Michael Hackett Quintet

Dr. Hackett has performed extensively with touring entertainers and pops orchestras across the country backing up artists such as Aretha Franklin, Natalie Cole, and Perry Como. His playing has been featured in many national television and radio commercials, the movie sound track to “The Aviator,” and many commercially available recordings, including those with Scott Whitfield’s Jazz Orchestra East, three recordings with The Buselli/Wallarab Jazz Orchestra, and “Basically Baker: the Music of David Baker.”

Dave Stoler is a native of Madison WI, and has formerly resided in New York City, Milwaukee and Miami. One of the busiest keyboardists in the area, Dave works with his own jazz trio, the Tony Castaneda Latin Jazz Sextet and Los Bad Hombres.  He also co-leads Steely Dane, a 14 member Steely Dan tribute band. His trio and quartet perform at Smalls and Mezzrow Jazz Club in New York City. His 1994 compact disc recording, titled “Urban Legends” is available directly and can be found on numerous streaming platforms.  He was a semifinalist in the Thelonious Monk Piano Competition, The American Jazz Piano Competition, and a finalist in the Jacksonville Jazz Piano Competition. He received a Master Of Music Degree in Jazz Performance from the University of Miami-Coral Gables, and has a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Composition from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

As both an accomplished Saxophonist and Bansuri flute player, Pawan Benjamin stands at the intersection of profound musical traditions. Rooted in Jazz and Improvisation, his pursuit of learning later led him to the Bansuri Flute and a deep study of Nepali Folk and Indian Classical Music. His unique perspective into these legacies of music has allowed him to work with a myriad of world-class artists, and perform and teach around the world. Pawan has performed alongside artists such as Roscoe Mitchell, Reggie Workman, Ranjit Barot, Bill T. Jones, Taufiq Qureshi, Rez Abbasi, Marc Cary, and others. Performance credits include the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Newport Festival, the Kennedy Center, the Rubin Museum of Art, Lincoln Center, the Mondriaan Jazz Festival, the Bimhuis, the NCPA in Mumbai, Goa International Jazz Festival, and more.

Peter Dominguez grew up in Milwaukee, and began perfoming with the Music for Youth Orchestras and his father; pianist and vocalist Frank DeMiles. Peter went on to study with Roger Ruggeri and Richard Davis at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and with Dr Lucas Drew at the University of Miami.  He served as Professor of Double Bass and Jazz Studies at Michigan State University from 1984-96, and continued studies with Robert Gladstone while substituting with the Detroit Symphony.  The former Principal Bass with the Lansing Symphony Orchestra and the American Sinfonietta, Peter was Professor of Jazz Studies and Double Bass 1990-2020 at Oberlin Conservatory of Music.   He is currently Professor of Double Bass and Jazz Studies at the University of Wisconsin- Madison.  He continues to perform with an impressive array of Classical, Jazz, and Latin artists throughout the Americas and Europe.  His teaching  includes national and international classes, adjudication of international competitions, artistic direction of the Richard Davis Foundation for Young Bassist Inc annual conference in Madison Wisconsin, and the director of the Milt Hinton Institute for Studio Bass.  Peter’s recordings include How About This (2010) and Groove Dreams (2017) performed on Milt Hinton’s famous 1790 bass. Another solo recording entitiled Bass Salute ( 2023) featuring Richard Davis’s 1855 Lion Head double bass.

Michael Brenneis has been an essential mover in the Madison improvised music community for twenty years. From his early work with Tomato Box and The Active Percussion Duo, to later projects such as Post Consumer Gnarl, The Ten Sleeps Trio, The Improvisor’s Workbench, and Executive Tea Set, he is consistently demolishing the boundaries of musical convention. In 2018 Michael was awarded an Artistic Development Grant by the Greater Madison Jazz Consortium to compose, record and premiere a large ensemble work entitled Plutonium.

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