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Seven renowned musicians who love Jazz, have played it all their lives, and who love playing for people and making their events into parties.
 Brian Choper – Drums & Percussion -
Band Manager
Drummer Brian Choper, Just Jazz Band's Manager, is a versatile musician, experienced in Rock, Jazz, Blues, Swing, Ragtime, Klezmer and musical theatre. His music career began at the prestigious Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Maryland, in whose elite music program he performed with the Jazz band, concert band and symphony orchestras. These ensembles traveled and won numerous awards in competition both domestically and abroad. In 1983, Brian won first prize at the Vienna International Music Festival Competition for classical timpani. While in college, he studied with Marshall Maley, renowned drummer /percussionist, head of Percussive Arts Society who resides in Virginia. From 1983 to 1985 Brian studied with the late legendary drummer Buddy Rich. From 1985 through 1999, he freelanced, playing Rock, Blues, Swing, Jazz and Folk with various bands. In 1990 he joined Nexus, a highly respected local Rock band.
Since 2001, while still with Nexus, he has put most of his focus on his two primary band projects: the Kol Haruach Klezmer Band and Just Jazz.
Both groups have recorded for the Entertainment Connection label.
Victor Dvoskin - Bass
Victor Dvoskin first gained popularity in the former USSR in the early  seventies. He played for nine years with Allegro, a jazz combo led by Nikolai Levinovski. Soviet jazz critics considered him the number-one bass player of the eighties. He eventually formed his own group, The Victor Dvoskin Quartet, which appeared at the 1990 Grenoble Jazz Festival. The group's first performance was issued on compact disc by the French jazz label Thelonius, and it helped earn Victor three stars in the Penguin Guide to Jazz. In 1991, Victor first came to Washington DC as a part of the Russian/American Jazz Quartet, Jazznost. Other members included Sergei Gurbeloshvili (tenor sax), Louis Scherr (piano) and Tony Martucci (drums). The group's first compact disk, "Joint Venture" was released on Timeless Records. These musicians joined by Gary Burton (vibes), Ryan Kisor (trumpet), Don Alias (percussion), Igor Butman (sax), Paul Bollenback (guitar) recently came together to record again as Partners In Time. The result was the chart climbing CD release "Equinost".
 Fred Jacobowitz - Woodwinds
A native Brooklynite, Fred received his Bachelors and Masters degrees from the Juilliard School, where he studied with the late Leon Russianoff. ( His advanced degrees are from the School Of Hard Knocks.) He made his New York Debut at Carnegie Recital Hall (now Weill Hall) as winner of the Artists International Competition. Some of his awards include the Montpelier Cultural Arts Center Recital Contest, Montpelier, MD (1988); the Guggenheim Concerts Band Performance Award, New York City (1981); the Milton Kahn Memorial Concerto Competition, Westchester, NY (1979). Fred has performed throughout the US and Canada with his duo Ebony and Ivory . A well-known Klezmer player, he has performed in Israel, made 5 recordings and he is at home in Eastern European/Balkan folk music. A 'Jazzer" since age 11, Fred's first influence was Benny Goodman and he plays a 'mean' Old New Orleans style clarinet (think Sydney Bichet...). A fond memory of his is trading solos with noted Jazz clarinetist Sol Yaged at age 16. Jacobowitz is presently Principal Clarinetist in the Annapolis (Maryland) Symphony Orchestra and teaches and free-lances in the Raleigh, NC area.
 Greg Twombley - Saxophone-Flute-Clarinet
Of the Washington , DC areas most in-demand woodwind artists, Greg Twombley ranks highest. His training includes a Master of Music degree, with studies at the Eastman School of Music, and private study with Eddie Daniels, Ramon Ricker, Dick Oatts and Rayburn Wright. His performance credits include Dizzy Gillespie, Louie Bellson, Clark Terry, Jim Pugh and with many celebrities including Natalie Cole, Maureen McGovern, Bob Hope, Steve Allen, George Burns, et al. Greg was invited to perform at The White House in honor of the 25 th Anniversary of Wolf Trap, at the State Department for the Secretary of State, frequently for the Wolf Trap Board of Directors, and for many visiting world leaders to our nation's capitol. He has performed for members of Congress and for many of our nation's senior military leaders. He has recorded with numerous musicians including a recent jazz composition project for Maestro Lorin Maazel, conductor of the New York Philharmonic. He has performed in concert for many arts organizations including Conversations at Oatlands , Virginia , Strathmore Hall , Maryland , Emmaus Guest Artist Series, Virginia , the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Georgetown University , and the Smithsonian, Washington , DC . Greg performs frequently throughout the East Coast and across the country.
Greg has distinguished himself as an award-winning music educator. He has performed across the country as an artist/clinician for school groups. Greg is the two-time recipient of the Virginia Governor's Outstanding Music Educator Award in 1997 and 2001, and is a featured artist/educator sponsored by the Virginia Commission for the Arts, Georgetown University , and is a participant in the Kennedy Center 's Artist/Educator program. He has been featured as a Jazz performer/lecturer for many national and international corporate events, has been commissioned to produce a 4 CD-ROM on the History of Jazz, and has been appointed the coordinator and leader of a music mentoring program for the New York City Public Schools.
Harry Appleman – Piano & Keyboard
Harry Appelman, who participated in a tour of South and Central America as part of the U.S. State Department's 2002 Jazz Ambassadors program, has toured the United States and Canada with the Woody Herman Orchestra (under the direction of Frank Tiberi) and the Artie Shaw Orchestra (under the direction of Dick Johnson). He was a finalist in both the 1987 and 1988 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competitions (finishing second in 1988) and one of three prizewinners in the 1989 Great American Jazz Piano Competition.
Mr. Appelman was named in Washingtonian magazine's February 2003 "Great Music" issue, in their list of Washington, D.C. area's best jazz artists. He currently performs in the area at Blues Alley, the Millenium Stage at the Kennedy Center, Wolf Trap, Twins, and other popular jazz venues. Appelman has performed in groups led by Gary Thomas, George Garzone, Valery Ponomarev, Brian Lynch, Don Braden, Vincent Herring, Jack Wilkins and Walt Weiskopf, among others, and plays frequently with Palmetto recording artists Rumba Club. He has also resided and performed in Boston and New York City -- where he played with numerous creative and respected groups, ranging from trumpeter Scott Wendholt's quartet to vocalist Dakota Staton's trio.
A native of the Chicago area, Appelman began his classical music training in the first grade, later turning to the fusion and rock idioms and ultimately to jazz. After graduating with a B.A. in Economics from the University of Illinois -- where he was honored as a Phi Beta Kappa and Summa Cum Laude -- he went on to earn a Master of Music degree with Distinction from the New England Conservatory. His post-graduate music studies have included work with Jim McNeely, Fred Hersch, Stanley Cowell, Tom McKinley, Sophia Rosoff and other brilliant pianist-teachers.
Vladimir Gamarnik – Violin
Vladimir Gamarnik is a brilliant violinist who has performed all over the world. He was born in Baku, Azerbaija, where he attended a special music school for talented children and received a Baccalaureate Degree from the Music Lyceum. He continued his studies at the Baku Academy of Music, where he was awarded the "Soloist and Teacher" degree.
Mr. Gamarnik spent the next twenty years in Baku as a member of the Academic Philharmonic Symphony, and also was the founder and conductor of the Young Musicians' String Ensemble. He also spent six months performing and recording with the Moscow Radio/TV Pops Orchestra. Mr. Gamarnik left Baku in 1989 and traveled throughout Europe performing ethnic music. In 1990 he immigrated to the United States, where he quickly established a reputation as one of the country's outstanding ethnic violinists. He has appeared as a featured performer on several occasions at the Kennedy Center of the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, and other concerts and folk festivals, including the 1993 International Klezmer Festival in Israel, the 1997 Lowell, MA Folk Festival, the 1998 National Folk Festival in Dayton, OH, and the 1999 Atlanta Jewish Festival. In the spring of 2001 he performed as violin soloist and led master classes in Germany and in Paris, France.
Meryl Cullom - Vocalist
Meryl was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. She has performed all over the world as a singer and actress in regional theatres, on cruise ships and in Tokyo Disneyland. She was a featured soloist with the Pensacola Symphony and currently performs with Doc Scantlin and His Imperial Palms as well as the brilliantly talented Just Jazz Band.
 Julie Stacy - Vocalist
Julie Stacy came onto the Washington scene in the late 1980s as the lead singer for Doc Scantlin & His Imperial Palms Orchestra where she came to be known as "The Lovely Miss Julie."
During the course of her career Julie has performed for a number of high caliber events including: the secret wedding of Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece and Marie Chantal Miller held in St. Albans, England; The New York Library's Centennial Celebration; the grand re-opening of the legendary Rainbow Room in New York City; and the Culinary Olympics in Frankfurt, Germany.
Julie is in constant demand to perform at public and private events. She has the versatility to play with groups ranging from jazz duos, trios and quartets; to 6-8 piece ensembles; up to 14-piece big bands. You can also request her services as a classical soloist for weddings, funerals and corporate events.
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