JITS: CLINICIANS 2023

Julian Tanaka

Julian Tanaka is an alumnus of the Las Vegas Academy of Performing and Visual Arts and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He completed his B.M. in Jazz Arranging in 2013. At UNLV, Tanaka studied clarinet with Marina Sturm and jazz arranging with Joe Lano. In 2016, under the tutelage of Bill Dobbins, he received his M.M. in Jazz Writing from the Eastman School of Music. While there, he studied saxophone with Charles Pillow.

Tanaka's work as a woodwind specialist has included the 2012-13 international tour of the Broadway hit musical, Come Fly Away; a 2013-14 residency with Grammy award winning R&B group, Boyz II Men, at the Mirage Hotel and Casino; and, most recently, a full-time position with BAZ at The Palazzo. As a composer, Tanaka has completed commissions for the UNLV Wind Orchestra, LVA Jazz III, Hamilton High School Jazz Ensemble A (Los Angeles), and Penfield High School Studio Orchestra (Western New York). He currently teaches jazz at UNLV and at the Nevada School of the Arts.

Dr. Molly Redfield

Dr. Molly Redfield is Assistant Professor of Jazz Studies at Louisiana State University. She is an established bassist, arranger, and jazz educator and is excited to share her passion of teaching jazz education. As a bassist, Dr. Redfield was chosen for the 2022 Jazz Education Network, Sisters in Jazz Collegiate Combo, awarded the 2017 Outstanding Festival Soloist Award at the Monterey Next Generation Jazz Festival, and awarded the 2016 Outstanding Collegiate Rhythm Section Performer at the Reno International Jazz Festival.

Dr. Redfield earned her Doctorate of Musical Arts Degree in String Bass Performance and her Masters Degree in Jazz Studies from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Prior to attending UNLV, she attended Sacramento State where she graduated Summa Cum Laude and earned her Bachelor of Music Education, with an emphasis in Classical Bass Performance, and a Bachelor of Music, Jazz Bass Performance.

Josh Murray

Saxophonist Josh Murray has been Band Director at Sacramento’s Rio Americano High School since 1998. Rio’s AM Jazz Ensemble has been a finalist at the Essentially Ellington Festival eleven times, was chosen as winners of the 2019 national "Perform With Bob Mintzer" competition, recently hosted and opened a concert with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, and has performed worldwide. Rio’s musicians and bands have won dozens of DownBeat Magazine’s Student Music Awards, and are three-time winners of the Charles Mingus Festival’s combo category. Murray has performed with Phil Woods, Jimmy Smith, Peter Erskine, Bobby Shew, Donny McCaslin, Wycliffe Gordon, Ken Peplowski, and the Drifters. Murray is a member of the Sacramento Jazz Orchestra and the Ron Cunha Big Band. He is a contributing author to Teaching Music Through Performance in Jazz, Vol. 2.

Gary Mayne

Gary Mayne has performed, recorded, taught, presented clinics and provided masterclasses at Universities, public schools, conferences, and festivals around the world. As a big band performer, he has performed and recorded regularly with groups such as the Glenn Miller Orchestra, the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, and many others. As a symphonic musician, Gary has performed with a similarly prestigious list. He’s also a rock star who has spent over a decade touring with Big Head Todd and the Monsters and has a deep passion for Latin American music as well. All combined, Gary brings a breath of passion and performance experience to the Reno Jazz Orchestra workshops and education programs.