...the "other " '50's music...
To our knowledge, The Jazz Quartet DIG was the only group in the midwest to specialize in the music of the "Cool" era in jazz, in particular the type of jazz that sprang from the West Coast in the early 1950's. The 50's were an extraordinary time in American history: the "Beat" generation, baby boomers, backyard bomb shelters, early TV, medical and scientific breakthroughs; mostly a forward-looking, hopeful time. The Jazz Quartet DIG attempted to recreate not only the music of that era, but some of the ambiance as well.The Jazz Quartet DIG was a musical collective that was born in late 1994. Playing what they referred to as "the other 50's music" , their music is best described as " West Coast Cool" jazz. Performing a combination of cool jazz, standards, ballads, latin and hard bop (with some original tunes occasionally thrown in), these four creative musicians produced a sound quite unlike anything else you've heard before. The Jazz Quartet DIG consisted of Brad Curran on flugelhorn and trumpet, Dr. "Sandy" Schaefer on vibraphone, Dave Sullivan on acoustic-electric guitar, and John Sullivan on acoustic bass. Though drummerless, the group played with a drive and intensity that kept audiences' toes tapping without being overpowering. From the sounds of Chet Baker, to Benny Golson, to the Modern Jazz Quartet, to Miles Davis, The Jazz Quartet DIG presented a varied program of jazz that delights listeners wherever they performed.
Besides being performers of the highest quality, the members of The Jazz Quartet DIG are all excellent teachers, committed to sharing their knowledge and experience with others. Experienced as clinicians at workshops and jazz festivals, each of the musicians also teaches privately.
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The Jazz Quartet DIG at the Globe
Cafe and Bakery in Oshkosh.
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A Night in Tunisia
Bernie's Tune
Walkin' Shoes
Originally from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, Brad Curran is a B.M.E. graduate of the University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh . He began playing trumpet in the fourth grade and was playing gigs and arranging by age twelve. Since that time, he has had the good fortune to perform in a variety of musical settings ranging from classical to jazz to pop/rock including appearances with jazz stars Clark Terry, Dizzy Gillespie, Med Flory, Conte Candoli and Buddy DeFranco. Other diverse credits include the Temptations, the Inkspots, the Jan Garber Orchestra, the Miss Wisconsin Pagaent Orchestra, various symphony orchestras, wind ensembles, brass ensembles and numerous recording sessions. Curran was the musical arranger for the Miss Wisconsin Pageant for four years, as well as writing for school bands, jazz bands, dance bands, drum and bugle corps shows, solo trumpet and commercial music. He has taught trumpet students at all levels and founded the annual Jazz Workshop associated with the Fond du Lac Jazz Festival.
Curran has studied with Jan Jacobi, Paul Smoker, Allen Butcher, Robert Levy, John Harmon, Bobby Shew, and Clark Terry among others .
At the present time Brad Curran teaches in two schools in Neenah-Menasha, plays principal trumpet with the Oshkosh Brass Quintet , is a featured jazz soloist with the 18 piece Appleton-based Big Band Reunion , leads the jazz quartet DIG , and leads one of the Green Bay Packers "Tailgaters" bands. In addition to free-lance performance, arranging and recording work with a number of midwest bands, he also maintains a busy private teaching studio sisting of anywhere from 12 to 20 students.E-mail: jazztrp@curranmusic.com
Dave Sullivan was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas and began playing the guitar in his early teens. Since that beginning, he has played professionally for more than 40 years.
Dave had virtually no formal study, having no more than four or five private lessons during his career. His learning has come from playing with friends and acquaintances in clubs, recording sessions, concert performances, etc. However, one instructional highlight during Dave's career was a private lesson he had with the late Jazz guitar virtuoso, Joe Pass, at his home in Van Nuys, California.
Dave's gigs have included a wide variety of club dates, shows , dances, weddings, receptions, birthday parties, anniversary celebrations, grand openings, picnics, bar mitzvahs, parades, boat cruises, etc. His experience has included playing in some rather memorable settings: aboard the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise; on flat bed trucks and trailers; on a large tour bus en route from Chicago, IL to Kohler, WI; in San Quentin State Prison for the inmates; on a movie set at Universal Studios as well as in large hotel showrooms backing or performing with well known entertainers of different eras (the Elvis Presley Show, Louis Jordan and The Timpani Five, Herb Jeffries, Slim Gaillard and others).
