Coffin, Mulgrew Miller, Eddie Daniels, Dick Oatts, James Williams, Harold Mabern, Ed Thigpen, and others, and has appeared throughout the U.S. and in Europe, Australia, and China.

Red Skies, Applegate’s debut CD, reached #2 on the Roots Music Report, and he is heard on albums including Steve Owen’s Stand Up Eight, Dana Landry’s Grammy-nominated Journey Home, and 7ON7’s Back When It Was Fun.

Music, video, and further info is available at www.erikapplegate.com.