Bio submitted by Leonard M. Heifetz
Leonard M. Heifetz, from the well-known musical family, is the son of Hilda Armel Heifetz, an artist in Morro Bay. His father, the late Emanuel Robert Heifetz, was a professor of music and a violinist/teacher in the Los Angeles area and at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. Two of Emanuel Heifetz’ students that went on to noteworthy careers were singer, Joan Baez, and dancer, Twila Tharp. Len’s first cousin, Michèle (Heifetz-Bloch) Zukovsky, has been principal clarinetist for the Los Angeles Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra for over forty years. Len went to UCLA with an academic scholarship at age 16. He got a rather amusing and interesting student housing assignment. He was given Olympic decathlon champion Rafer Johnson’s room in Sproul Hall, surrounded by many athletic scholarship-holders. Len loves to reminisce about dormitory life in those years. He has fond memories including some of Gail Goodrich, Walt Hazzard, & Coach John Wooden. He was an especially close friend with tennis great, Arthur Ashe. Len, 6'2" & 210 pounds at that time, played on the Sproul Hall second-floor intramural football team, as a lineman. Arthur Ashe was close by, as wide receiver. Future Los Angeles Laker, Gail Goodrich, was the quarterback. Although fraternities had dominated the 32-team intramural competitions for years, this "star-studded" dorm team broke the trend, going undefeated (24-0), 1961-63.
When Len’s Mom, Dad, and sister Sharon moved to San Luis Obispo, Len joined them and finished his Bachelor’s degree at Cal Poly University, graduating at age 20. He then left for a year of graduate work at Aix-en-Provence, near Marseille, in southern France. He was the first representative from Cal Poly to go to this International Studies Program site. In France, he met Bonnie Balatti, a Fresno State University International student. They moved back to Fresno and were married. They both received their California Life Teaching Credentials. Bonnie taught and was a counselor in Fresno middle schools for 37 years, prior to retiring early, in 2004.
Len and Bonnie have one son, Marcus Daniel Heifetz, a graduate of Fresno’s Roosevelt High School in 1990. Marcus continued his education on the East Coast, graduating from Harvard in 1994. At Yale Medical School, he received his Degree in Epidemic Medicine & Public Health in 1997. Marcus was awarded The Schlesinger Fellowship from Yale. With this award, he earned the Juris Doctor at Boston College School of Law in 2000. Marcus began work as an attorney with Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in Palo Alto. After a 12-year romance, Marcus married his college sweetheart. His wife, Trina, is an obstetrician and clinical professor at the Medical School at the University of Pennsylvania. Their first child, a girl named Amelia Zoë Heifetz, arrived Nov. 17, 2005, in Wilmington, Delaware. Another baby, Elena Stelle Heifetz was born April 26, 2008. Marcus joined AstraZeneca International, as Senior Litigation Counsel in 2005, aged 32.
Aside from his love of the grand piano, Len enjoys many other varied hobbies. These include thoroughbred horse racing, tournament Scrabble, car restoration, gemology and numismatics. Musically, Len started on the violin at age three, and then moved to the piano to accompany his Dad. As a pianist, Len started playing professionally at age eight. He was hired to play for California’s Governor, Edmund G. "Pat" Brown. He went on to perform as a soloist and with groups at many venues in California and in France. Some of Len’s combos have included Joe Lizama (now, the renowned percussionist and librarian for Johnny Mathis), Sonny Jay, bassist (formerly with Cal Tjader), and many other fine musicians. Some of Len’s favorite musical jobs were for the Del Webb Hotel, and many spots in Westwood and Beverly Hills. More recently, he has held forth in central California, at Lake Tahoe and in Monterey. Len has an 88-key digital keyboard for jobs where no piano is available. Thus, his motto: "have piano, will travel.” Since February, 1995, Len has been the house pianist for the historic Fort Washington Country Club in Fresno. He also enjoys providing music for weddings, parties and special events, elsewhere.
Contact Info:
(559) 255-3210
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bio submitted by Vince DiCiccio
 Vince was born and raised in Philadelphia, and spent 25 years in San Francisco. A jazz pianist, Vince plays Wednesdays & Fridays at Yoshino’s Restaurant in Fresno, a gig he has had since 2000. Vince also works as an announcer/program host (The Oasis & The Intersection) for Valley Public Radio, KVPR, Fresno/KPRX, Bakersfield since 1999.
Vince DiCiccio
Piano Player
(559) 222-7793
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Style: Mainstream/Cocktail Jazz.
