As part of our Student Jazz Performance Series, we present AlbaTrio. This concert made possible, in part, with support from the Community Foundation of St. Joseph County's ArtsEverywhere initiative, from their grant for our Student Jazz Performance Series.

AlbaTrio is comprised of Tommy Lehman on trumpet (of the Acid Cats and Admirables), Tim Lekan on bass and Anthony Taddeo on drums and percussion (Hey Mavis and Helen Welch). A relatively new trio, the project was started by Anthony Taddeo in 2019 to explore one of his favorite trio formations. The compositions of the group deal greatly with the various nuances of each instrument all while pushing their role in the context of a jazz trio. Taking from the sounds of Miles Davis, Dave Douglas and Avishai Cohen, AlbaTrio is a trumpet trio that brings a diverse and eclectic sound to the jazz idiom.

Anthony Taddeo is a percussionist, composer and ODP performing artist currently residing in Cleveland, OH. Early on in his musical career he studied with world renown percussionist Jamey Haddad before moving to New York City in 2009 to further pursue his musical career at The Newschool for Jazz and Contemporary Music. Anthony has toured North America and Europe extensively playing at festivals such as Tri-C Jazz Festival, Bern Jazz Festival in Switzerland and Ciclo 1906 Jazz Fest in Spain. His versatility as a musician has led him to be featured on over 30 albums with a diverse array of musicians and genres. Anthony is an active composer and arranger for projects in NYC and Cleveland; his most recent composition work being the film score for “Making Montgomery Clift” that debuted at the LA Film Festival in Sept, 2018. He also teaches drums and percussion at Cuyahoga Community College, and is endorsed by “Out of the Drawer Percussion” as a performing artist. He is currently studying to get a masters in Composition at Youngstown State University. Many of the compositions on this tour are Anthony's.

Trumpeter Tommy Lehman is a native of West Akron and graduate of Firestone High School. He has been playing professionally for 8 years, regularly performing with Nathan-Paul and The Admirables, Theron Brown, Dan Wilson, and his own groups — The Squadtet and Acid Cats. Upon his completion at the renowned jazz studies program at Tri-C in Cleveland, Tommy transferred to the prestigious Hartt School of Music in West Hartford, Connecticut to continue his collegiate studies with Freddie Hendrix, Steve Davis, Nat Reeves, Javon Jackson, amongst others. 

Bassist, composer and educator Tim Lekan began his musical journey touring the United States playing electric bass in R&B bands. His love of jazz and the bass playing of masters such as Paul Chambers, Ron Carter, Red Mitchell, and Charlie Haden eventually led him to the acoustic bass. Tim has had many influential teachers, including Ron Thomas, Michael Moore, Dennis Irwin and Martin Wind. A native of Cleveland, Tim lived and worked in New Jersey from June, 1986 through April, 2016. As a free-lance bassist he had the opportunity to work with and accompany many artists including Joe Barrett, Oscar Brown Jr., Paul Jost, Barry Miles, Rebecca Paris, Jim Ridl, Gina Roche, Steve Ash, and Ron Thomas. During this time he was also a member of The George Mesterhazy Trio, The Antfarm Quartet and Trio Music (with drummer Bob Shomo and pianist Jim Ridl).  

Many of Tim’s original compositions can be heard on 2 self-produced CDs - ‘P.M. - The Tim Lekan Trio with special guest Gina Roche' on Encounter Records (1997), and The Tim Lekan Quintet - 'Short Stories' (2014). As an organizer and supporter of the local music scene in South Jersey, Tim collaborated with Dan and Sandi Anderson at Sandi Point Coastal Bistro, and presented The Tuesday Night Jazz Series, a weekly summer jam session and Young Musicians Night. He was also the recipient of the 2016 South Jersey Jazz Society Jazz Master Award. Tim currently resides in North Olmsted, Ohio, where he maintains a busy schedule working as a freelance bassist, leading his own ensemble, composing, and working full time as a special education aide/tutor in the North Olmsted City Schools.

https://albatrio.bandcamp.com/releases