BENNY AMON

Benny Amón’s relatively young career in jazz has established him as one of the most prominent early jazz drummers on the planet. In New Orleans, Benny has performed regularly at Preservation Hall, Snug Harbor Jazz Bistro, The Palm Court Jazz Cafe, and aboard the Steamboat Natchez. He has toured the United States, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Japan, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, and Sweden performing at jazz festivals and clubs including the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, the Monterey Jazz Festival, Festival international I LOVE JAZZ in Brazil, and the New Mexico Jazz Festival. Currently splitting his time between his native Bay Area & his adopted long term home of New Orleans, Benny continues to pursue opportunities to perform, teach, and record with world class musicians. Benny is currently a Teaching Artist with the Preservation Hall Foundation and the Jazz In Schools program at Jazz at Lincoln Center. In the Bay Area he regularly leads his own quartet, and works with a variety of bands.

STEVE PISTORIUS

Steve Pistorius has the distinction of being the only living New Orleanian who specializes in early Jazz piano. Whether playing solo or leading a band, he creates joyful and swinging renditions of oft-neglected rags, waltzes, marches, pop tunes, blues and stomps.

Love of the music turned into a lifetime profession in 1973. Steve answered an ad for a five nights a week gig, winning the spot by default as no one else showed up for the audition. Mentored and influenced since then by musicians like Neil Unterseher, Armand Hug, Jeanette Kimball, Morton Gunnar Larsen, Butch Thompson, Burt Bales, Don Ewell, Max Morath and Eubie Blake, Steve has developed his own unique piano style.

Steve’s career highlights include performing in Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Apollo Theatre, One Mo’ Time and the Pope’s Square in Belo Horizontes, Brazil. Steve has toured the South Pacific, Far East, Europe, Scandinavia, South America (including the Galapagos Islands) and the Middle East. He has toured with his own band and with notable bandleaders such as Duke Heitger, John Gill, Michael White, Orange Kellin, Banu Gibson, Mark Braud, Wendell Brunious, Hal Smith, Chris Tyle and Leon Redbone.