Learn from Great Jazz Improvisation Teachers

A graduate of The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, I’ve been playing guitar for 18 years and teaching for over a decade. Originally from Kyiv, Ukraine, I’ve performed and recorded with many acclaimed musicians both in my hometown and on the NYC jazz scene, including Ari Hoenig, Steve Cardenas, Sam Yahel, John Raymond, and others.

I look forward to helping you achieve all of your musical goals! As a former Los Angeles-based session musician, I have recorded/performed with Dweezil Zappa, Lisa Loeb, Cosmosquad, Hardline as well with members of Journey, INXS, Earth Wind and Fire, Tears For Fears, Savage Garden, Poison, Porcupine Tree, New Kids On The Block, Alan Parsons Project, UFO, Enuff z'Nuff, Nelson,…

Guitarist, composer, and educator, Will Ross has been teaching music for over 9 years. At Oberlin College and Conservatory, he graduated with degrees in Jazz Guitar Performance and Economics from their double degree program. While at Oberlin, he taught guitar to college students each semester with experience varying from beginner to advanced.

Downbeat Magazine calls trombonist Mariel Bildsten “irrepressibly spontaneous." Mariel Bildsten headlines jazz festivals, plays around the country, and performs regularly in New York City, in the US, and internationally. Mariel has been featured onstage with Jon Batiste, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Jennifer Hudson, Roy Hargrove, and many others.

"Mark is a very enthusiastic and supportive teacher. With me hardly having any musical background he rapidly managed to turn me into a musician. Without any boring exercise, or too much theory, he taught me how to connect to the musical side in me and express myself through the piano. I highly recommend him, he is truly amazing." Yoel G.

I'm a Berklee Professor, saxophonist, clarinetist and author. As a D'Addario Performing Artist, I've performed & given workshops in Europe, Asia, the US, & the Caribbean. My recordings include: Cosmic Motion Picture (Jeff Harrington); One, Funkie Moon & Homecookin'! (Reed Dieffenbach); & So Tru (Trudy Sandhaus).

Lucas Santos is a guitarist, music teacher and composer born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He started his studies with some local teachers in his city who guided him to the path of Jazz and Popular Music. In 2014 he went to a Berklee summer program where after experiencing a summer devoted solely to music and studying with great teachers like Rick Peckham, Allan Chase and others, he…

My name is Tristan Norton and I have been a guitarist, bassist, gigging, composing, and teaching musician in Northern California for 13 years. I am a graduate of Berkeley’s prestigious California Jazz Conservatory with a Bachelor’s of Music in Jazz Studies.

Franz Hackl's wide variety of expertise as a trumpeter, composer, producer, clinician, and brass instrument maker ultimately defines him as an ever-evolving artist. Franz grew up in the Tyrolean region of Austria and followed in his father's footsteps as a featured trumpet soloist with traditional Austrian Brass bands.

Freelance bassist- Professor of Music at Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA- Taught private lessons and classroom instruction for over 25 years. Performances with jazz greats Bruce Forman, John Abercrombie, Pete Christlieb, Red Holloway, Marco Benevento, and many others at venues such as Monterey Jazz Festival, Knitting Factory, Jazz Bakery and countless others.