Drew Chandler
Managing Editor
Drew Chandler is a drummer, artist manager, and Music Business graduate from Berklee College of Music. Before Berklee, Drew spent six years as a session and touring drummer playing various venues and clubs around the southwest, and four years working in various functions of hardware and software development in Austin, TX. Since graduation, Drew has put his drum sticks aside and founded an artist management company with direct representation in Austin, TX, Los Angeles, CA, and Boston, MA. He splits his time between that venture and working as Managing Editor of BerkleeJazz.org. For the most part, he is the man behind the ubiquitous “HSJF Admin” curtain.
Will Cafaro
Writer
Will Cafaro is a doubling bassist, composer, and Jazz Composition and Professional Music dual-major at Berklee College of Music.
While attending high school in Detroit, Will was a member of the civic ensembles under the direction of Detroit jazz legend Rodney Whitaker and developed a local reputation as a versatile free-lance player. He found himself playing in multiple house bands and local rhythm sections every night of the week, and eventually performed on We Travel the Spaceways with the Planet D Nonet, which won Best Jazz Record in the 2011 Detroit Music Awards.
Since beginning at Berklee, Will has remained an in-demand bassist and has found himself playing in India and Concert Hall at Lincoln Center in New York. Will has performed and studied with Benny Golson, Josh Roseman, Julian Lage, Lin Biviano, Phil Wilson, Eric Alexander, Dave Samuels, Bruno Raberg, John Lockwood, Jo Thompson, Andy McGee and Dicky Betts among others.
Jake Feingold
Writer
Jake Feingold is a guitarist at Berklee College of Music planning on majoring in Professional Music with a minor in Philosophy. Originally from West Hartford, Connecticut, he grew up listening to artists such as James Taylor, The Beatles, Earth Wind and Fire, the Doobie Brothers, and more. Hitting high school, Jake became affiliated with the high school big band jazz scene as a rhythm guitarist, preceding his entrance to Berklee with a greater appreciation, fascination, and passion for Jazz and Jazz-affected music.
Dominic Florio
Writer
Dominic Florio is a pianist, singer, and composer from Gurnee, Illinois (just north of Chicago) and is currently studying Composition and Performance at Berklee College of Music. Before entering college, Dominic attended Chicago’s prestigious Merit School of Music where he studied Jazz Piano and Vocal Performance. There, and at his High School, he had the opportunity to perform with Bob Rummage, Paul Wertico, Fred Simon, Lou Solloff, Jon Irobagon, and Steve Million to name a few. In Gurnee and the surrounding towns, Dominic gained a reputation as a reliable performer in the bar scene.
Dominic’s passions lie in becoming a proficient songwriter and performer, mixing soul and gospel styles of music with pop.
Amanda Konkel
Writer
Amanda Konkel has been a tenor saxophone player for over twelve years and just recently graduated from Berklee College of Music with a degree in Music Education. She grew up on the west coast where she gained most of her jazz experience in and around Seattle clubs. Amanda attended the Centrum Port Townsend Jazz Camp five years in a row and got a chance to meet and learn from west coast players such as John Clayton, Benny Green, Paquito D’Rivera, Jeff Hamilton and many more. Jazz has been one of her loves since she was fourteen and she thoroughly enjoys the opportunity to share that passion with others.
Armeen Musa
Writer
Armeen Musa is a singer and songwriter from Dhaka, Bangladesh. Prior to attending Berklee, she studied Economics at the University of Nottingham and has performed as a solo performer and backing vocalist in England, Bangladesh and North America with musicians including Bobby McFerrin, Mark Mondesir, Fazal Qureshi and Arnob.
Tom Weeks
Writer
Tom Weeks is a saxophone and guitar player from Danville, California (in the San Francisco Bay Area), and is currently a Jazz Composition major at Berklee College of Music. Before attending Berklee, he studied history and music at San Francisco State University and Diablo Valley College, and has performed with such musicians as Rory Snyder, Dave Eshelman, Steed Cowart, Joe Livotti and Bruce Mishkit. As a composer and player, Tom is mainly interested in combining traditional jazz with hardcore punk, metal, free improvisation, experimental, and film and video game music. He has played in numerous punk and experimental groups in the Bay Area, and led and composed for the progressive rock/punk band Star Destroyer, with which he toured the western US several times.
