bios
Dr. Justin M. Gruby (sax), a
Chicago native, started playing alto sax during the second grade, at
the age of seven. Eighteen years later, he now plays soprano,
alto, tenor, and bari saxophones, clarinet, and Latin percussion.
Justin owes his love for jazz, and music in general, to his first
private instructor Scott Williams, his high school band director Daniel
Brame, and his
parents Elizabeth and Marvin Gruby. Justin
attended the University of Wisconsin – Madison,
where he studied
advanced jazz improvisation with Joan Wildman and performed in the
black music ensembles with the great Richard Davis, while earning a
B.S. in biology. Justin moved back to the
Chicago area
to study
at National University of Health Sciences, earning his B.S. in human
biology and his doctorate of chiropractic. He now is in private
practice by day and a gigging musician by night. Justin has
played and recorded with Buddy Wiggle, The Retrorockets, WendySue, the
Black Dog Band, Reason for Leaving, Cat Magnet, and
Hubbard’s
Cupboard. He has performed hundreds of times throughout the
mid-west; highlights of his musical career include playing for the
Chicago Bulls at the United Center, the Chicago White Sox at US
Cellular Field, and at Summerfest in Milwaukee, WI, and directing the
Glenbard East High School jazz combo.
David Armstrong Schwartz
(guitar) born December 26th, 1982 in Barrington IL, began playing
guitar at the age of 11 and was initially inspired by the early 90's
grunge sound of bands such as Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and Sound Garden.
During his high school years, David played in various rock bands as
well as the Barrington High School Rhythm Machine. David's musical
direction made an abrupt change after hearing the rock-influenced jazz
of John Mclaughlin, Al Di Meola, and Allan Holdsworth. This change in
musical direction inspired David to study music full time and in 2001
he entered the Lamont School of Music at the University of Denver where
he studied Jazz and Commercial music as well as composition. After
leaving school in 2005, David moved back to Barrington where he
currently teaches guitar and music theory. David's performance credits
include Javon Jackson, Eric Gunnison, Alan Joseph, Beto Hale, Kenny
Walker, and Jimmy Legs, who opened for David Crosby. David's
compositions have been featured in faculty concerts and in 2005, he was
a semi-finalist for the jazz category in the International Song Writing
Competition.
Jeff Rendlen (bass, vocals, guitar,
composer) is a BMI recording artist whose credits include composing the
theme song to “Uniquely Kansas City” a weekly television show on KCPT
(Kansas City’s public television station). He composed the sound
track to a children’s video pilot “Dozer”. He has performed in many
groups including The Charlie Parker Big Band, Ringling Brother Circus,
Barney Kessel, Ugene Frezzen (Cellist with Oregon), Buddy Grecko,
Claude ‘Fiddler’ Williams, George Salisbury, Four Friends; with Steve
Million (now a Chicago fixture) on keyboards, Peter Robinson trio,
Chris Mayer trio, and many others. He was a founding member of
multiple all-original music groups, one of which produced an album that
received radio airplay and favorable reviews in Spin magazine
(BCR). (Jeff has composer and music producer credits on this
album.) He played in the high school jazz band receiving two
‘Outstanding Soloist’ awards while performing with several bands around
the area. He has toured in bands from New York to California. With a
degree in Liberal Arts, majoring in video and audio production, (in
conjunction with electronic music composition at the Conservatory of
Music (UMKC)), Jeff continues to play professionally. While completing
his degree, Jeff received a grant to perform live music through flame
speakers (ionized plasma modulated in the audio spectrum), possibly a
world first! Thereafter, Jeff returned to college and earned a degree
in Electrical Engineering at UMC, after which he worked as a Design
Engineer for Allied Signal Aerospace for five years. He moved to
Chicago to become a Senior Design Engineer for a pro audio company, IRP
Pro Sound Products, and designed some of the gear he has since been
using in his music career. He is presently the Manager of Electronic
Engineering at NanoInk, Inc. He holds two patents (one in
nanotechnology), and is a contributing author to two technical journal
publications.
