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| The CarolynT Band has been truly blessed with some of the top talents in the GTA! Each come with different musicial backgrounds and levels of experience. These are people I am proud to place on my website not just as excellent musicians but as good-hearted, intelligent, reliable & hard-working people who knows what it takes to really entertain an audience!
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John Pugh - Keys
John was born in GTA in 1985 and started playing the piano at the young age of five. He has had the privilege of studying from many talented teachers giving him an eclectic musical style and strong background in many genres. In 2003 he started he studies at McMaster, where he achieved an Honours Bachelor of Music. John also plays with talented musicians through the Toronto area, as well as in Montreal with artists like Juno nominated dancehall artist Carl Henry.
John’s performance experience includes musical theatre. He has played in the pit bands for shows such as Charlie Brown, Wizard of Oz, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Les Miserable, and Evita. John has enjoyed his musical career so far and is excited to pursue new ventures and opportunities where he can further extend his passion and ability for exploring a variety of musical styles and genres while maintaining a high level of professionalism and commitment to excellence. | |
Michael Barcomb - Drums
Mike was born in New York. He started taking drum/percussion lessons at the age of ten which continued through to College. This has allowed him the opportunity to play in school orchestras, marching bands, jazz/rock, stage, top 40 rock, country and roots bands.
Among Mike's early influences were drummers Buddy Rich, David Garabaldi, Steve Gadd, Elvin Jones, J.R. Robinson, Sonny Payne, Louis Bellson, Larrie London, Mitch Mitchell among many more.
Trained on orchestral snare and jazz drum kit, it was during his high school years in New York that his musical interests took a turn. "I loved playing the music...but I was in a creative mode. When being formally trained you are subject to interpreting the music exactly the way the teachers think you should. I thought it was more fun feeling it the way I wanted to feel it. Not to demean the original composer, but I was starting to see there was a fun creative part of music."
In the mid 80s, Mike moved to Canada, got married and started a family at which point he took a seventeen year sabbatical from playing in bands and focused on his family and career as a software developer.
In 2002, Mike has re-ignited his passion for music by playing Roots, Country, Rock 'n Roll, Blues, Soul and Jazz for artists and bands: Carolyn Thompson, Big Mad Onion, The Lorne Ryder Band, Ray Edge, The Max Bent Band, Mo' Kauffey, Donnie Meeker, "Old Men Acton Up", County Line and EZ Street Blues Band.
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Ian McKinnon – Drummer
Raised in Toronto, Ian started playing drums in grade 7 because the band he wanted to join consisted of 3 bigger grade 8 guys who wouldn’t let him play guitar. With proceeds from his paper route, Ian bought a used set of no-name drums, practiced at home for a couple of hours and went to his first band rehearsal to master the tough changes in tunes like “Gloria” and other equally demanding songs from the 60’s. From there he progressed to playing with bands in high school throughout the late 1960’s and early 1970’s that introduced him to a broad range of local musical influences such as Whiskey Howl, McKenna Mendelsohn Mainline, King Biscuit Boy and Crowbar, to international players such as Muddy Waters, Brian Auger, Jimmy Smith, Buddy Rich, Oscar Peterson, The Doors, Paul Butterfield, Booker T and the MGs, Aretha Franklin, Tower of Power, Lydia Pense and Cold Blood and Stevie Wonder along with many others. He played in Toronto bands throughout the 70’s with blues players such as John Tilden, Omar Tunach, and Fraser Finlayson to more mainstream players such as Dave Tyson, Rick Morrison, Eddie Schwartz and John Rutledge. His parents were not pleased when Ian played with the house band at the Zanzibar Tavern for 2 weeks while he was still in grade 13.
