All the members of our band take great delight in being able to play many different styles of music. We are close friends (three of us have been in this band since its beginning many years ago) and we have fun with what we do! This warmth comes across on stage and has contributed to the rather remarkable stability of our group over the years.

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Helping people plan weddings, parties, and celebrations is fun for Ginny. She loves connecting the right musicians with the right events and her personal happy place is on the stand with this band.

Ginny's earlier musical life included performing as a solo singer-songwriter in coffeehouses, concerts and music festivals on the East and West coasts; playing bass and piano with Night Angels, opening for Bonnie Raitt; and appearing on 15 albums. She is a graduate of Barnard College and has taught at Southern Ct. State University, the College of New Rochelle, and Yale. She wrote book, music, and lyrics for the full-length musical Stanton Women’s Chorus, which had its first Equity production in 1989. For this piece, she was named Songwriter of the Year by the Connecticut Songwriters Association. She developed “I Sang at Your Wedding,” the first of many cabaret shows, as a Fellow at the Cabaret Symposium at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center.

Ginny grew up in Tennessee and remains connected with her Southern mountain roots.

She currently teaches water fitness at the Soundview Family YMCA and music in a program for adults with disabilities.

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A former member of the Glenn Miller Band, Vinny has performed with many other major artists and shows, including Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Sammy Davis, Jr., Manhattan Transfer, The Temptations, The Four Tops, The Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, Sergio Franchi, Annie, Grease, La Cage Aux Folles, and All That Jazz. He appeared regularly with the Chick Cicchetti Orchestra and is the Conductor of the Greater Enfield Community Jazz Ensemble. For more information, please visit www.atouchofjazz.com.

Jim Clark is a world-class saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist. He studied jazz with Warne Marsh, composition and theory at The Juilliard School of Music, and is an associate fellow at Yale University Davenport College.

He is an award-winning composer, having scored soundtracks in a wide variety of styles for numerous corporate clients. Recent scoring projects include string and brass orchestrations for 15-time Grammy Award Winner CeCe Winans.

Jim’s passion for the saxophone and jazz inspired him to create numerous themed TedTalk-style multimedia programs to entertain, as well as educate his audiences. 

Whether in the recording studio, performing in a local venue, or on stage at Carnegie Hall, Jim’s goal is the same – play from the heart with the highest level of musical excellence.

Chris Coulter is a lifetime Trumbull resident. He has been performing professionally on saxophones, flute, and voice since he was in high school, and began playing in organized local music groups when he was nine. He is a long-time Connecticut state-certified music educator and most recently taught instrumental music in New Canaan. Chris taught the jazz ensembles at the Trumbull Summer Band Camp jazz program for over 20 years. Currently he’s teaching Jazz History and Applied Saxophone at the University of Bridgeport. Chris has his Bachelor’s Degree in Music from the University of Bridgeport, and his Master of Science in Music Education from Western Connecticut State University.

Chris has studied and performed with a number of jazz greats including Clark Terry, Gerry Mulligan, Bob Brookmeyer, and Joe Lovano. He has studied and played in New Orleans with many currently acclaimed traditional jazz and New Orleans style musicians. Chris leads “The Blue River Jazz Band" who feature classic, traditional and swing jazz from the early 20th Century, including the music of Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, Sidney Bechet, and much more.

Recently, Chris’s article “Seriously Satchmo: The Importance of Teaching Louis Armstrong in the Music Classroom” was published in the Connecticut Music Educators Journal and has been re-printed in the National Music Educators “Teaching Music” magazine. For more information, see www.chriscoultermusic.com.

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Dave is a busy performing musician, playing electric and acoustic bass, and also drums, with jazz, rock, society, and theater music groups. For 41 years, he led large bands in the Middletown Public Schools and wrote many arrangements, recorded parts on multiple instruments for his students to practice with, created a band website before that was commonly done, etc.

He received the Superintendent's Award and the Brass Apple for his innovative use of technology and was named Teacher of the Year by the Connecticut Music Educators Association magazine.

Bob’s many credits include Broadway shows, twelve albums, appearances with Paul Winter, the Bridgeport, Waterbury, and New Haven Symphonies, Nutmeg Percussion Trio, Oakdale Theatre, Hartford Stage Company, Goodspeed Opera House, and Yale Rep. He graduated from the Yale School of Music, taught at Western Ct. State University, and was a founding member of Full-Time Friends which later became the Bales-Gitlin Band.

Bob played drums for President Clinton’s inaugural festivities and had coffee with Tony Bennett in the green room for half an hour while waiting to go on. As a band director, he has inspired many student musicians: one student dedicated his bar mitzvah to “Mr. D.” and another wrote a letter to “Good Morning America” that resulted in Bob’s being profiled on the show! 

Arti's mother played snare drum in a drum and bugle corps before Arti was born. Always wanting to play the drums, Arti played on oatmeal boxes and his mother's pans until he was able to begin having lessons. Studying with Jack DeJohnette inspired Arti to pursue a musical career.

