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MSG Gary
McCourry Master
Sergeant Gary McCourry is originally from Grand Rapids, Michigan. He
attended Western Michigan University, where he completed his Bachelor of
Music degree, majoring in Applied Saxophone, Music Education and Jazz
Studies. While at Western, he
studied classical and jazz saxophone under Trent Kynaston, who helped
instill a desire to strive for versatility as a musician.
MSG McCourry also holds a Master of Music degree from Indiana
University, where he studied saxophone with the renowned Doctor Eugene
Rousseau while pursuing majors in Jazz and Woodwinds.
Upon
graduation from Indiana University in 1986, MSG McCourry was selected as
alto and soprano saxophonist for the United States Military Academy
Concert Band and its saxophone quartet, a position he enjoyed for nine
years. In 1995, he became the
baritone saxophonist for West Point’s Jazz Knights.
As a member of the Jazz Knights, McCourry writes numerous
arrangements for the band, organizes jazz clinics for students and
educators, publicizes concerts and is frequently featured as a soloist.
MSG McCourry has continued to study baritone saxophone with specialists Ed Xiques, the late Nick Brignola and Gary Smulyan, who was Pepper Adams’ replacement in the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra. SFC
Jermaine Malone Sergeant First Class Jermaine Malone is originally from Oakland, California. While in high school, he was a member of the Monterey Jazz Festival High School All-Stars. This group toured Japan with band leader Bill Berry, and performed at the Monterey Jazz Festival with guest stars Dizzy Gillespie, Donald T. Carson and Bruce Foreman. After graduating from high school, he accepted a football scholarship to the University of Nevada, where he studied music education. SFC Malone joined the U.S. Army as a personnel service clerk in 1993. He served in this capacity at Camp Casey, Korea, Ft. Gillem, Georgia and Ft. McPherson, Georgia. SFC Malone changed his career focus to music in 1998. He has served as a musician with the 101st Division Band at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky; the U.S. Continental Army Band at Ft. Monroe, Virginia and the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe International Jazz Orchestra, in Belgium. He was a Distinguished Honor Graduate at the U.S. Armed Forces School of Music Basic Non-Commissioned Officer Course. He has also earned the Air Assault Badge. Staff Sergeant Malone has been a member of the Jazz Knights saxophone section since June of 2004. SSG
Derrick James Staff Sergeant Derrick James is a native of New York, New York. He has been a member of the Jazz Knights saxophone section since August of 2001. As the son of a gospel singer and grandson of a jazz trombonist, he was immersed in music from birth and began playing saxophone at the age of nine. SSG James attended the Berklee College of Music, Long Island University, and the University of Miami. As a civilian, SSG James has performed with Chaka Khan, Billy Cobham, Prince, Donna Summer, Gloria Estefan, Red Holloway, Whitney Houston, Pete Yellin, Adam Nussbaum, Jimmy Cobb and Moses Allison, among others. SSG James has appeared on several television broadcasts, including The Rosie O'Donnell Show, Good Morning America, The Sinbad Soul Music Festival on Home Box Office and the Black Entertainment Network. Additionally, he has performed at the Montreux, Playboy and Hampton Jazz Festivals, as well as at the Ebony Music Festival. SSG
David Loy Song Raised in Westfield, Massachusetts, Staff Sergeant David Loy Song graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1999, earning a bachelor's degree in African American-Music and Jazz. SSG Loy Song has toured nationally and internationally with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra and the Glenn Miller Orchestra. His private instructors have included Yusef Lateef, Adam Kolker, Lynn Klock, Ted Levine, and Jeff Holmes. SSG Loy Song has been performing on lead tenor saxophone in the Jazz Knights since November of 2003. SSG Michael Reifenberg Staff Sergeant Michael Reifenberg, a native of Cudahy, Wisconsin, joined the saxophone section of the Jazz Knights in September 2005. In 2003, he received a Bachelor of Music in Saxophone Performance from the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater. Two years later, SSG Reifenberg completed a Master of Music in Jazz Studies at Indiana University School of Music, where he was also an associate instructor under renowned jazz pedagogue David Baker. Throughout the years, Reifenberg's most influential teachers have been Curt Hanrahan, Rob Wilkerson, Tom Walsh, Pat Harbison and David Baker. In addition, he has studied improvisation with Ed Peterson, Joel Frahm, Clay Jenkins and others. SSG Reifenberg has also performed with several jazz legends, including James Moody, Slide Hampton, Bob Mintzer, David Sanchez, the late Frank Mantooth, Denis DiBlasio, Matt Harris, Steve Houghton and Jeff Jarvis. Additionally, he was a member of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra Pops, the Doc Severinsen Big Band, the American Swing Orchestra, the Al Cobine Big Band, the Milwaukee Jazz Orchestra, the Buselli-Wallarab Jazz Orchestra and a host of other bands in the Milwaukee and Indianapolis areas. While in Indiana, Reifenberg was a member of the Bloomington-based Saxophone Cartel, a saxophone/woodwind quintet playing anything from creative arrangements of standard jazz repertoire to original works and pieces that were collectively improvised on the spot. The group was selected to perform at the 2005 North Sea Jazz Festival and recently released its first CD Caught in the Act.
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