Dave Flippo
Dave brings his diverse and eclectic background and experiences to the music he writes, and the result is contemporary jazz that often surprises the listener with its distinct, quirky sound. While earning a Doctorate and Master’s degrees in music composition at the University of Michigan and the Eastman School, Dave studied world music on the side and absorbed all the jazz he could, of course, while driving a cab. Initially the band began with world-jazz fusion compositions, then veered off into vocal settings of the Tao Te Ching and recently spread out to include odd-meter compositions and arrangements of rock tunes from Hendrix and Bowie to Radiohead and Soundgarden.
Donn De Santo
Acoustic and electric bass. Donn teaches string bass at Chicago State University and has a Bachelors Degree in jazz studies from DePaul University. Donn has performed with Event Horizon Jazz Ensemble and the Brass Tracks Big Band.
Heath Chappell
Drum set. Heath also performs and records with Suenos, The Stingrays, Hashimoto 5, Jay Goepper’s Backdated, and Lovely Little Girls. He received his Bachelors of Music from the University of Miami.
Dan Hesler
Saxophones and flute-Dan has no formal credentials or degrees in music whatsoever, other than having worked in music for over 40 years as performer, composer, and arranger. He has been working a day gig as an attorney for several decades, but is about to give that up. He aspires to work at a Taco Bell someday. He wrote a book called “Practicing the Jazz Vocabulary,” and recently finished writing a book of jazz flute duets. He currently has three cats.”