After a couple of years of playing full time in the late 1970’s with people such as Jesse Winchester, Ian decided get a day job to pay the rent. He ended up playing drums on a part-time basis in various Toronto based blues and R&B bands. In the 1980’s, Ian was known as a reliable ‘sub’ for drummers in bands such as George Oliver and Gangbuster, Whiskey Howl and Wayne St.John and The THP Orchestra. After living in Vancouver and Singapore for 7 years, Ian returned to Toronto in 1995 and resumed playing part time with bands such as The Binders, The Red Hot Sugar Daddies featuring Greg Godovitz, and Derek Peart. He continues to play solid blues and R&B feels, believing that a good groove is the most important contribution a drummer can make. There is no replacement for a steady, solid ‘2 and 4’ on the snare with a heavy back beat! | |
Mike Barrington - Drums
Mike Barrington has been a freelancing professional drummer for over 20 years. As a versatile musician who reads well, I get called for a wide variety of gigs; small jazz combos, big-band swing orchestras, pop, rock, funk, R&B, latin and West African gigs, along with recording sessions, theatre work, and a three-season stint with Garden Brothers Circus.
Among the people I've been privileged to work with have been: John Davidson (Hollywood Squares, That's Incredible), the late Frank Gorshin (the "Riddler" on the 70's Batman TV series), Kathie Lee Gifford (sort of), Tony Quarrington, Sook-Yin Lee, The Nomads, Carlo Coppola, June Garber, and many others. | |
Peter Kadar - Keys
I'm originally from Windsor, Ontario, where I grew up listening to all kinds of music from radio stations in Detroit, and my parents old rock n' roll records. From the beginning, my tastes in music were varied, and that's reflected in my career today. I've been playing since I was very young, but never took it seriously until my early teens, when I started taking music classes in high school, and private lessons from whoever I could find that I thought was really good.
I was equally fascinated by traditional piano playing as well as all the mysterious sounds that synthesizers could produce, and thus began a lifetime obsession with gear and tone that plagues me to this day. Towards the end of high school, I found myself sneaking into clubs with my best friend to see as much live music as possible. It was then that I started going to jams and getting gigs with bands around town. I was getting a lot of experience, but there were still many things I needed to learn, so I ended up relocating to Toronto, to attend Humber College's Jazz Keyboard program. This was my first "formal" education in music.
While at Humber, I was exposed to an enormous amout of information, but still had some unanswered questions. It was then that I began attending masterclasses with legendary pianist and educator Barry Harris. Since then, my whole perspective on harmony and music has blossomed exponentially. It is no exaggeration to say that I owe my career to him, and still seek his knowledge and wisdom whenever I can.
Since finishing Humber, I have had a very rewarding career that gets more exciting every year. I've been fortunate to perform with some of Canada's legendary artists, like Alannah Myles, Mike Reno from Loverboy, Alan Frew from Glass Tiger, and Juno award winning group The Daughters (formerly Farmer's Daughter). I have a freelance career that takes me all over North America, with various bands and artists. As well, I'm honoured to be a staff member in Sheridan College's esteemed Music Theatre program, and I get to give back some knowledge teaching piano and voice at Walter's Music in Mississauga. Most recently, I began a production company with internationally renowned DJ and producer Natural, called Natural Born Hustlaz. Our main focus is on producing music for urban music markets, specializing in hip hop and R&B. In the year we have been working together, we've gotten an overwhelmingly positive response to our music.
My goals are to keep learning and growing as a person and as a musician, and to share that experience with as many talented and amazing people as possible.
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Bruce Griffin - Bass
Plays country, blues, rock 'n roll and jazz. Recent bands include Red Hot Sugar Daddies (hardcore blues), The Griffin Peacock Trio (rockin' blues), The Marc Enkin Trio (jazz) featuring Rebecca Enkin, and The Stone Poets (countrified blues). He plays jazzy blues around Toronto with Derrick Peart and The Mack Knives. Bruce is a lifetime member of The Binder Brothers (classic rock dance band).
