Tom Dietz comes to the Live Oak!

Tom Dietz (saxophone) will be joined by James Hall (keyboard), Richard Drexler (bass), and Jamesly Jean-Mary (drums) at the Live Oak Center on Friday, October 10th. Admission is free and doors open at 6:45 PM.

Tom Dietz is a return guest to the James Hall Trio, having previously joined the group at the New Smyrna Beach Jazz Festival 2023 and at a concert at the Babe James Center. A tenor and alto saxophone player based in the Orlando, Florida region and a professor at Valencia College, Dietz plays extensively throughout Florida, including in Miami and locally in New Smyrna Beach.

James Hall is a pianist, vibraphone player, and composer based in New Smyrna Beach. In his hometown of Pleasanton, California, he performed with numerous jazz musicians including Matt Finders, Andrew Speight, Anton Schwartz, Michael Marcus, Roger Glenn, and Erik Jekabson. Upon moving to Florida in 2019, he has performed with a wide range of jazz musicians including Antonio Escapa, Jeff Rupert, Scott Dickinson, the Orlando Jazz Orchestra, Tom Dietz, and Bobby Koelble, just to name a few, in the straight-ahead jazz and Latin spheres.

Richard Drexler is a double bassist and pianist from Illinois who has lived in Florida since the 1980s. He has worked with pianists Kenny Drew Jr., Dick Hyman and Michael Royal and vocalists Mel Tormé, Tony Bennett, and Vic Damone. His first album as leader, Señor Juan Brahms, included jazz and Latin arrangements of Brahms compositions and included Bob Mintzer on saxophone, Kenny Drew Jr. on piano, and Alex Acuña on drums. On recent albums he has worked with other UCF musicians including saxophonist Jeff Rupert and the Jazz Professors.

Drummer Jamesly Jean-Mary started to play the drums at the age of six in church and from there he continued to study music in school. He attended Parkway Middle School of the Arts (2011-2014), where he was able to study with the great Melton Mustafa and Diron Holloway. He went on to attend the illustrious Dillard High School (2014-2018). For four years, he studied with Christopher Dorsey and was a part of the Dillard High School Top Jazz Ensemble. In 2017 and 2018, he was fortunate to compete in the Essentially Ellington High School Competition and he was awarded the Outstanding Drums award in 2018. Afterward, he attended Broward College (2019-2021), studied with Anthony Stanco and Rodolfo Zuniga, and received his Associate in Arts in Music. He went on to the University of Central Florida (2021-2024) to study and perform with Jeff Rupert, Richard Drexler, Clarence Penn, and Jason Marsalis before graduating in 2024.

Host or Publisher James Hall