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 bio submitted by Mike Miller
A native of Fresno, Michael Miller is a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist, equally and home in styles from jazz standards to pop. Mike plays both drums and keyboards, and also is a composer. He performs regularly at local dinner houses and at private functions.
"I started playing drums in the 1960's, practicing in the family garage. We lived out in the country back then. I went to a Catholic grammar school and the bus would pick up me and my sister everyday. When we got home in the afternoons I can remember asking the driver to wait a few minutes and opening the garage door and giving my friends on the bus a drum solo till the driver had to go." "My father worked in the radio/tv business and I was always exposed to artists, mostly jazz, and media people. I can remember when we moved from the country to town, about 1966 and starting high school. There I was exposed to some of the players that worked around town. I used to see them all the time at the radio station where they would promote their gigs. As time went on I began to sing along with the records, and play along on the drums with earphones. thats how I learned to play in the first place, but never wanted to sing really. I got together with some guys, I don't remember how we met, but we started a group called "The New Group". We played around for a while, added a girl singer and went into a studio to do some demos. We did a couple covers and an original based on "Song For My Father." I still have the tapes! I can remember doing some things for Robert Kennedy right before he was killed. At that time we joined up with a singing group called "The Expressions." It was four guys that sang, and the band. We had a lot of fun and lasted for quite a while."
After that I played around for a while, until I met Ed Burke. I don't even know how we met. I know he had been playing for a while. We've been playing together ever since in different variations. In the 1970's I took off with some friends from here and one of the members of the Santana band. That was fun but it didn't last long, and I came back to Fresno for a while, worked at my father's radio station and other stations in town, playing at night. Then I moved to Monterey and played there for a while and worked at a radio station there. I loved it there. I played with a lot of artists as a sideman in those days. I moved back to Fresno in the late 1970's, got married and got back together with Ed Burke. We played for a while at different venues around Fresno and the Valley.
In the late 1970's I met Robert Taylor and Lee Garrett. They were writing for Barry White and some other artists at A&M Records and Island Records. We worked together producing demos and writing for various artists. I met and worked with quite a few artists during that time. In the 1980's Ernie Perez and his brother were putting an act together to so some hotel chains and resorts. We used to drive to San Francisco every couple days to rehearse. We finally took off and did a lot of 5 and 6 night a week hotel and resort chains in California and Nevada. I did that with a band earlier in the 1970's, mostly in Nevada. We lasted quite a while. After that I came back to Fresno and again got together with Burke. Ernie joined us and we've been together ever since. I've been working as a single act lately, keyboard/vocals, as well as drums/vocals with the guys. I'm currently working steady at various dinner houses around the area as well as at the coast, writing a lot and also playing private events. A couple years ago my father joined 90.7 KFSR doing a Friday morning jazz show, and in 2009, I joined the station doing a jazz program Friday afternoons from 12:00 PM - 3:00 PM. We might be the only father/son team on the air in this area.
I've done many things between and throughout these times, like racing cars, training horses, and other stuff, but music has always been my mainstay. To get the rest of the story you'll just have to get the book when it comes out, and thanks for the time.
Michael Anthony Miller
Contact Michael Miller
Michael Miller on Myspace.com
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Bio written by Espacio - Nov 2009
Espacio is a group of talented young musicians from central California. Its members (Eva Scow, mandolin; Mike Taylor, guitar; Kevin Hill, bass; and Nathan Guzman, drums) play a progressive blend of funk, rock, brazilian, and jazz. Their music is both energetic and compelling. Formed in the summer of 2008, Espacio has already had the opportunity to open for latin jazz artist Poncho Sanchez, record a full length album with jazz singer Karen Marguth, play at the Sun Valley Jazz Jamboree in Sun Valley, ID, and tour in major cities all over California. The group currently holds a residency every Thursday evening at The Landmark in Fresno,CA. They are currently working on their first album, set to be released in early 2010.
More info:
http://www.myspace.com/espaciojazz
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 Vocalist Lisa Kao has been a local favorite, singing with a variety of jazz and swing ensembles over the past fifteen years. Her musical influences include Anita O’Day, Blossom Dearie, and Peggy Lee. Lisa’s Big Night Out, her current working band, specializes in "cocktail jazz" from the 30's thru the 60's. "I love the timeless melodies and lyrics from the Great American Songbook, the Brazilian masters, and more," says Ms. Kao, "and I'm lucky to work with the best rhythm section players around." Guitarist Rich Severson, bassist Nye Morton, drummer Gary Newmark, and pianist David Aus are regular members of LBNO. When not playing at restaurants around town, the band performs frequently for corporate events and private parties. For more information visit: http://www.lisasbignightout.com
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