The music he performs encompassess many different styles, including country, rock, jazz, and classical. Gigs in the earlier years of Dave's career, took him across a wide geographic area of the United States, from Florida and Texas to Alaska, from California to New York. In more recent years, gigs have been closer to Sheboygan, WI, where Dave now resides.
Dave's teaching began late in his career when he moved to Sheboygan in 1971, learning to read music by staying a lesson or two ahead of his students. Since that time, he has given private lessons at three music stores, Sheboygan's UW Center, Fox Vallev UW Center and Lawrence University. He has taught guitar master classes at Lawrence during Jazz Weekends and at UW-Green Bay Summer Jazz Camps.
Dave's Big Band experiences include performances with: The LUJE (Lawrence University Jazz Ensemble), the New London, Plymouth, New Holstein, and Sheboygan South High School Jazz Bands; the big bands of Kurt Dietrich, Pat Phalen, Ray Wifler, Howard Schneider, and the Lakeshore All Star and Swingtime Big Bands.
Currently, Dave free lances, playing with many local groups, bands and musicians in the Fox Cities, Fond du Lac, and Green Bay areas.
G.W. Sandy Schaefer -D.M.A., M.M., B.S., has been Director of Jazz Studies and Commercial Music at Chadron State College since 1999 and formerly taught at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, California State University Fresno, Glendale Community College, Arizona State University (F.A.), and also at the University of Wyoming. He received a D.M.A. in Solo Performance from Arizona State University in 1994, a M.M. in Performance from the University of Colorado in 1975, and a B.S. in Music Education from Indiana State University in 1970. Between the B.S. and the M.M. He was a percussionist in the N.O.R.A.D. Band in Colorado Springs, CO (they represented the N.O.R.A.D. Command by performing 250-300 concerts per year all over the United States and Canada); at the time the N.O.R.A.D. Band was the world's only two-nation military band..
He is a performing musician in both the "classical" style and in jazz. He was Principle Percussion with the Oshkosh Symphony Orchestra, The Green Lake Festival Orchestra, the Fresno Philharmonic, and founder of the The Fox Valley Percussion Group. He has performed in many styles of jazz, most recently West Coast Cool with the The Jazz Quartet Dig , and Benny Goodman-style small group swing with Le Jazz Hot often performing on Sunset Concert Cruises . In August 1997, his rock history text, Here To Stay: Rock and Roll Through the 1970s was published by Gila Publishers and is being used both at UW Oshkosh and Arizona State University. His drum set method A Students Guide to the Drum Set is published by IMP and is available from Steve Weiss Music. He has presented research at the 1997 Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC), the 1998 Annual Conference of the Sonneck Society, the 1999 Annual Conference of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music (IASPM-Canada), and the 1997 International Symposium The Music of Japan Today. Additionally, he has two articles (Jan and Dean, Sam Cooke) in the 1999 Popular Musicians by Salem Press, and several marimba ensemble transcriptions published by Permus.
When he lived in larger urban areas he performed with: Henry Mancini, Cleo Laine, Ben Vareen, the Temptations, Roger Williams, Milton Berle, Hal Linden, Bobby Vinton, Ice Capades, Temptations, Ben Vareen, Rita Moreno, Melissa Manchester, Suzanne Somers, Connie Stevens, Lennon Sisters, and the Ebony Fashion Show
Even though he is a Dr. he still says "man" alot.E-mail: sschaefer@csc.edu
John Sullivan is currently a freelance musician in
the NYC area, working with such jazz luminaries as Joanne Brackeen and Roy
Haynes. John studied at the Lawrence Conservatory of Music, the New England
School of Music, and was the winner of the Thelonious Monk Competition on
bass. Experienced beyond his years, John was the bass player for the Wisconsin
State Honors Jazz Band in his junior and senior years of high school. While
in high school he also performed as a member of the University of Wisconsin
- Milwaukee symphony. John has had the good fortune to study with bass legends
Ray Brown, Cecil McBee and the new bass phenomenon Christian McBride. John
is the son of DIG guitarist Dave Sullivan.
For information about booking a performance,Meet the other Jazz Quartet DIG Guests
E-mail: jazztrp@curranmusic.com