Dan Bielenberg

Tenor Sax /Soprano Sax / Vocals

Dan Bielenberg brings the following credentials to the AUGUST horn section: performer, vocalist, composer and arranger. Dan grew up in Stuart, Florida, near West Palm Beach, and started playing tenor sax in middle school, adding the flute and the soprano sax in high school. During college he included the guitar to his list of instruments and discovered his “voice” as he began singing as well. Music lessons began in high school and continued with his college music professor, Greg Lawson, at Florida State University at Tallahassee, where he majored in music through his sophomore year. Currently one of Dan’s goals is to stretch himself by returning to taking private lessons when his kids are out of high school.

Beginning in high school and continuing for a few years after that, Dan sang and played sax in Blic, a local South Florida band that enjoyed a modest following. Since the late 1980’s he has been very active in church music. In 2006, he recorded a contemporary Christian CD, “More Than Anything”. This compilation of original compositions and arrangements, which is available at http://cdbaby.com/cd/bielenberg, as well as iTunes, features Dan singing and playing guitar as well as the saxophone parts. He has also performed on various CD projects of friends.

His musical influences range from Stevie Wonder, through Chicago and Blood Sweat and Tears, to Pink Floyd and Jethro Tull and into the jazz masters of Chick Corea, and Count Basie. His sax “heros” include Wayne Shorter, Michael Brecker and Joshua Redman.

Jim DeSalvo

Baritone Saxophone

Jim’s musical journey began with private piano lessons at age 7. In fifth grade Jim moved to the alto sax and the following year jumped to the baritone. He took private lessons for 8 years from Mr. Bill Edwards, a band director, and continued taking lessons into his college career. In addition to private lessons, he attended jazz band summer camps throughout high school at Western Illinois University. In addition to the baritone sax, Jim also plays tenor, alto and soprano sax, clarinet and flute.

While attending Holy Cross High School in River Grove, Illinois, he kept very busy performing in the school’s concert, jazz, marching and pep bands as well as in the school’s pit orchestra for school plays. Outside of school, he played in “Unity”, a horn rock band from 1974 through 1981, where they had garnered quite a following from colleges, high schools and clubs.

A volunteer musician at Willow Creek Church for 10+ years, Jim worked with many different musical groups that regularly performed for the church’s weekend services. This work also included backing up bands for many of the contemporary Christian recording artists that were brought in. He is currently a volunteer musician at Harvest Bible Chapel as well as an “on call” musician for various local Chicago area bands.

He has performed on 3 CD’s: “The Paul Langford Project”, “24-7-365 Promiseland Music”, and, “The World’s Most Dangerous Church Band”, the Willow Creek studio band. He lists some of his musical influences as: Tower of Power, BS&T, Average White Band, Earth, Wind & Fire, Tom Scott, Richard Elliot, Paul Langford, John Carlson and the big bands of Buddy Rich and Maynard Ferguson.

Jim took over the baritone sax spot for AUGUST in March of 2009.

Nick Drozdoff

Trumpet / Arranger

Born in Chicago and raised in St. Louis, Nick was about 10 years old when he discovered Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, Rafael Mendez, Doc Severensin, Clark Terry, and Maynard Ferguson. At age 12, he rented a trumpet using lawn mowing money and started teaching himself to play.

Nick had many teachers throughout his youth and early adulthood. His first teacher was Bill Bay. He then studied with Eddie Brauer, former first trumpet with the St. Louis Municipal Opera Company. In college, he studied with Gary Smith of the St. Louis Symphony. After graduation he settled in Chicago (with an engineering degree) and studied with a variety of trumpet teachers, most notably Neal Dunlap of Vandercook College of Music. It was under Neal’s tutelage that he advanced and evolved, resulting in his becoming a member of the Maynard Ferguson Big Band.

After leaving Maynard’s band, Nick continued studying with a variety of different teachers.

Nick played at the University of Missouri, Washington University, Merrimac Community College Big Band, and an excellent big band just outside of St. Louis, Missouri.

The list of performers that Nick’s performed with reads like a “who’s who” of the entertainment world: The Maynard Ferguson Big Band, The O-Jays, Dennis De Young of Styx, Sammy Davis, Jr., Melissa Manchester, Rich Little, John Denver, The Spinners, The Temptations, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Patti Page, Della Resse, Carole Lawrence, Robert Goulet, Steve Lawrence and Edie Gorme, Bill Cosby, and Louie Bellson just to name a few!!

In the classical vein, he has performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra members for the Apollo Chorus, and has been the featured Soloist at NewTrier High School jazz band concerts, Bensenville Concert Band, Lake Forest Symphony, Glenbrook North High School Concert Band, and Oak Lawn Symphony

He is also heard on numerous CD’s, most recently his own release, “No Man is an Island”, which is available through his website (listed below).

In the 1980’s his company booked his own band until 1991, when he chose the teaching profession. He is currently a physics teacher at New Trier High School in the north suburbs of Chicago and had been nominated as “Teacher of the Year” and “Science Teacher of the Year”. He has written technical manuals in electrical engineering as well as trumpet methods books and is a music clinician throughout the Chicagoland area. Nick continues a limited musical “jobbing” schedule, performing with other groups throughout the area. He is an endorser of the Getzen Company trumpet line. To learn more about Nick, please visit his website, www.nickdrozdoff.com, or one of many other sites featuring him, most notably www.getzen.com and www.trumpetplayerprofiles.com

Mike Fagan

Trumpet, Flugelhorn

A well known music teacher and school band director in the Aurora (IL) area for 34 years, Mike Fagan joins AUGUST with a wealth of experience. Beginning with the cornet at age 10, his love of performing has lasted over 4 decades.

