Roy Guzman Quintet

The Roy Guzman Quintet was formed by five of the finest, young creative musicians from Berklee College of Music, who together share the necessity to give, explore, learn, and present their view of jazz improvisation and art through composing and playing new music. Guitarist and composer Roy Guzman Rodriguez is a twenty-one year old guitarist and composer from Cupey, Puerto Rico. He began playing popular Latin guitar at the age of eight, followed by studies of classical guitar in the conservatory. At age 13, influenced by sounds of Latin jazz present in Puerto Rico, he began to study jazz. Since age 16, Roy has been a part of the growing jazz scene in San Juan’s metropolitan area.

The Roy Guzman Quintet was formed by five of the finest, young creative musicians from Berklee College of Music, who together share the necessity to give, explore, learn, and present their view of jazz improvisation and art through composing and playing new music.

Guitarist and composer Roy Guzman Rodriguez is a twenty-one year old guitarist and composer from Cupey, Puerto Rico. He began playing popular Latin guitar at the age of eight, followed by studies of classical guitar in the conservatory. At age 13, influenced by sounds of Latin jazz present in Puerto Rico, he began to study jazz. Since age 16, Roy has been a part of the growing jazz scene in San Juan’s metropolitan area. Has released two albums with his previous group, Orbits Quintet, “12-6-5” (Fall 2005) and “Desahogo” (October 2008). The group attended jazz seminars at the Banff Centre of the Arts in Canada with full scholarship support provided by Dave Douglas, Miguel Zenon and the Banff Centre. Other performances include Heineken Jazz Fest, Carolina Jazz Fest, San Juan Jazz Fest and Xalapa Jazz Fest. Roy currently attending Berklee College thanks to a scholarship merit received at the Berklee in Puerto Rico Summer Program. His teachers include Hal Crook, Mick Goodrick, Tim Miller, Dave Santoro, Dave Tronzo and Greg Osby.

Having played trumpet since the age of nine, Berkeley, California native Billy Buss has received numerous awards, including the Berklee College of Music’s full-tuition Jimmy Lyons Scholarship, two Outstanding Performance/Soloist awards from the Down Beat Student Music Awards, as well as the Gold Award in Jazz from the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts and recognition from the White House as a 2006 Presidential Scholar in the Arts. His endeavors have allowed him the opportunity to perform at the Monterey, Umbria, Montreal, Montreux and JVC Jazz Festivals; the Dubrovnik Summer Music Festival in Croatia; numerous festivals in Japan; and a variety of small clubs in New York. Billy is currently in his third year at Berklee College of Music, where he has played in a variety of ensembles, including the Berklee Rainbow Band under the direction of Phil Wilson, the Joe Lovano Octet and the Dave Santoro Berklee Scholarship Jazz Ensemble. Currently, Billy plays in the Terri Lyne Carrington Ensemble and Greg Hopkins Berklee Concert Jazz Orchestra.

Since his first concert appearance at the Varsity Theater at Louisiana State University at the age of two as a guest drummer with his guitarist father, Mark Whitfield Jr. has made appearances on Good Morning America, CNN Lifestyle and CBS Sunday Morning. Mark studied drums and bassoon as part of the Jersey City University Visual and Performing Arts Program where he performed with the main ensemble in the fall of 2005 at a major jazz festival in Berlin, Germany. He has performed with his father's group in several venues in New York City including the Iridium as part of the JVC Jazz Festival, and occasional appearances at Smoke Jazz Club. Other appearances include the Newport Jazz Festival, opening for Peter Cincotti and Chris Botti. Most recently, Mark participated in Betty Carter’s “Jazz Ahead” program at the Kennedy Center under the direction of Dr. Billy Taylor and Dr. Nathan Davis.

Michael Sachs, from Los Angeles, started out playing clarinet when he was six years old. He switched to saxophone in the 9th grade, when his high school jazz band needed an alto player. He has studied privately and on an instructive ensemble basis with saxophonist Lee Secard throughout his elementary and high school career as a musician-to-be. He now attends Berklee on a full tuition scholarship, and hopes to become a professional musician.

Greg Chaplin began studying music at the age of seven, started performing regularly when he was 12, and has not stopped since. In February of 2007, Gregory was selected as the bassist for the Gibson/Baldwin Grammy Jazz Combo, where he played with Phil Woods, James Moody, Tom Scott, Patti Austin, and, in 2008, with Eric Marienthal, Christian Scott, and McCoy Tyner. He has performed original music at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, Ravinia Park in Illinois and IAJE in Toronto. Some of Greg’s teachers through his young career include Winard Harper, George Cables, Carmen Lundy, Nathan Davis, Chip Jackson, Curtis Fuller, and Dr. Billy Taylor, James Moody, David Baker, Nathan Davis, and Billy Childs. Greg was a part of the five-week Berklee Summer Jazz Workshop 2007, where he worked with Rick DiMuzio and Terri Lyne Carrington. Greg is a Berklee full scholarship recipient.

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6/11/09: Roy Guzman Quintet

The band was formed by five of the finest and most creative jazz musicians from Berklee College of Music: guitarist/composer Roy Guzman Rodriguez, trumpeter Billy Buss, drummer Mark Whitfield Jr., saxophonist Michael Sachs, and bassist Greg Chaplin.

Roy Guzman Quintet

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