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Beau Stocker - Drums
A Drum Set Performer and Student in one of the most recent, innovative and challenging genres of music known as Improvising. A term used to describe and categorize conceptual music styles such as Jazz, Blues, various Eastern musics, and the particular “solo” sections of Rock and Pop music. He is an Honors Graduate of the Humber College Music Program (Toronto, Canada), Fine Arts Graduate of York University (Toronto, Canada), and most recently an MA recipient in Improvised Music Performance from the University of York (York, England). Beau has continued his practice and research in this fascinating academic discipline and in the development of pedagogical concepts that are conducive to Improvising Musicians.
His performance experience includes a three year stint in the Toronto Rock/Pop band The Goldendogs, tours of Europe and the United Kingdom in the Improvising ensemble TrioVD, and also with Blues/Rock guitarist Cal Batchelor. In addition, Beau has studied and performed in some of the traditional musical styles of Indonesia (Javanese Gamelan) and Cuba, including performances in various ensembles in the United Kingdom and Toronto Canada. He continues to perform Jazz, Improvised Music, and Blues as a freelance musician in the Toronto area including the Blues quartet Sweet Derrick and the Mack Knives.
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Tim Des Islets - Guitar
Tim Des Islets was born in Toronto in 1985. He was introduced to music at a very young age as the radio in his house seemed to always be on. Family gatherings always ended the same way, staying up to the early hours of the morning listening to Tower of Power, Marvin Gaye, and Count Basie records. It was no surprise when Tim began guitar lessons at the age of 10. He took lessons at Kaos Music where he was exposed to all kinds of musicians who lived in the area. When he entered high school at Etobicoke Collegiate he instantly joined all the stage bands and extracurricular bands he could find. By the time he graduated, Tim had won many awards for music, started and joined numerous bands, and realized that music was his calling in life.
Tim's first introduction to being a working musician was with the Toronto All-Star Big Band, a band out of Toronto that gives students the opportunity to be part of a professional band and play upwards of 100 shows a year. Through this band he had the privilege to play with such jazz greats as Clark Terry, Peter Appleyard, and Buddy DeFranco. At the age of 18, he began Humber College where he has met many incredibly talented musicians and been given the opportunity to learn and perform with them. Tim continues to perform all around Toronto, teach privately, record, compose, and arrange music.
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Michael Glendon - Sax
Michael Glendon is a Toronto-based musician and writer, playing in over eight bands of various musical styles during the last five years.
He began his musical career at the age of eight, when he began playing piano. He quickly gained an ear and an interest in different musical sounds. He picked up the trombone, clarinet and saxophone in grade seven. By the time he was in high school, he had completed his grade eight piano, his grade four theory, learned the guitar and had excelled at the saxophone. He helped to form a London Ontario-based pop/funk group called Basic Cadence. After high school, Mike moved to Toronto to further his musical education. He graduated from the Humber College Jazz Performance program in April 2007, with honours. During his time there, his writing career blossomed, as he started to write and play in different musical styles. From acoustic folk and rock music, to pop/funk, to instrumental fusion and jazz, Mike seemed to have an ear for everything. With an ever growing list of musical instruments that include clarinet, piano, guitar, saxophones, flute and the ability to sing, Mike is poised to move forward into the music industry as a strong force.
Aside from his writing and performing solo projects, he has maintained a busy schedule, involving recording and playing as a side man. Mike has made guest appearances with bands such as Toronto indie-rock powerhouse The Most Serene Republic and has shared the stage with the likes of Canadian jazz-great Mike Murley, blues singer Roxanne Potvin and east coast guitar sensation Garrett Mason.
His talents are many, but his drive and ambition is greater still. With the right connections and people to work with, Mike will be a name that will be widely known, both as a performer and as a writer. The next generation of music is waiting for a voice, a face, a name and a song. Perhaps all of these have arrived in one package.
