Faculty

Mark Beaubriand – Academic Advisor and Saxophone
A graduate of the University of Miami with a Master’s degree in Jazz Pedagogy, Mark Beaubriand is currently the Chair of the Music Department and Director of Band and Jazz Band at Saratoga Springs High School. Under his direction, the Saratoga Springs High School Jazz Ensemble has won many NY State and national awards and has commissioned works by Frank Mantooth, Jeff Jarvis, and Jim Snidero. Beaubriand is a frequent performer in the northeast and has appeared with Manhattan Transfer, New York Voices, Johnny Mathis, Aretha Franklin, Natalie Cole, Rosemary Clooney, Liberace, and Bobby Vinton.

Clayton Cameron – Drums
Known for his contemporary brushwork technique, Clayton Cameron has performed with a dynamic range of artists that includes jazz greats George Shearing, Joe Pass and Joe Williams.  In 1993 he began a six-year tour with Tony Bennett that led to recording six albums with Bennett, five of which received Grammy Awards, including the 1994 Album of the Year, Tony Bennett Unplugged (the first time a live album had won the award).  In addition, he has played with Billy Joel, Sting, Mariah Carey, Elvis Costello and James Taylor.  A graduate of California State University at Northridge, Cameron creates his own instruments and tools and is the author of “Brushworks” and the instructional video “The Living Art of Brushes”.

Todd Coolman – Bass and Combo Leader
A Grammy award winner who teamed with Joe Henderson on the CD Lexicon, Coolman has performed and recorded with a who’s who of jazz artists: Horace Silver, Gerry Mulligan, Stan Getz, Renee Rosnes, Benny Golson, Art Farmer, Tommy Flanagan, Lionel Hampton, Benny Goodman, James Moody, Ahmad Jamal, and Slide Hampton. As Director of Jazz Studies at SUNY Purchase, with a Ph.D. in music from New York University, Coolman works worldwide as a clinician and lecturer. He is a recipient of the State University of New York Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Bill Cunliffe – Piano and Combo Leader
DownBeat award-winner and graduate of the Eastman School of Music, Bill Cunliffe has performed with jazz greats Buddy Rich, Ray Brown, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Art Farmer, Woody Shaw and James Moody among others. Since winning the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Award in 1989, his compositions have been nominated for a Grammy and Emmy Award, and most recently have been played by the New Zealand School of Music Symphony Orchestra, the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, and the Illinois Philharmonic. In addition to his own projects, Cunliffe plays with the Clayton Brothers Quintet and with flutist Holly Hofmann. He teaches at the Henry Mancini Institute. 

Jack Fragomeni  - Guitar
Guitarist Jack Fragomeni has been playing and teaching guitar for over 25 years.  He has performed with Nick Brignola, Don Friedman, Lee Konitz, Eddie Gomez, and Steve LaSpina, among others.  He has been a featured soloist with the Albany Symphony Orchestra, Woody Herman Band, Syracuse Symphony Orchestra and at numerous jazz festivals.  A respected lecturer, with a Masters in Jazz Studies/Music Composition, Fragomeni is currently on the faculties of the College of St. Rose and the University at Albany.

Curtis Fuller – Trombone and Combo Leader
A legendary jazz artist, Fuller began his career in the early 1950s in a Cannonball Adderley-led army band, as a Bud Powell sideman, and a contributor to John Coltrane’s classic “Blue Train.” He then joined the Art Farmer-Benny Golson Jazztet; spent five years with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, one of the most exciting and distinctive bands in the history of hard bop; and launched a freelance career that has included touring with Dizzy Gillespie. Fuller has worked with many jazz greats, including Miles Davis, Freddie Hubbard, Wayne Shorter, and of course Bud Powell. In 2007 the National Endowment for the Arts designated Fuller a Jazz Master.

Bob Halek - Drums
Educated at the Crane School of Music, drummer Bob Halek has performed and recorded with a variety of artists including Nick Brignola, JR Montross, Cole Broderick and Colleen Pratt.  Adept at playing a range of styles including R&B, Pop, and Latin in both big band and small ensembles, Halek’s credits include performances with Slide Hampton, Byron Stripling, Rufus Reid, Jimmy Health, Wycliffe Gordon and Randy Brecker among others.  A member of the Empire State Jazz Orchestra, Halek is also a respected clinician across the northeast. 

