The Saxophone Players
Dr. John Gottdiener - Lead Tenor, Clarinet
John studied clarinet in his native Brooklyn with Pat Nizza and Loren Kitt of the National Symphony Orchestra and was one of the youngest musicians ever to become a member of the New York Symphony Orchestra. Having failed in his ambition to be lead dancer with Chippendales he has performed in the Washington area with the Washington Chamber Players Orchestra, the National Philharmonic, and Mount Vernon Orchestra. When not involved with his musical activities, he serves as a professor of medicine and director of the echocardiography laboratory at the University of Maryland.
Murray Green - Lead Alto
Murray hails from New Orleans LA, the last in a family of ten, where all children were introduced to music. He was influenced by his older brothers, a tenor sax player, a bass guitar player and two trumpet players. “My oldest brother’s tone on the trumpet was one of the best I’ve ever heard”.
Murray joined the Olney Big Band in late 2003 playing tenor II saxophone. At the time, he said he was “just getting back into playing music after a long hiatus”. He had started playing music again with his son, who at the time was coming along as a 7th grade saxophone player. After a year or so, his son discovered football and began to focus his attention elsewhere. But the flame had been reignited in Murray, a one time marching band captain and jazz combo leader. He found the Olney Big Band through his membership in the Olney Community Band.
After a few months, the lead alto sax player left the Band, putting the troupe in a quandary. Murray stepped up and said, “I’ve just bought an alto sax. May I try out for the lead alto job?” He did, they listened, and the rest is history.
It took a while for Murray to become comfortable with his alto sax, and a little longer for him to become comfortable with the ins and outs of leading the sax section. But his love for music and his desire to work hard have proven to be assets, to the enjoyment of the Band and their audiences.
His favorite genre of music is Hard Bop and his favorite sax player is Cannoball Adderly. He is an IT professional with an affinity for logic and a love for the sciences. But his joy is easily seen when the band is swinging. “I never thought I would do this again. I’m enjoying every minute.”
Dave Schumer - Baritone, Tenor, Alto Saxes; Clarinet
Dave anchors the band’s sax section on baritone saxophone. Born in Passaic and raised in Clifton, New Jersey a bedroom community of Manhattan, he started saxophone lessons in 6th grade as part of the school’s music program. In high school he studied clarinet and played alto, tenor, and baritone sax in the school’s concert, marching, and jazz ensembles. A member of the high school’s big band, one of his biggest thrills came when he got to perform on the stage of the Central Theatre in Passaic, N.J. The theatre which seats over 2,000 people was the same one where Glenn Miller performed his last commercial concert before being commissioned into the Army on September 27, 1942. After high school David studied music at Florida State University, but after two years had a change of heart and went on to attain a degree in Business Administration majoring in accounting. After graduation he accepted a position as an internal auditor with the U.S. Army Audit Agency in New York and finished up his career with the Department of Energy in Washington, D.C. It was after retirement that he got serious again about music and started playing initially with several ensembles in the metropolitan area including the Olney Concert Band. With the birth of the Olney Jazz Troupe (OBB) in 2003; then an off shoot of the concert band, he fell in love all over again playing the big band music he loved and enjoyed as a teenager.
Sue Vazakas - Tenor
Born in Philadelphia, Pennslyvania, Sue grew up in central New Jersey. After several years of piano lessons, she began studying the saxophone at age 10. She played saxophone and percussion for many years with the historic Blawenburg Band, which is the oldest band in New Jersey. She holds a doctorate in bioethics from Boston University and manages the Science and Engineering Library at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD. She tells this story about her musical career: While in 5th grade, the band leader came around and asked what we wanted to play. I asked for drums, but he said that they already had lots of kids who wanted to play drums. How about saxophone? Sure, I said, not having a clue what that was.
It finally arrived, my brand new Selmer Bundy alto sax! Do you remember the scene in “The Music Man” where the Wells Fargo Wagon delivers the band instruments to River City, and little Ronny Howard babbles joyfully about “what a beautiful shiny gold thing!”? That was me!
Several decades and musical groups later, Sue plays with OBB and the Olney Community Band. Just three years ago she switched to tenor sax, and has huge fun playing it.
Sue believes she will be playing her tenor to a venerable age, and become the role model for high school kids and others who will realize that you can pick your instrument back up at any age – there’s always a place to play.
