band

matt kennedy - basses

matt began playing guitar at the age of twelve, then decided to switch to the bass to form a rock band with a friend of his at age fourteen. he soon decided that the bass was the instrument that fit him best. he realized that music was what he wanted to do in life while playing in the top rated upper st. clair high school jazz band, winning many superior ratings including an outstanding soloist award at the virginia beach music festival. after high school, matt attended duquesne university school of music and got his bachelor in music degree with and an emphasis in music technology. while at duquesne he studied under bassist jeff mangone. he still calls pittsburgh his home and teaches students along with playing out with four different bands (in four different styles of music) in the pittsburgh region (amanda ford, grave desire, the ian arthurs band, and the sakkio jazz masters). you can visit matt at www.mkbass.com

mark koch - guitars

mark is the assistant chair of the duquesne university guitar department, director of duquesne university's summer guitar and bass workshop and director of the student jazz guitar ensemble • he has studied with pat martino, appeared in the documentary 'pat martino', 'open road", was the musical supervisor of mel shapiro's 'the lay of the land', and the pittsburgh public theatre's 'the hairy ape', with max roach • mark is the administrative director of the gama/menc/namm, teaching guitar in the classroom workshops • he has opened for the yellowjackets, three dog night, gene bertoncini and michael moore, joe pass, barney kessel, tony bennett, john scofield, diane schurr, randy brecker, pat metheny, joshua redman, and delbert mcclinton • he also has accompanied a variety of artists including max roach, frank gambale, emily remler, tommy tedesco, jimmy bruno, howard alden, seymour duncan, steve dudas, johnny hiland, joe negri, bill warfield, little anthony, jerry vale, charo, frankie avalon, robert guillaume, peter noone, tommy roe, martha reeves, al martino, bobby rydell, gianna russo and lou christie.

billy kuhn - drums and percussion

a lifelong resident of pittsburgh, pa, billy kuhn began drumming at age 4, inspired by his soon-to-be brother in law, renowned drummer jim blakemore • jim and billy's sister, judy, introduced the lad to the wonderful world of music and musicians • playing professionally at age 13, billy attended pre-college music classes at carnegie mellon, and was a featured member of the pittsburgh youth symphony at 16 • billy played shows for milton berle, vicki carr, and the four coins, jazz with howard roberts, eric kloss, joe and bobby negri, and was a part of the early rock/fusion scene • after years on the road, billy set down family roots of his own in pittsburgh, and helped form the seminal bands 'on the corner' and the 'shadyside jazz quartet' • billy recorded on vinyl with kenny blake and max leake, taught percussion privately and at local school districts, and received a degree from penn state in biomedical engineering • as a senior engineer, he serviced and managed luminary accounts in hospitals nationwide, specializing in ct, mri, and other diagnostic imaging modalities • active as always in music, and following his heart, billy produced and played on bobby negri's cd, 'at last' • billy became a permanent member of catch 22 in 2001, performing live, on tv, and recorded with the ensemble on the cd's 'christmas at duquesne' and their latest release, 'sly on life' • he toured with catch 22 at concerts in bulgaria, jazz at the smithsonian, and jazz at lincoln center • billy is a clinician at duquesne's guitar and bass workshop, featured annually with world famous jazz artists jimmy bruno, sid jacobs, jack wilkins, gerald veasley, henry johnson, and others • additional recordings with billy kuhn on drums include 'algo latino - the premier latin big band', and ken karsh's 'ventana'