The Brothers - Up Close and Personnel

Steve Grismore is an adjunct instructor of Jazz Studies at Augustana College and the University of Iowa. The boy just can't seem to leave that guitar alone. He has been playing over for 40 years, and has a Bachelor of Music from the Guitar Institute of Technology and his BA and MA from the University of Iowa.

Steve has recorded three nationally distributed CDs for the Accurate label with the Grismore/Scea Group, the most recent being Well Behaved Fish. Steve also performs and records with Orquesta Alto Maiz and Oddbar. Currently Steve is performing with his own trio, Sam Salamone, and the John Shultz Organization. He is also the co-founder and current Musical Director of the nationally-recognized Iowa City Jazz Festival.

James Dreier is a drum set and Latin percussion specialist, educator, clinician, and performer. Lucky for us, he heard Santana in 1968, and hasn't been the same since. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Berklee College of Music (Boston, MA) and a Master of Arts degree in music theory from the University of Iowa. A Lecturer in Jazz Studies at the University of Iowa, James directs several Latin and Jazz ensembles.

For 40 years and counting, James has engaged all aspects of popular (and sometimes un-popular) music styles, including jazz, rock and roll, blues, Latin, big band, funk and many others. His passion for Latin music (muchas gracias, Carlos) led him to study with Pablo Landrum at the Berklee College of Music, and to perform and travel with Brazilian pianist Rafael Dos Santos, including a residency at the Conservatorio Pernambucano de Musica in Recife, Brazil. James also performs and records with Orquesta Alto Maiz, Oddbar and The Moe Band.

He is an educational artist for Sabian Cymbals and Latin Percussion Brand Musical Instruments.

John Shultz attended the University of Northern Iowa, the Berklee College of Music and the Boston School of Electronic Music. Unlike Kevin Bacon, he's separated from six degrees. Like the other Brothers, John has been performing for 40-odd years - some of them very odd. Predominantly a pianist, organist and synthesist, he also sings and plays bass, guitar and most recently, marching bass drum.

John spent much of his early career as a producer and recording engineer, composing and performing many award-winning jingles and video scores. After tenures with production groups and ad agencies, he currently spends his blissful days as a web designer and interactive multimedia developer. Find out more. He is also a member of the adjunct faculty of Kirkwood Community College. He can catch him performing with several bands, including the John Shultz Organization, The Moe Band, The Saints Dixieland Band and Krewe Osgood.

Dan Hummel is an educator and specialist in behavior disorders, which comes in handy working with the Beaker Brothers. He has a B.A. Music Education and a M.A. in Secondary Special Education from the University of Northern Iowa.

Dan has played drums and percussion since the age of fourteen, having performed with many jazz bands and combos, regional symphonies, musicals, dance troupes (think Bill T. Jones) dance & rock bands (like the Nationals), and can occasionally be found performing at a circus or rodeo. As a musician, that is. Yet another founding member of Orquesta Alto Maiz, Dan has also played the vibraphone in Jazz Too since 1974.

Bassist "Uncle Ed" English has been a part of the Eastern Iowa blues scene for over 15 years. He was also inspired by Clyde Clifford's Beaker Street on KAAY as a teenager in the 70's. His love of British Invasion rock bands, as well as the guitar slingers stateside, kept him listening late into the night.

Getting his start as a founding member of The Blues Instigators, English also provided the funky bottom for the Gary Gibson Group, TruthHawk/WindHorse, Steve Price and Michael "Hawkeye" Herman. He served as the house bassman for over 12 years of Monday Night Blues Jams in Iowa City and can be seen holding down the low end for Johnny Kilowatt. He's an Aries, and prefers the vintage tone of the four string bass.

Dan Bernstein came to us from Chicago. As if that alone weren't enough, it's been said that his playing "doesn't suck." His B.S. in general science came from the University of Iowa, as did his J.D. He spent several years as a neurosurgery research assistant, so don't try to tell him it isn't brain surgery - he knows the difference (try the rocket science thing). Dan still serves the same patients today, but in a somewhat different way - as an attorney specializing in medical malpractice, personal injury and workers' compensation. Usually, he's not one to quibble, but he has argued before the Iowa Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of Iowa (and sometimes before rehearsal).

Dan has been an active musician most of his life, working with the legendary band Source in the 70s, Whambo Jamboree and Blue Money in the 80s and several projects with John Lake over the years, culminating with his recent auspicious association with the Beaker Brothers.