He studied cornet/trumpet for ten years with several brass instrument teachers and played in West Aurora (IL) schools bands and orchestras beginning in the 5th grade and continuing through high school. After completing his schooling and during his tenure as band director in various schools, he continued performing with numerous bands throughout the Chicagoland area.

In addition to trumpet, Mike also plays flugelhorn and valve trombone. He accepted an invitation to join AUGUST in August 2006.

Cipriano “Cip” Garcia

Alto Sax

Cip Garcia began his self-taught musical journey in third grade at age 9 with the trumpet. In junior high school he began to dabble with the alto sax, all the while continuing to play the trumpet in his high school band. In addition to the trumpet and alto sax, Cip also has had a brief stint playing bass in a band with his older brothers.

After high school he made the complete switch to alto sax and performed with many bands throughout the Fox Valley area including the AUGUST extension band, Liberty Road. He has performed on two contemporary Christian recordings with Rose Schulz and on the Paul Lewis CD's. One performance of note was his “jamming” with Buddy Miles and John Allen.

His performing stopped when he was stricken with arthritis. In May 1990 life returned to normal when his arthritis was healed while attending the First Assembly Church of God.

In August 2006, he was invited to join the horn section of AUGUST. With his return to the music scene as the alto saxophonist of AUGUST, he also rejoins some of his Liberty Road Band mates.

Gary King

Trombone / Bass Trombone

Trombonist Gary King began his music life at the age of 10, when he was introduced to the alto sax by his father, who happened to be the band director of the school district where he attended. He switched to trombone approximately a month later when two things happened…#1-he asked to change to trombone, and ; #2-his band director father needed more trombones in the school band. He began serious music lessons while in junior and senior high school, studying for 6 years with Johnny Reger, a session/studio musician in the Dayton, Ohio, area

During his school years, he played in the Tippecanoe High School Band in Tipp City, Ohio. In addition to performing with his high school band, he also performed in the NCR (National Cash Register) summer band which was an “all-star” concert band made up of high school students from the Dayton area. During his final summer season he occupied the trombone section’s first chair. While in college at the University of Cincinnati he performed with the school’s concert band. In 1970, Gary tried assembling a horn band, which never got beyond the rehearsal stage.

After completing his education, he performed in 3 different big bands in the New Jersey area before settling for 4 years with “Vegas East”, a regional big band made up of local music union members. During his tenure with the band, they performed at the 1982 Hilton Head Jazz Festival. Gary also can be heard on 2 of the band’s self-recorded albums. Locally (Chicago area), he has performed with the Fox Valley Concert Band.

In addition to his “Vegas East” stint, he also has performed with many pit orchestras in New Jersey and Illinois supporting community and School Theater.

Gary brings the musical influences of Chicago’s James Pankow, Bill Watrous, Maynard Ferguson, Stan Kenton Band, Jim Pugh, Bill Chase, Don Ellis, the Buddy Rich Big Band, Steve Turre (and those wonderful shells) to name a few.

Jim Selig

Tenor Sax

Returning AUGUST alumni, tenor saxophonist, Jim Selig, began playing the alto and tenor sax around the age of 10. He played in various school bands in elementary, junior and senior high school, where he moved away from the alto sax and redirected his focus to the tenor and baritone sax.

After his school band experiences, he performed 4-year stint at the Rosemont theater with Trent Carlini. His association with Carlini took him to performances in Washington, DC, as well. Additionally, Jim performed for 8 years with the prestigious Wheaton Municipal Band and the Wheaton Symphony. He now performs with the Dekalb Municipal Band. In the pop music world, Jim performed with the band, “Southbound”; as well as with the Jason Hubbard band (which featured AUGUST lead vocalist, Ron Porter).

Jim joined AUGUST mid-way through 1975 and continued with the band until the extended “break” in 1976, where he continued with some of the AUGUST members in the band, Liberty Road. He has performed in numerous bands throughout the Chicagoland area for more years that he would like to remember.

Jim’s influences are varied and he claims a broad mix of musical formats from classical through jazz, R&B, rock and “even country” for inspiration. “There are outstanding players and composers in almost every type, (except perhaps rap, hip-hop, etc.).” Always on the move, he enjoys playing with new and interesting performers because “you never know where your next influence will come from!”

Rick Van Pelt

Trumpet / Vocals

Rick Van Pelt started taking piano lessons from his mother, a piano teacher, at age 5. He was introduced to the cornet at age 10 and graduated to the trumpet by age 14. Throughout his school career he performed with the bands and orchestras offered by the West Aurora (IL) School District as well as Waubonsee Community College, where he played lead trumpet in the jazz band for 4 years. He credits Jim Hatch and Duane Wickeiser for the desire to pursue music. While in college he had opportunities to perform under the direction of Henry Mancini and Francis Acousch. Additionally, while attending a collegiate festival with Waubonsee Communitiy College Jazz Band he received group instruction from famed trumpeter and orchestra leader, Doc Severensin. In the summer of 1970 Rick played under the direction of Dr. Harry Begian, the future Director of Music at the University of Illinois.

He performed with the American Legion Band Post 84 from 1970-75, winning first place in national concert and marching competitions. In addition to the Legion Band, Rick also played with the Aurora(IL) Union Band from1971-74, and the Fox Valley Symphony from 1970-75.

Rick joined AUGUST in June of 1974 as second trumpet. After AUGUST temporarily disbanded in 1976, he continued with the band Liberty Road until 1980. He has also performed in various theatrical pit orchestras throughout the Fox Valley.

He has given private trumpet lessons and since 1994 has been the choir director for Resurrection Lutheran Church.