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Spotlight Members
Trombone Section
TOM COX - He plays great bone, but he is also responsible
for the snaking cords and the distinctive band fronts being in place.
He is Tom Cox, long-time band member and indispensable to the group.
Tom began playing trombone in 9th grade after playing trumpet for 5
years. He went on to study performance, theory and composition at the University of Missouri, Columbia. Tom is a Missouri native. He graduated from Fort Osage High School in 1976. In 1993, he decided he wanted to be in
a people profession, and graduated from Meramec College and became a Physical Therapist. He is currently
a Rehabilitation Program Manager at Jonesburg Nursing and Rehab Center.
Tom came to St. Louis and played in the Meramec
kicks band. One of the members invited him to come
sit in a Gateway City Big Band rehearsal. That was October, 1982, and
he has been with the band since.
Tom's official title is "Equipment Manager" although he
does much more than just set up and take down the
band. Tom oversees equipment like the sound system, and can
occasionally be seen dashing from playing his
horn to the amplifier to adjust microphones. His energy seems
limitless.
Tom says the Big Band is like family, although often you can spot
his wife Bonnie or other members of his family in the crowd.
At 45, Tom is happy being with the Big Band.
"Bob (Waggoner, former band leader) is putting us in touch with
our "inner musician". The band under Bob's direction has
allowed me to grow musically, so I can say with certainty that I am a much
better player now than I was a year or two ago," Tom says. "I
have confidence in the continued growth of the organization."
KAREN SHARP - With sophisticated flair, she belts out a tune . . .
and later plays a trombone solo. She is Karen Sharp, the band's
"gal singer" plus. Being the only woman in the Gateway City Big Band doesn't bother Karen at all. She said
the band readily accepted her when she arrived in 1993.
Karen is a local girl, graduating from Lindbergh High School where she was the Drum Major for the marching band and
played in the Symphonic and Jazz bands. She played and sang in a local
classic rock group, Sundance and Brass, until she went away to
college. At the University of Missouri-Columbia she played with the Jazz
Ensemble and got her first experience singing with a big band.
After college, Karen hung up her horn for a few years until a couple
of guys in another big band in town asked her to come
play with them. Gateway City Big Band's sometime drummer Joe Pike heard her and
invited her to come sit in with the Big
Band. After playing trombone with Gateway for a year, she started
singing with them in 1994. She is featured on the band's last four
recordings.
But singing and playing with the band is not all she does with the
organization. In the Spring of 2001, Karen was asked to assume the
responsibility for the band library upon the retirement of long-time
librarian Jim Knox. After working with the almost 900 tunes, Karen says
she now realizes how much work Jim put into that job for the last 34 years.
Now Karen also serves as the trombone section’s Section Leader,
Recording Secretary for the Board of Directors, maintains the band's
extensive mailing list and compiles the two versions of the band schedule,
one for the public and one for the members. Karen's latest task has
been the upkeep of the band's website.
Karen said she could not be so involved without the huge support from
her family and encouragement from the band. "I feel very fortunate
to be treated as "one of the guys". I am the first female
instrumentalist to be a member of this group and I feel they have accepted me
for the solid contributions I make."
In February of 2005, Karen and trumpet
section leader/band leader Rick Sharp were married.
MATT BLESSING – Talented Matt Blessing came to us in the Summer
of 2006.
A commercial insurance broker by day, this single 23-year old (hey,
girls) lowers the average age of the band’s membership considerably.
Matt has a Music Education degree from Missouri State (Springfield). While in
college, he participated in the music fraternity Phi Mu
Alpha Sinfonia.
It was in this group of musicians that he met many talented people
from different genres. One of his best
friends in the fraternity was studying insurance, and needless to say, this
is how he ended up with the career he has today.
He currently lives in Imperial where
he was once in the high school jazz band and marching band at Windsor High School. It was here
where he really received the change to broaden his horizons by getting many
chances to front the jazz band with competition solo features. He also performs with the St. Louis Wind Symphony Concert Band.
Matt’s interest in trombone was fostered by his older sister, a
band director. From an early age, he
was very interested in trombone from listening to Bill Watrous. His high note skills,
along with his ability to play notes so fast, was what lured him into
jazz. His musical icons today are J.
J. Johnson and Miles Davis.
Matt spends his spare time either
playing jazz music, wind symphony music, or in his newly formed rock band
playing music from bands such as Chicago, Tower of Power, Phil Collins. He also enjoys playing softball and
golfing. When it’s Cardinals
season, its hard to have a conversation with him
about anything other than baseball.
Just wait ‘til you hear him rip into one of his high energy
solos on a jump number!
ANDY SCHIEFELBEIN (bass) – Andy joined us in the Fall of
2004. He started playing trombone in
high school because he couldn't get the art class he wanted. Up to that
time, he had no training on any instrument. He graduated from St.
Mary's High School and attended UMSL the hard way, at night, earning a BS in
MIS in 2001. Andy has worked for Southwestern Bell as a Systems
Engineer since 1999.
His love of music kept Andy playing at UMSL, the symphonic band at Meramec Community College and the Ambassadors of
Swing. Though he had started on the tenor trombone, he switched to the
bass trombone at Meramec which he says was "a
challenge without real music education".
Gateway approached Andy about playing the bass part permanently after
he had subbed for a few months. Though he knew it would be challenging,
Andy started to take private lessons. This has made him
consider getting a degree in music. He's interested in composing
in both symphonic and more traditional swing styles.
Andy's love of music has encouraged him to visit pawn shops and
estate sales. He collects old musical instruments and old phonograph
albums, having at least a dozen instruments and an extensive collection of 78
rpm records.
At this time, Andy is also rehabbing the interior of his home.
He says he gained experience in that area by helping others.
Andy's comments about Gateway are extremely complimentary.
"I am impressed by the level of musicians in the band. I am
honored to play with them; they make me strive to be a better musician." |
