About

about our Band Members

Donna Oliver, Vocals

 

 

 

Donna Oliver has been entertaining audiences in the Denver area throughout her life.  Her main focus for the past several years has been big-band era music.  Her favorites include songs made famous by Rosemary Clooney, The Andrews Sisters, Frank Sinatra and the like.

Tait Solberg, Horns, Music Director

Tait is originally from the Chicago area and, after 27 years in the Air Force Band program, he retired as Chief Master Sargent and relocated to Colorado.  Since returning from overseas, Tait has kept busy teaching and performing music while repairing woodwind instruments.  He now lives in Highlands Ranch with his wife, Yoshiko, and children Eirik and Elise.

Ben Parrish, Guitar

Ben Parrish is a guitarist, composer, arranger and educator currently based in Denver, CO. He graduated in 2015 with a Bachelor’s degree in jazz guitar and again in 2019 with a Master’s degree in jazz guitar from the University of Denver.

Ben plays in several different groups, in the Denver area. His studio experiences include work as a sideman and leader. His debut recording, “Song of the Forest” was released in 2015 and featured all original compositions. In 2013, he won 1st place in the UNC Jazz Composition Contest. In 2018, he was a member of the Lamont Jazz Orchestra which won the Monterey Next Generation Jazz Festival.

In addition to actively performing, Ben maintains a large private teaching studio with students of all ages. 

Ben’s brand new album of all original music entitled “Quiet Stream” is out now. 

Ed Stephen, Guitar

Ed Stephen is originally from New York and has been playing professionally since the age of 13. He holds a B.A in music from Hofstra University and a Masters in music from C.W. Post College in New York. While finishing his graduate studies, he taught the program for guitar at C.W. Post College. He also taught guitar at Nassau Community College and at the University of Colorado at Denver.

Over the years he’s worked with diverse musicians and groups including the pops concerts with the Denver Symphony Orchestra, which featured the likes of Michel Legrand, Oscar Peterson, Carol Lawrence, Ferrante and Teicher.

He has performed at venues and festivals in various parts of the world including places such as Ireland, Argentina, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Medford , Caribbean, Denver, Evergreen, Vail, Snowmass, Greeley and New York.

Roger Johns, Bass

Roger Johns, Bass

Roger Johns earned his Bachelors of Music Education from Illinois Wesley University, and his Master in Music Education from UNC Greeley. He plays piano, trombone, and electric and acoustic bass. He has played professional since he was 15, and has played all over the US and in Canada and Ireland. He is well verse in all styles of music, though gave up classical “and I cut the hair off my bows so that I would not be tempted”. He is currently playing jazz, big band and some country and bluegrass.

Steve McBride, Drums, Business Manager

Steve McBride started playing drums at age 14 after studying piano and clarinet. In high school, he was in an award-winning R&B band, as well as playing in a Laboratory Band and Big Band at the local university. In college, he played 6 nights per week in a country band. He then went on a long sabbatical and retuned to playing in 2002 in the Denver area, playing primarily jazz in combos and big bands, including the El Jebel Big Band and Bob’s Big Band.

Kelly Hamilton, Vocals

Kelly Hamilton is one of the current vocalists with Joe Peterson Orchestra performing Big Band, Swing, and Ballroom music in the Denver area. Whether performing solo or adding to the tight harmonies of the “Andrew’s Singers,” her music roots are Jazz, Broadway musicals, Country Rock, and Religious. She may be small in stature, but big in voice. You can catch her as one of the regular soloist at Christ on the Mountain Catholic Church. Graduate of Bear Creek High School, Kelly has been performing professionally throughout the Denver area for the past 30 years. Formerly, she was the lead singer with the country band, Silver Sage, which performed through-out Colorado and was the house band for local establishments in the Littleton area. She is honored to be one of the featured vocalists with the Thunderhill Jazz Band..

Daniel Moran, Keyboard

Daniel Moran is a pianist/multi-instrumentalist who’s been playing professionally in and around the Denver area since 2006. Under the tutelage of Keith Oxman while a student at East High School, Daniel played his first professional gig on trumpet at legendary Denver jazz club El Chapultepec and performed with Phil Urso and Curtis Fuller while still in high school. He went on to study at Lamont School of music in Denver and The New School in Manhattan and eventually made the switch to piano as his main instrument. He has been a regular sideman in various bands with notable Denver jazzers such as Larry “L.C” Copeland, Vince Wiggins, Hugh Ragin, Dana Singleton, Larry Henley, Tony Black, Freddy Rodriguez Jr., Wil Alston and others. His specialty is jazz and improvisation but he has experience with a broad range of musical genres including pop/rock, blues, folk, gospel and more. When he’s not playing music he enjoys being outdoors, bird watching, and drinking too much coffee.