David White｜Trombonist, Composer & Music Director ｜New York, NY

Melissa Gardiner

Jazz trombonist Melissa Gardiner has been described by Curtis Fuller as technically creative and emotionally powerful. Gardiner received her master’s degree in jazz performance at The Juilliard School where she studied with Steve Turre. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree at The University of Michigan where she studied with Dennis Wilson(jazz) and David Jackson(classical). Former teachers also include Bill Harris, Curtis Fuller and Wycliffe Gordon.
Throughout her career she has worked with several notable musicians including Aretha Franklin, The Tempatations, Geri Allen, Wycliffe Gordon, Steve Turre, Gerald Wilson, Patti Austin, Tia Fuller, Ingrid Jensen, Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, and Vulfpeck.

As a bandleader, she performs regularly with her jazz organ trio, MG3, and the SAMMY Award winning New Orleans style brass band, Second Line Syracuse. She is a member of the CNY Jazz Orchestra and frequently joins other local and regional ensembles. Gardiner is active in theater as a pit orchestra musician and has also worked with Carnival Cruise Lines and the Disneyland All-American College Band.

Her debut album as a leader, Transitions, was released in 2011.

melissamaymusic.com

Recorded with the David White Jazz Orchestra on: Flashpoint

Rick Parker

Parker has resided in New York City since 2001 when he began studies for a masters in jazz performance and composition at NYU. He has worked with a large cross section of notable musicians and groups including Tim Berne, Mingus Big Band, Darcy James Argue Secret Society, Charli Persip, Frank Lacy, Super Hi-Fi, Tim Kuhl, Beninghove’s Hangmen, Cage the Elephant, hip hop legends the Wu Tang Clan and DMC and mexican pop stars Ximena Sariñana and Natalia LaFourcade. Since 2012 he has been a member of Ravish Momin’s Tarana, performing at festivals, universities and major concerts in USA, Mexico and Europe. Parker’s innovative use of electronics with the trombone have allowed him to cross through many musical genres and even garnered the attention of manufacturers Electroharmonix and Eventide with whom he has consulted on the development of new pedals and effects.

Parker has performed at major venues and festivals across Asia, Europe, North and South America including the Montreal Jazz Festival, Montreux Jazz Fest, Blue Note, Jazz Standard, Blues Alley, the Kennedy Center and Lincoln Center. Parker was twice honored with an ASCAP Young Jazz Composer award and frequently arranges music for rock/pop groups and jazz big band.

As a bandleader, Rick Parker’s music traverses multiple cultures and musical genres. His jazz quintet, The Rick Parker Collective, has released two albums on Fresh Sound New Talent and WJF records.

rickparker.net

Recorded with the David White Jazz Orchestra on: Flashpoint and The Chase

Nick Finzer

Born into the musical world (Mom Sherry Finzer is an international flutist), Finzer developed a fascination for the music of Duke Ellington and found himself, in high school, performing at the annual Essentially Ellington competition of Jazz at Lincoln Center. It was then that he decided to pursue a life in music himself. His budding talent was recognized by Wycliffe Gordon who began a life-long mentorship by writing four pieces for the young Finzer while he attended the Eastman School of Music. Nick went on to get his masters at Juilliard’s prestigious Jazz program where he was mentored by the trombone legend Steve Turre.

In 2011 Nick was the winner of the Eastern Trombone Workshop’s National Jazz Trombone Competition and was a finalist in the 2010 International Trombone Association’s Carl Fontana Jazz Trombone Competition.

In January of 2013 Nick released his recording debut as a bandleader and composer with Exposition (Outside In Music). Two tracks appearing on the album garnered Finzer a pair of accolades: The prestigious American Society of Composers and Performers (ASCAP)’s Herb Alpert Award for young composers (2013 & 2015)

Finzer has performed at top Jazz clubs and concert halls with Wynton Marsalis’ Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Lucas Pino’s No Net Nonet, Ryan Truesdell's Gil Evans Project, Bob Stewart’s Double Quartet, Frank Wess, Terrell Stafford, Lewis Nash, the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, Walt Weiskopf, Slide Hampton, Frank Kimbrough, Carl Allen, Steve Turre.

nickfinzermusic.com

Recorded with the David White Jazz Orchestra on: Live at Midday Jazz

James Hall

James Hall is a trombonist and composer from Nebraska based in New York City. A versatile musician, his projects have spanned jazz, classical, latin, and popular music in the US and Europe.

As a composer and bandleader, James was named a finalist in the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Competition, won three ASCAPlus Awards for composition, and was a featured performer/composer at the 2012 Chelsea Music Festival. As trombonist in Williamsburg Salsa Orchestra, he has performed at B.B. Kings', S.O.B's, MassMOCA, The Kennedy Center, The Blue Note Jazz Festival, and has appeared in the pages of Rolling Stone Magazine. He has appeared on several recordings with Postmodern Jukebox, with whom he has toured Europe and the US. James' trombone playing earned third place, runner-up, and honorable mention in the Antti Rissanen, J.J. Johnson, and Carl Fontana International Jazz Trombone Competitions, respectively.

James' first CD as a composer/bandleader was released in October 2013. Entitled Soon We Will Not Be Here by James Hall Thousand Rooms Quartet, the body of work sets contemporary poems by NYC-based poets to 3rd-stream chamber music. His sophomore release, Lattice  is currently in post-production.

James holds degrees from the Lawrence Conservatory of Music in Wisconsin and Aaron Copland School of Music in New York.

jameshallmusic.com

Recorded with the David White Jazz Orchestra on: Live at Midday Jazz