Dennis Gray
Dennis was a beloved member of SwingMasters, and we are sad to report that he recently passed away. Dennis played alto sax and clarinet in the Sacramento area for over 50 years. He performed in diverse groups including small combos, big bands and concert bands. He was solo clarinetist for the River City Concert Band, and played lead alto in SwingMasters for over ten years.
John Woodhouse
John began playing saxophone in middle school, encouraged by his musician father, and he played in the marching and concert bands at Sacramento High School. After attending CSUS for one year, he joined the US Air Force as a musician. He was stationed in Omaha, Nebraska, and the 595th AF Band on Guam. After a hiatus of several years, John returned to play with the Ben Ali Shrine Band where he is the first chair alto sax. John also began playing with the Legionaires Dance Band.
In addition to SwingMasters, John has played with the 30-40’s-50’s Band, CRC Jazz band, Fred Morgan Band, Dick Harris Band, Kiwanis Dance Band, and the Red Clark band. He plays clarinet in the Sacramento Concert Band and is a substitute saxophonist for Tenor and Alto with the Sacramento Symphonic Winds. He continues to study with acclaimed Sacramento saxophonist Mike McMullen.
Barry Ghezzi
The "Ghezz" has a long and varied base of playing experience in the Sacramento area. A multi-instrumentalist, Barry considers the trumpet his main "axe", but he dazzles with his solos on alto and tenor sax, and especially flute. In the Swingmasters, Barry plays lead tenor and flute.
Dominic Dalpez
Dom comes to the Swingmasters via CSU Sacramento, where he majored in Jazz Performance. Dom plays tenor sax with our band, but considers himself a solid baritone sax player as well.
Warner Seargeant
Warner plays baritone sax for the SwingMasters, and was the founding Leader of the band at its inception in 1997.
Warner began playing tenor sax in the sixth grade when his musically inclined mother decided it would be good for his character and development. Now, he feels that music is one of his great loves because of it beauty, its soul and its ability to close the spaces between people. He has called the union between the audience and the musicians “a great prize”. As for his instrument, he says: “The saxophone is one of the easiest instruments to start playing, but one of the most difficult to master.”
