• Genre :: Jazz
• Listen :: xx
• View :: Band Website
• download :: HiRes Image

The Charlie Porter Quartet was formed in 2005 and is becoming a steady presence in New York City clubs and performance venues. The group's main focus is to develop new music while also keeping tradition alive with standard jazz repertoire.

Charlie Porter (trumpet), a New York-based trumpeter, composer and bandleader, is equally at home playing both jazz and classical music. He has performed and recorded with such notable musicians as Paquito D'Rivera, David Taylor, and Kenny Drew, to name a few. A core member of Kristjan Jarvi's Absolute Ensemble, Mr. Porter has toured extensively in Europe and Australia. He earned his undergraduate degree at The Julliard School and is currently on scholarship at the Manhattan School of Music in pursuit of a Master's Degree in Jazz Performance. Mr. Porter performs regularly with various groups in New York City.

Adam Birnbaum (piano) is quickly emerging as one of the top young voices in jazz piano. After receiving an Artist's Diploma as a member of The Juilliard School's inaugural Jazz Studies class, Mr. Birnbaum went on to win the 2004 American Jazz Piano Competition and became the American Pianists Association's Cole Porter fellow in Jazz. He has since performed throughout the world for prestigious musical festivals such as the Tanglewood Jazz Festival in Massachusetts and the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, as well as in various jazz clubs in New York City. Mr. Birnbaum has recently performed and recorded with jazz legends such as Carl Allen, Wynton Marsalis, and Ben Wolfe, among others.

Joseph Lepore (bass) was born in New York and moved to Europe with his family as an adolescent. He began his formal music training in Italy at age 12 and started playing the double bass when he was 15. Mr. Lepore graduated from Italy's Conservatory of Salerno with high honors in 1992 and worked as a professor for a number of years, providing instruction on the double bass in various schools in Salerno and Rome. Since his return to New York in 1999, Mr. Lepore has performed with the group Tiro '65 and numerous other musicians. He toured West Africa in 2004 as part of a U.S. State Department program.

Quincy Davis (drums), a Michigan native, has been playing drums since he was six. He began his formal musical education at the private arts high school Interlochen Arts Academy and went on to study with drum master Billy Hart at Western Michigan University. As a college student, Mr. Davis performed in several jazz festivals to great acclaim. After teaching elementary and middle school music for a year, he moved to New York in 2000 and quickly became a sough-after musician. Over the past six years he has played with jazz luminaries such as Wynton Marsalis, Frank Wess, Eric Reed, and Paquito D'Rivera. With these and other bands Mr. Davis has performed in over 10 different countries and in many well known jazz clubs in New York City.