John LaBarbera – Trumpet, Composition and Combo Leader
A respected composer and arranger whose works have been recorded and performed by the bands of Woody Herman, Count Basie, and Dizzy Gillespie, LaBarbera got his start in the late 1960s as a trumpeter in the Buddy Rich Orchestra. Later, as co-producer and arranger of Christmas recordings for the Glenn Miller Orchestra, he helped land Gold and Platinum records. LaBarbera is co-founder of the internationally acclaimed, all-women big band DIVA. A two-time recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts’ jazz composition award, he is a former editor of the International Trumpt Guild, and is currently a professor at the University of Louisville.

Pat LaBarbera – Saxophone and Combo Leader
One of the finest sax soloists carrying on in the Coltrane improvisational style, LaBarbera established himself as tenor soloist with the bands of Buddy Rich, Louie Bellson, and Woody Herman, and had a long association with Elvin Jones. Boasting more than 20 albums and many TV and radio show appearances, LaBarbera received a Juno award for his CD Deep in a Dream. The Humber College instructor maintains an active performing schedule and is in demand as a clinician and lecturer.

Dennis Mackrel – Drums
Drummer Dennis Mackrel began playing drums at the early age of two before becoming a professional musician at the age of ten.  Not long after moving to New York City when he was 19, Mackrel began a four-year stint with the Count Basie Orchestra on the recommendation of Joe Williams.  He has toured extensively with the Carla Bley Very Large Band, Slide Hampton and the Jazz Masters, the Dizzy Gillespie Alumni Band, the Manhattan Symphony Jazz Orchestra, the Hank Jones Trio, Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra and the American Jazz Orchestra.  His compositions and arrangements have been recorded and performed internationally, most notably by the McCoy Tyner Band, whose Grammy-award winning CD’s The Turning Point and Journey included Mackrel’s arrangements. 

Donald McCormack – Director
As Dean of Special Programs at Skidmore College, Don McCormack founded the Skidmore Jazz Institute in 1987. Under McCormack’s 20-year tenure as Dean, the College offered nationally recognized programs in the arts, among them the NYS Summer Writers Institute, Skidmore Summer Dance Workshop, Skidmore Summer Flute Institute, SITI Company Summer Theater Workshop and the Summer SIX Art Program. A long-time advocate for arts education, McCormack has been the inspiration and the impetus for creating artistic residencies and scholarship funds that serve disadvantaged students. Currently he serves on the Board of Directors at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center.

Hal Miller – Jazz History
Having collected in excess of 6,000 jazz videos, Miller contributes frequently to TV documentaries and special programs. His ”Jazz Heritage“ series was shown on Black Entertainment Television, and he collaborated with Ken Burns on the PBS documentary, “Jazz: A History of America’s Music.” One of this Latin percussionist’s performance highlights was a tour with the Carlos Santana-Wayne Shorter Band. Miller is also a writing and research consultant for jazz history and CD liner-note projects.

Bobby Shew – Trumpet and Combo Leader
Grammy nominee Bobby Shew got an early start to his professional career playing in high school and spending three years in the famed NORAD multi-service band. He then joined the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra and went on to play with Charlie Shavers, Della Reese, Buddy Rich, Art Pepper, Bud Shank, Horace Silver, Louie Bellson and Benny Goodman among others. His studio credits for tv include Hawaii 5-0, Streets of San Francisco, Bob Newhart, Happy Days, and Mary Tyler Moore and he has performed on the soundtracks for Grease I and II, Rocky I and II, and Taxi. In addition to being a busy clinician and private teacher, he is a successful recording artist in his own right. Shew is active on the board of Directors of the International Trumpet Guild and has served as Trumpet Chairman of the International Association of Jazz Educators for the last 16 years.

Gerald Zaffuts – Program Consultant and Combo Leader
Gerald Zaffuts was the Director of the Skidmore Jazz Institute from 1987-2007. A graduate of the University of Northern Colorado, Zaffuts has taught at Bennington College and Skidmore College. Mr. Zaffuts was principle trombone with the Colorado Fusion Orchestra under the direction of Pat Williams and has performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, The Bach Choir of London, and at the Newport and Kool Jazz Festivals. He is a regular member of the New Columbian Brass Band and The New Walnut Street All-Star Orchestra, and as a free-lance musician has performed with a wide variety of recording artists and entertainers. Additionally he is associated with Dorian Recordings, Ltd. as a post-session producer. Mr. Zaffuts is currently Director of Bands at Averill Park High School, Averill Park, NY, is listed in Who's Who Among America High School Teachers, and has twice been selected as a Capital Region Outstanding Teacher.

Past Faculty Members:

2008 Guest Artists:

Terence Blanchard

Arturo O'Farrill

Aaron Parks

Past Guest Artists at the Institute have included: