Muse All-Stars

Muse All-Stars perform at 1:30pm at Muse

Muse All Stars: This all-star band is made up of artists who are highly respected
jazz artists in their own right, who have been an integral part of the Muse, and who
just love to play together!

Clare Church:
Clare played her very first gigs with Tony Bennett, the Temptations and the Four Tops.
In her 30-plus years as a professional musician, she has performed all different styles
and genres of music. On the jazz side, she was a regular with the Joe Henderson Big
Band,and performed with Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Carter, Nancy Wilson, Mel Torme, Doc
Severinsen, and many more. A versatile musician, she also could be heard in the pit
orchestras of the Buell, Arvada Center, or Boulder Dinner Theater, as well as in the horn
sections of traveling artists such as Tito Puente Jr., Natalie Cole, The Temptations, the
Four Tops, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Frankie Vallee and the Four Seasons, etc. She
has been a member of the sax section of the Colorado Symphony, Philadelphia
Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Oakland Symphony, and the Boulder
Philharmonic. After a neurological condition ended her prolific sax career, she became a
drummer, and is now performing all over the Denver metro area, as well as at the Muse,
with jazz musicians from all over the Denver metro area. She is a sensitive, “music-first” drummer whose playing is informed and shaped by her years of experience as a
saxophonist.

Pete Lewis:
Pete is an Illinois native and has settled in the Denver area via Chicago, Portland, and
Oakland. He has arranged and composed music for jazz combos, concert bands, sax
quartets and big bands, including his creation, the Colorado Composers’ Big Band. He
has performed with the Joe Henderson Big Band, Natalie Cole, Tony Bennett, the Four
Tops, the Temptations, Linda Ronstadt, Ben Folds Five, the Colorado Symphony and
the Philadelphia Orchestra, among others. Pete is a regular with big bands and small
groups throughout the Denver metro area, as both a performer and a
composer/arranger. Pete has also released three jazz CDs: Expeditions by the
Lewis/Church Quintet and King of Hearts from his jazz fusion ensemble, Polarity and
I’ll Fly Away with the Expeditions Quintet featuring Clare Church on drums. Pete
co-founded and runs the Muse Performance Space, where he can be heard regularly
with some of the best jazz musicians on the Denver scene.

Gabe Mervine:
At a time in music where history and originality never seem to go hand in hand, Gabriel
Mervine takes steps every time he picks up his trumpet to bring these two closer
together. With a musical upbringing, Gabriel has deeply rooted himself in the traditions of Jazz and Classical music while at the same time contributing to the modern music
scene. He wishes to leave no stone unturned and no genre unexplored because in his
mind, all music has the power to make the artist who he/she is. Gabriel quickly gained
recognition and began performing with people such as Natalie Cole, Christian McBride,
The Colorado Symphony, The Temptations, Terence Blanchard, The WHO, Lettuce, Karl
Denson, John Scofield, Hugh Jackman, Lonnie Smith, Russell Malone, Maceo Parker,
Fred Wesley, Roberta Gambarini, the Motet, and Houston Person while also building a
strong freelance career playing everything from Mariachi to Mahler.

Peter Stoltzman:
Pianist and educator Peter John Stoltzman has worked at the highest levels of the
industry in virtually every style—recording contemporary classical music, headlining
jazz festivals, making hip hop tracks at Warner Bros, and accompanying songwriters. In
2020, Peter founded Colorado Music Bridge, a nonprofit dedicated to modern music
education and mentorship. He has a doctorate in Music and Human Learning from UT
Austin, and degrees from Berklee and New England Conservatory. Peter’s purpose is to
be an access broker—building inclusive structures that support musicians in their
careers and spread the joy of teaching, learning, and creating music.

Greg Gisbert:
Originally from Denver, free-lance trumpeter, Greg Gisbert, has firmly established
himself as one of the most sought-after and well-respected artists in jazz today. He has
recorded and performed with jazz greats including Buddy Rich, Woody Herman, Clark
Terry, Horace Silver, Maynard Ferguson, Bobby Shew, John Fedchock, Harry Connick
Jr., Jim McNeely, Toshiko Akiyoshi, and Nancy Wilson. He is one of the founding
members of the group Convergence, as well as the founder of the Greg Gisbert
Syndicate, both based in Denver. Gisbert is a frequent invited guest with an array of
ensembles, including the Maria Schneider and Vanguard Jazz Orchestras, the
Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, and Dizzy Gillespie
All-Star Big Band. A gifted and generous educator, Gisbert has served on the faculty at
the University of Miami, Colorado Conservatory for the Jazz Arts, University of Denver,
Manhattan School of Music and Juilliard School of Music, and he is the new Artist
Faculty in Residence at the University of Northern Colorado starting in the Fall of 2017.

Gonzalo Teppa:
Venezuelan bassist Gonzalo Teppa presents his quintet performing a collection of his
compositions that draw from the musical wells of contemporary jazz, Latin American
music (Venezuelan, Brazilian and Afro-Cuban) blues, free jazz and more. Gonzalo is a
Nocturne Artist in Residency alumni and recently released his debut quintet recording
(featuring this band) to much acclaim. Teppa obtained his Bachelor of Music and Master
in Jazz Studies degrees at The University of Colorado. Teppa has performed with: Wynton Marsalis, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Matt Wilson, Ed Simon,
Chris Potter, Tom Harrell, Bobby Shew, Ron Miles, Art Lande, Slide Hampton, Don
Byron, Jeremy Pelt, Ben Goldberg, among others.