Trumpet player Tom Tange’s interest in music began early on playing trumpet in his high school band in southern Minnesota and playing keyboards and trumpet with various R&B groups. Musical influences include Miles Davis, Clifford Brown, Art Farmer, Dave Douglas, John Scofield and piano players Herbie Hancock and Bill Evans. Tom has played a rather wide variety of gigs over the years beginning with a multiple award winning jazz ensemble in college, to working with blues legend Mojo Buford, and orchestral work with the legendary Four Tops. Tom has also played with many twin city area bands including: West Side, Free & Easy, Teen King, Uptown Manhattan, Stonewings House Band, Gangbusters, Big Walter Smith & the Groove Merchants, and currently with the Sam Kuusisto Band and Chicago tribute band Transit-Authority. Arranging and composition have always been a part of Tom’s musical endeavors. The Modal Operandi project has been in the works for the last two years, enjoy the music.
James Holdman, multi-instrumentalist, composer of jazz and chamber music. James performs a wide range of musical styles on guitar, mandolin family instruments, Greek bouzouki, percussion, etc. His compositions have been played by ensembles such as counter)induction (NYC), Duo46 (AZ), AMGO (RI), as well as local groups Zeitgeist, Jetsam Organic Ensemble, Minnesota Mandolin Orchestra, Minneapolis Trombone Choir, Mandragora, and others. James is currently pursuing a PhD in music composition at the University of Minnesota.
Drummer Pete Hennig moved to Minneapolis to attend McNally Smith over a decade ago, and has been one of the busiest drummers in town ever since. After graduating from McNally Smith, Hennig spent three years studying with Dave King of Happy Apple and the Bad Plus. Hennig has performed with Bernard Allison, The Sam Kuusisto Band, Debbie Duncan, Katie Gearty, Tickle Fight, Inspirado, New York based dancer Sarah Michelson and composer Matt Rocker, Patrick Harrison, Johnny Clueless, John Starkey, and many more.
Bassist Cody McKinney is a very in demand twin cities musician. He is a first call bass player for a variety of styles of music including jazz, funk, R&B, rock and blues. Performance credits include Dean McGraw, Jay Epstein, Bill Corruthers, Greg Schutte, Alicia Wiley, Tanner Taylor, Sophia Shorai and many many more. Cody attended Berklee College of Music in Boston. Along with his very busy playing schedule he still finds time to work as a teacher in music stores, schools, and his home studio.
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