Shawn Lowe, Trumpet/Stage Manager
Rick Geraghty, Equipment/Drums
Bio Coming Soon!
Paula Burns, Events/Trombone
Paula started playing the trombone in 1975 when she turned 15. Upon entering High school she saw a posting that read “anyone interested in playing an instrument come to the band room after school.” When the director, Mr. Guter, asked what she played she said, “a little drums.” Guter insisted Paula pick up the trombone, but she had no idea what a trombone was! Within 2 years Paula was deemed “soloist”. Today Paula is a proud founding member of the CABB as well as participant in Gordon College Symphonic Band, Gloucester Community Band, Rockport Legion Band, Boston Firemen’s Band, and Local 126 Union Band. There’s no denying Paula’s love for the trombone and performing music!
Paula says: “I've been studying for the past 3 years under Gerry Barrett, a teacher from Berklee College of music. He is a great guy, awesome coach, and friend. I have so much love for music because the Cape Ann Big Band operates like a family. Carlos is a GREAT friend to us all and makes it happen!”
Gary Wolsieffer, Media/Bass
Gary has been a bass player and composer since he was about fourteen years old. His first instrument was an electric washtub bass constructed from a mop handle, transistor radio speaker and telephone wire, plugged into his parent's stereo. The bass has always been his first musical love. Gary has written and arranged music for the band and is in charge of multimedia. He can usually be found before a gig frantically setting up any number of audio and video recorders.
Ed Biggs, Alto Sax/Clarinet
In Grade 4, Ed was introduced to the clarinet. His parents and great teachers in Troy, NY, supported him through high school. (Thanks to Misters Provost, Falcone, Balestrieri, Kane, and Zaffuts!) His high school dance band, The Kingsmen, fueled a love of jazz and alto sax. Meeting the Brubeck Quartet after a show stoked the fires even more. After two years with the BU marching band, Ed played infrequently until retirement in 2009.
Ed plays clarinet in Reading, North Reading, Woburn, Ipswich, Cape Ann, and Gordon College. He also plays soprano sax with the Eight Thumbs Sax Quartet, and Dixieland clarinet with the Offshore Winds, and the “No Reading” ensembles.
A fateful summer band rehearsal in 2011 led to the Cape Ann Big Band. Ed credits Paul Combs (Lowell Summer Jazz Camp), Dan Fox and Ethan Kaczowka (Morningside Music Studio), Dave Benjamin of Gloucester, and his fellow musicians with inspiring him to keep playing, keep learning, keep having fun.
Steve Silva, Bari Sax
Steve Silva started playing the saxophone in elementary school and has since not stopped. He graduated from Salem State University in 2014 with a Bachelor of Arts in Music. In addition to performing with CABB and other ensembles, Steve played for the Banda Recreativa Portuguesa in Peabody for many years. An original member of Cape Ann Big Band, Steve admits to loving every minute of it. He currently works as a paraprofessional in the Therapeutic Program at the Peabody Public School system.
Nick Capello, Tenor Sax
This just about sums up "Cheeks". Bio, sent.
Tom Madore, Trombone
Hooked on swing at an early age, Tom "Bones" Madore started with Dick Donovan's Big Band fresh out of high school. Over the years, Tom's travelin' trombone has been heard blasting in bands ranging from original rock, classic soul & oldies, TKO (big band in Salem, MA), and parade marching - where he met several fellow CABBies. When not performing, Tom can often be found cruising the north shore on a classic Harley-Davidson, or bungee-jumping in equatorial New Guinea.
Nickname: "Bones"
Dana Cohen, Trombone
Dana brings to the Cape Ann Big Band a lifelong love of both Big Band and classical music. In High School he played the bass trombone in the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra and traveled to Great Britain where he performed for the British Parliament and the Queen of England.
A 1976 Brandeis graduate, Dana was a founding member of the Soft Touch Dance Band from Waltham, MA, a band that continues its success to this day. He also plays in Garfish, a local classic rock band.
Dana studied with his Optometrist Dad and became a Licensed Optician. He acquired Medford Optical and went on to become one of the premier Pediatric Opticians in Greater Boston. In 2006, Boston Children’s Hospital selected Dana to open an optical shop at their Waltham location. Dana moved to Gloucester in 2006 with his beautiful wife Ginny and has two daughters, Rachel and Laura.
Ben Tuck, Bass Trombone
Ben will have a bio up asap
Arthur Adamson, Trumpet
Art was born and raised in Berkeley, California (in a very musical family) and took advantage of the great music programs offered at schools there. By the end of high school he was playing in several orchestras and bands, including the Bay Area Wind Symphony, a youth symphony of over one hundred young wind players, that toured Europe twice. Though he listened to jazz from an early age, Art took a strong interest in classical music, and played with many orchestras, concert bands, and several seasons with the U.C. Berkeley Symphony.
A carpenter by day, he moved to Rockport in 2005 with his wife and young son, only to have another son later that same year!
Until he the Cape Ann Big Band Art was admittedly intimidated by jazz. He compared it to the fear of swimming in the open ocean. "There are no boundaries to the width and depth, but once you realize that you are safe because you are able to swim, you can then experiment in taking the music in different directions and styles, and it just becomes fun!"
Dan Fleury, Trumpet
COMING SOON
Chris Bodek, Keys
Chris joined the big band not long after it began. Although he had only taken a few sporadic piano lessons in high school, he was the only piano player they could convince to join, and so was the obvious choice. The big band has been a great learning experience, pushing his skills further than he ever expected, and he is proud to have grown as the band has grown. He’s constantly listening to Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk, and Count Basie.
Other than piano, Chris has also, at various times, played saxophone, flute, clarinet, bassoon, double bass, mallet percussion, tabla, and handbells. Chris graduated from Salem State in 2014 with a Music degree, and has recently returned to pursue a degree in Mathematics. He is associated with the Back Bay Ringers handbell ensemble in Boston, enjoys spending time with his girlfriend Justine, and being with his family and dogs in Beverly.