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Marc Enkin - Keys
Marc Enkin’s dynamic career as a multi-instrumentalist, performer, arranger, producer, and music teacher began twenty years ago at Berklee College, Boston, the premier jazz education institution in the U.S. He continued his training at York University in Toronto, completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts, specializing in music. At York he studied piano with Frank Falco and composition with David Mott and Srul Irving Glick.
His professional career in musical theatre began as Music Director for Mercury Theatre’s production of Bertolt Brecht’s Three Penny Opera. Soon after, as the Music Director for the Golden Horseshoe Players, he composed and performed the music for a series of children’s plays.
In the late 80’s Marc’s career took another turn as he became the bass player for the Sly Dogs, a blues band that played regularly at Toronto’s most popular clubs. The group was profiled in a CBC-TV documentary titled Shades of Blue. In ’91 he became the bass player for Hot Dam featuring vocalist Maryem Hassan, and he co-produced Hot Dam’s debut CD titled the Song’s the Thing. Marc teamed up with author Chris Gudgeon, and together they wrote a number of comedy songs that were aired on CBC radio’s Basic Black Show.
In the late 90’s Marc formed a jazz band called Horizon, featuring jazz vocalist Rebecca Enkin and Toronto Symphony Orchestra musicians Dave Longenecker (bass), Bill Cross (trombone), and Rob Carli (saxophone). Throughout the 90’s Marc was manager of The Village Studio, a recording studio in Toronto’s Bloor West Village where he produced and recorded demos for singers, songwriters, jazz bands, and classical ensembles.
Marc also produced educational recordings for Prentice-Hall Canada and Oxford University Press Canada, the latter including ten of his own musical compositions, written and performed by him and Rebecca Enkin. These recordings have been used in schools and colleges across Canada.
In 2001 Marc released an independent jazz-rock CD titled Escapades—original compositions featuring saxophonist Jonathon Kroeker, bassist Maurey Lefoy, guitarist Kevin Vineau, and drummers Mark Mariash and Jeff Macpherson. His CD was introduced at Hugh’s Room, one of Toronto’s most popular music and dining venues.
Marc’s latest release, In the Doghouse, includes comedy songs with a country twist, featuring guitarist Marc Ganetakos.
Today Marc’s Jazz Trio performs regularly at clubs, private functions and corporate events, and he especially enjoys performing with his spouse, jazz vocalist Rebecca Enkin.
As one of Toronto’s most popular teachers of guitar, bass, voice, and piano from his studio in Bloor West Village, Marc gets a thrill from teaching new musicians and to starting them on the road to a lifelong love of music. | |
Jarek Dabrowski - Guitar
A versatile guitarist and percussionist, Jarek Dabrowski has performed professionally in Europe, Canada, and Asia. A freelance/session musician and a founding member of various bands and music projects in the Greater Toronto Area, including the Yellow River Ensemble, Jarek performs on both western guitar (classical and electric), Chinese zhongruan (moon guitar), drum set, and percussion instruments from around the world including African djembe, Chinese percussion, caja, and the Middle Eastern Darabuka (hand drum). An Honours and MA graduate of York University's music programme, he has an extensive background in plucked instruments and percussion from different regions of the globe, and has performed in ensembles in styles from Poland, China, Africa, the Philippines, the Middle East, Cuba, and Brazil. Currently he works with various bands and musicians around the Greater Toronto Area as a guitarist, percussionist, and arranger. He also maintains a busy teaching schedule, training students on guitar and percussion, teaching theory classes, music history classes, composition, arranging, and song writing. Up to date Jarek held teaching posts in both guitar performance and music history with the York University music department and various art and music schools within the Greater Toronto Area.
While still in his early teenage years, Jarek studied flamenco and classical guitar with the guitar educator and U of T Professor Eli Kassner. During his music studies at York University he studied jazz guitar, composition, arranging, and jazz performance with some of the most accomplished jazz musicians in Canada, including Lorne Lofsky, Brian Katz, Mike Murley, and Mark Eisenman among many. In addition, he studied briefly jazz guitar with Artur Lesicki and Jaroslaw Smietana, two of Poland's leading jazz guitarists.