After graduation from the University of Albany, he played the Four Seasons Hotel circuit from Montreal to Vancouver, Canada. While working in NY, he connected with Janis Ian with whom he toured the world and recorded for several years. He played with jazz greats, Larry Coryell, Randy Brecker, Bill Evans, pop stars Vicki Sue Robinson, Michael Bolton, and Eartha Kitt. He also toured with Ahmad Jamal and was the house drummer at Foxwoods Casino, playing with big bands like the Nelson Riddle Orchestra and Harry Connick's Orchestra.

Arti invented the Bass Drum Lift which is now sold in 22 countries. Arti has recently worked on documentaries for PBS and ESPN, including “Driving While Black” and “Yankees-Dodgers: An Uncivil War” and has written an instructional book called Rhythmasvir.

Despite his busy schedule, Arti still finds time to give back to his communities. For 34 years he has collected toys for children and distributed them to fourteen locations in twelve communities in Connecticut, and for the past ten years, has distributed food to twelve Connecticut food pantries.

Arti is a member of the Percussion Arts Society, the National Association of Music Merchants, and The Recording Academy. He is the percussion instructor at Greens Farms Academy and Adjunct Professor of Music at Gateway Community College. He also accepts students for private drum set consultations.

The "techie" in the group and a well-rounded player, Gray has spent the last 35 years playing with diverse Connecticut groups including Last Licks, The Regulars - a three-piece rock act, Cheryl Cormier - an award-winning country singer from Hartford, an R&B act from the shoreline area, and of course, the Bales-Gitlin band.

• • •

A singer/actor since the age of nine, Lance began singing in the church choir in Brooklyn across the street from his residence. He attended the famed LaGuardia High School of Music and Art, appeared in the movie Fame, and performed on the cast album. With the contemporary gospel group “The Praise Ensemble,” Lance sang in many places along the eastern seaboard and California. The group won second place in the McDonalds Gospelfest staged at Carnegie Hall to a standing ovation. Later, being a church choir member of New York Christian Life Center, Lance had greater satisfaction by going back to the Gospelfest competition and winning 1st place with the choir! He had the pleasure of singing with an opening act for The Persuasions, Melba Moore, Freddie Jackson, Cee Cee Winans, Gloria Gaynor, and Jennifer Holiday. His shared album credits include Luther Vandross, Vicki Sue Robinson, and Kelly Price. 

Acting is a love since joining repertory theater groups and off-Broadway productions including No Where Fast, Lord Lift Us Higher, and The Alonzo Players' Beaulah Johnson, New York Christian Life Center's production of Christ Lives After All.

Singing now is the dominant aspect of the journey with performances for weddings, corporate parties, and bar/bat-mitzvahs.

Playing a wide variety of musical styles, Peter is a sought-after drummer/percussionist in the tri-state area. He has traveled the world through his music, playing national and international tours for four years after graduation from Hartt College of Music. He has also appeared in a variety of theatrical settings, including the Elmsford Dinner Theatre, the Downtown Bridgeport Cabaret, and the Sterling Barn. For many years, Peter conducted a middle school band in Greenwich, CT.  He currently performs with the Norwalk and Ridgefield Symphonies in addition to his rock and jazz work.

• • •

L.G. has been called “one of the finest frontmen in New England.” He was the lead singer of Motown Revue for 4 years, has led his own hard funk band called Major Motion for the past 20 years, and has been appearing with the Bales-Gitlin Band for the past 25 years. His dynamic singing style, warmth, and charisma make him a hit with audiences all over New England. With Major Motion, he has recorded a CD of original hard funk.

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Steve Taylor (electric and acoustic bass) has been playing music in the NY-NJ-CT area for many years with jazz, pop, country, bluegrass and improvisational combos, theatre and choral groups.

Originally from Darien, he studied music first with his piano teacher father

and later at Berklee, New England Conservatory and Reed College.

Steve has been joyfully playing with the Bales-Gitlin group for almost 30 years,

playing pop, dance, and music from the American Songbook.

Steve has performed as an orchestra member for school productions in

Greenwich, Stamford, Darien, Norwalk, Wilton, Weston, Westport and Milford.

He toured with the 40s-style vocal group “Swing Fever”

and performed  for many years with the “Swingstreet” band from West Hartford.

He played for 20 years with the Stamford event band “Paul Lacano and the Cocktail Shakers.” 

In his day job, he worked as a graphic designer, textbook and catalog typesetter and CD-ROM developer.

He plays regularly with the Roylety Steel Pan band and the Silver Steel band,

under the direction of Jim Royle, and with soulful baritone Richard “Cookie” Thomas.
You can hear his playing on the CDs “Streams” (Doug Schlink Trio) and “Sweet Happy Life” (Tracey Lyons).