BIOGRAPHIES / PHOTOS

Jazz at Apple Computer's Halloween Party (ATOJ Sextet)

  Harry - Guitar           Nick - Bass               Mike - Drums                   Kris - Keyboard                    Tom - Saxophone        Bob - Trumpet

Joe Doll - Keyboard / Trombone

Joe Doll is best known around the Bay Area for his trombone performances with swing and dixieland bands. He is enjoying branching out to keyboard, and his new found freedom to play more than one note at a time.

Toni Fisher - - Vocalist

Toni is one of the newest members of 'A Taste Of Jazz'  Born and raised in Montana she now resides on the peninsula.  She has sung her way through life, from ensemble work, to background vocals, harmony tracks on CD's. musicals and solo work. 

She has now been singing with 'The Guys' for over a year and is having a great time.  She states 'These guys have tons of talent and hundreds ofyears of experience, it is a privilege to be their vocalist!'

Toni has her favorite vocalists in the world of jazz and of course two of them are the early greats, Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan.

Bob Griffith - Trumpet / Flugelhorn

Robert Griffith started music with Trumpet at age 8, and by age 16 played Saxophone and Trumpet in Rock and Roll bands in Silicon Valley. Bob continued his music untill age 22 when he "hung up the horns" to raise a family as an Electronic Engineer. Bob picked up the horns again about 8 years ago and has been playing and studying Jazz composition ever since.

Favorite Trumpet Players include:

• Bobby Hackett
• Chris Botti
• Rick Braun
• Clifford Brown

Mike Kernaghan - Drums / Percussion

Mike has played drums since 6th grade, almost 100 years ago!  During this time he has played a wide variety of styles from rock/funk to concert to marching to big band to Dixie to Christian to jazz. 

 He admires many fantastic drummers, starting with:

• Dave Garibaldi
• Simon Phillips
• Buddy Rich, and many more.

He believes the role of the drummer is to provide the backbone of the music upon which the others can hang their personal styles, and that he should be joined at the hip to the bass

Tom Martin - Alto Sax

Tom studied 8 years at the Chicago School of Music during the swing/bob era.  His most early jazz influences were Paul Desmond and Gerry Mulligan, later joined by Lee Konitz, Art Pepper, and Stan Getz.

His first professional exposure began in 1954 in a trio setting.  In the early '60s he could be found at his regular gigs at the Linda Mar Lounge in Pacifica and the Firehouse in Daly City.  He also appeared at numerous jam sessions at various San Francisco peninsula nightclubs.  Since then he has performed in various group settings from trios to septets and has been a regular member of  "A Taste Of Jazz" throughout its evolution of identities and group membership since 1987.

Harry Muttart - Jazz Guitar

Harry Muttart started his musical journey on alto saxophone at age 12 and discovered guitar a few years later. His early guitar influences included Jimmy Raney, Wes Montgomery, Charlie Byrd, and Howard Roberts. The saxophone players who shaped his musical sensibilities included:

• Stan Getz
• Paul Desmond
• Stanley Turrentine
• John Klemmer.

He has played in rock, dance, and big bands and is currently playing contemporary worship music and with “A Taste of Jazz”. He has studied guitar with Rick Vandivier, Andre Bush, Mimi Fox, Tuck Andress, Ricardo Peixoto, and Danny Caron.

Joe Quintal - Bass

Joe Quintal Playing Double Bass again (hopefully the sequel is better) in jazzband and concertbands.  The first block of time was for 7 years through high school and college.  I had studied with Merlin Escott, Dr Krolick, and Dr Lucas Drew in college.  I then stopped playing, but still enjoyed listening. My son got me to start playing again. I currently have played with the San Jose Metro Band since 2005, and have played with A Taste Of Jazz for a year. Our family has been in the Bay Area for over 25 years I have worked in electronics/software design, teaching, and application engineering.

My Favorite bass artists;

• Gary Karr
• Ray Brown
• John Patitucci
• Jimmy Johnson
• Kristen Korb

Other interests are:

• amateur audio recording
• speaker building.

Kris Stephens - Keyboards

BA Music, Humboldt Status University, 1975.  I've played small group  jazz since the late '60s and with guitarist Harry Muttart since the  late '70s. 

I'm amazed at the piano playing of Art Tatum, Herby  Hancock, Chick Corea, and McCoy Tyner. 

I am a past classical brass  player in ensembles and orchestras and was the conductor of the 
Gabrieli Brass Ensemble for five years in the '90s

Sunday Jazz at the Palo Alto Elk's Club (South Bay Traditional Jazz Society)

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