As a classical guitarist, Jarek has given solo and chamber performances with numerous instrumentalists and music groups including the Silverthorn String Orchestra and Toronto's flautist, Ryerson University music Professor Dr. Kim Chow Morris.
Currently Jarek performs with numerous artists and music groups including Klezfactor (Toronto's jazz-rock-klezmer fusion group), Payatze, and his own J. Dabrowski Quartet. While in Poland he was a sideman/accompanist for singer Sylvia Nadgrodkiewicz, and played with Kazimierz Jonkisz and Marcin Jahr, two of Poland's first league jazz musicians. In 2004 he was a part of the Wa;chock Polish Folk Orchestra and had a privilege of sharing the stage with some of the region's most accomplished musicians. Jarek performed regularly with this award-winning group for four months before his duties called him back to Canada.
In China Jarek has played in Shanghai's Cotton club and on Nanjing Lu. In Canada he has served as the lead percussionist of the Toronto Chinese Orchestra, and the first European member of the ensemble.
Because of his involvement in cultural studies and ethnomusicology Jarek has developed a deep interest in the ethnic musics of East Asia, South India, and the Middle East. He studied various Chinese instruments such as erhu, zhongruan, and sheng in Mainland China with masters of each instrument, including Zhou Hao and Pan Jingeng. In addition to working as a research assistant on Jiannan Sizhou (Chinese 'Silk and Bamboo' traditional folk music), he traveled to study the indigenous musics of various cultures and traditions from China (Han, Cantonese, Ouigour), Laos, Thailand, and Cambodia. After his research in Poland he wrote a thesis dealing with the development of jazz music in the communist Poland between 1945 and 1960. In addition he wrote about jazz in China and the Ouigour traditional music found in the Xinjiang province in west China.
Some of the awards and scholarships which he has received in the recent years include the prestigious Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Award, Ontario Graduate Scholarship, a distinction award at the XIV Polish Folk Music Festival in Sienno, the Bill Chan Award, the Peggy Sampson Award, the Karabekos Award, and the Canada Music Centre Award. In 2006 he has collaborated with Ian Pun at the National Fairchild Radio Song-Writing Contest performing the song written by Ian "Riding the Subway" that was awarded with the Second place Award, The Best Lyrics Award, and The Best Arrangement Award. In the recent years Jarek has been interviewed and his music played on CBC Radio Canada, U of T Community Radio Toronto, and Fairchild Radio. He has also performed and given interviews for Fairchild TV, OMNI TV, and Global TV.
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Jason Clendining - Sax
Jason was born in Auckland, New Zealand and raised in Sydney Australia. He started playing clarinet at age 11, and saxophone in the highschool big band at 14. During this period he remained mostly self taught and enjoyed playing in the many ensembles that his school offered. However, at age 17, hopes of a career in music came to an abrupt halt, due to the passing of his mother: “When my mother died I just didn't feel like playing anymore.” He stopped playing for 4years not picking up an instrument again until age 21 when seeing an old saxophone in the window of a second hand music store sparked his interest again. “I took that horn home, popped a reed on it, and just blew. I wailed on that thing for hours.” After much practice, he decided that a career in music is what he wished for. He then went on to study music at the University of Tasmania School of Performing Arts majoring in saxophone and graduated with honors. After university, he did a two year stint in Sydney Australia, as a full time musician, teaching and playing.
In 2007 Jason was to face another sad reality, when his father died from cancer. “Now that both my parents are gone, I can only hope to make them proud with my music”.
Jason now resides in Toronto Ontario, looking to further his music career. He believes that Torontonians enjoy a burgeoning live music scene. “When I first came here, I couldn't believe the amount of live music I was hearing”.
Some of Jasons influences include Stan Getz, Ben Webster, Gene Ammons, Sonny Stitt and Lenny Pickett just to name a few.
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