Past Guest Artists

After graduating high school in Southern California in 1976, Eric went on to study at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Mass. There he studied with the legendary saxophone professor, Joe Viola. By the time he left Berklee, Eric had achieved the highest proficiency rating given by the school. In 1995, Eric was awarded the Berklee Distinguished Alumnus Award for outstanding achievements in contemporary music. He has since gone on to perform in over 75 different countries, recorded 15 solo CD’s and has played on hundreds of records, films, television shows, and commercial jingles.

Eric started his professional career in 1980 with famed New Orleans trumpeter Al Hirt. After returning to Los Angeles Eric became a member of the famed Chick Corea Elektric Band. He recorded 6 CD’s with the band and won 2 Grammy Awards. Eric went on to join the Jeff Lorber Fusion. Among the CD’s Eric recorded with Jeff, 2 were nominated for Grammy Awards. Jeff Lorber was instrumental is producing many of Eric’s CD’s. Other artists Eric has performed with include Elton John, Barbara Streisand, Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder, Dionne Warwick, Burt Bacharach, Aaron Neville, Johnny Mathis, Dave Grusin, Lee Ritenour, George Duke, David Benoit, The Rippingtons, and many others.

Among Eric’s 15 solo albums, his latest is a collaboration with legendary trumpeter Randy Brecker entitled “Double Dealin” on Shanachie Records. This CD was nominated for a GRAMMY Award for “Best Contemporary Instrumental Album”. Eight of the songs that Eric has recorded have made it to the top 10 of the National Contemporary Jazz Radio Charts and three have made it to #1. Eric was voted as being one of the year’s “Favorite Alto Sax Players” in Jazziz Magazine’s Reader’s Poll along with David Sanborn and Phil Woods. Since 2015 Eric has maintained an online saxophone school with ArtistWorks, www.artistworks.com/eric. Eric has also written 3 instructional books, “Comprehensive Jazz Studies & Exercises”, The Ultimate Jazz Play Along” and “The Music Of Eric Marienthal” as well as 3 instructional videos all published by Warner Bros. Publications which is now Alfred Publishing/Belwin Jazz.

For the past 25 years Eric has put on an annual fundraising concert for High Hopes. High Hopes is a non-profit organization in Orange County, California that works with people who have suffered traumatic head injuries. With the help of many guest artists who have donated their time to perform, these concerts to date have raised well over $2,000,000 for this charity.

In addition to performing on the cruises, Eric is the Music Director for all cruise programs (The Jazz Cruise, The Smooth Jazz Cruise, Blue Note at Sea, Chris Botti at Sea) and land based programs (The Smooth Jazz Cruise on Land, Jazz Cruises Presents George Benson, Samara Joy Holiday Show) produced by Jazz Cruises, LLC.

Aubrey Logan graduated from Berklee School of Music in 2010, and since then she has recorded three solo albums and has collaborated on many others. Logan won the Audience’s Choice Award and the Jury’s First Place Award at the 2009 Shure-Montreaux Jazz Festival in Switzerland; she is also a featured artist for Postmodern Jukebox.

Her first album in 2019 made her a household name with music aficionados around the world. Because it was that album, Where the Sunshine is Expensive, that showed the depth of songwriting that she is capable of.

In between her recording commitments, Logan finds time to share the stage with Alabama Shakes, Meghan Trainor, Pharrell Williams, Josh Groban, Dave Koz, The Commodores, and Boston Pops at venues as diverse as Ronnie Scott’s famous jazz club in London to the expansive Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. She’s appeared on Jimmy Kimmel and the Grammys’ Award Show and ABC’s The Goldbergs. She’s recorded a duet with her childhood hero, Gloria Estefan. She’s beloved by not just the dedicated fans of Postmodern Jukebox, but she considers the creator, Scott Bradlee, and her colleagues within the collective her true friends; And she loves performing. But it is in her writing that we find out who Aubrey Logan really is.

“A singer, trombone player and a songwriter, her body of work is underscored by the integrity of a performer that is able to stretch herself emotionally across a musical landscape that defies description. Complex and still retaining the intimacy of stories that are both personal and inspiring, Aubrey is able to bring a wealth of experience to her song writing that touches the deepest part of the human experience.”

Originally from Denver, free-lance trumpeter, Greg Gisbert, has firmly established himself as one of the most sought-after and well-respected artists in jazz today. He has recorded and performed with jazz greats including Buddy Rich, Woody Herman, Clark Terry, Horace Silver, Maynard Ferguson, Bobby Shew, John Fedchock, Harry Connick Jr., Jim McNeely, Toshiko Akiyoshi, and Nancy Wilson. He is one of the founding members of the group Convergence, as well as the founder of the Greg Gisbert Syndicate, both based in Denver. Gisbert is a frequent invited guest with an array of ensembles, including the Maria Schneider and Vanguard Jazz Orchestras, the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, and Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band. A gifted and generous educator, Gisbert has served on the faculty at the University of Miami, Colorado Conservatory for the Jazz Arts, University of Denver, Manhattan School of Music and Juilliard School of Music, and he is the new Artist Faculty in Residence at the University of Northern Colorado starting in the Fall of 2017.

Saxophonist Jeff Coffin is a globally recognized musician, composer, educator and author. He is a member of the Dave Matthews Band, a 3X Grammy winner, and was a 14 year member of Béla Fleck and the Flecktones. He also fronts his own groups, the Mu’tet and the Viridian Trio. In addition to a long list of other accomplishments, Jeff finds time to teach saxophone and improvisation at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN.