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Chuck Stewart – tuba  Click Here for Chuck's web site.
Chuck moved to Arizona in 2000 and brought a wealth of experience with him.  He has been recorded on 16 CD’s and has performed with 27 different groups in 96 jazz festivals too many to list) He has made 9 radio/TV appearances, including the Ed Sullivan Show, and has played on 9 jazz cruises. Some of the most notable bands he has played with are; The Rent Party Revellers, Paramount Jazz Band, Uptown Lowdown, South Frisco, Golden Eagles, Golden Gate Rhythm Machine, New Black Eagles. He has also appeared with Billy Butterfield, Pee Wee Irwin, Johnny Mince, Banu Gibson, Speigle Wilcox and Butch Thompson.

Joe Hopkins - clarinet
Joe has been playing jazz clarinet since the 9th grade (over 50 years ago). He played with many groups in the Fort Worth/Dallas area where he grew up.  In College he majored in both physics and mathematics but had his own jazz band while at Reed College in Portland, OR.  He joined IBM in 1962 and retired in 1993. He continued to play while employed by IBM. He worked with the Churchill Street Jazz Band in Northern California for ten years (1980's) and played most of the Jazz Festivals on the west coast. After moving to Arizona in 1990 he immediately began to play jazz in the Phoenix area.  He was been a member of the Desert City Six for 13 years.  In the last 10 years he has also played with the Off the Wall Over the Hill Gang, Dr. Sasparilla and his Red Hot Jazz Band, Cell Block Seven from Lodi, Calif and the BoonDockers from Northern California. He currently leads three bands of his own: The Joe Hopkins Quartet, the 52nd Street Revival which plays Chicago/New York Style Jazz ala Eddie Condon groups. In addition Joe leads the Moldy Fig Jazz Band which plays authentic New Orleans style Dixieland.  Joe is currently Vice-President of the AZ Classic Jazz Society and Co-Director of the AZ Classic Jazz Festival. http://www.azclassicjazz.org/ Joe has been married to Donna for 30 years and has 9 children. They live in Mesa, AZ. He can be reached at acjspres@aol.com.

Ernie Landes - Trombone
Ernie took up the trombone in high school and began jamming with neighborhood musicians. While attending Stanford University, he heard the bands of Bob Scobey and Turk Murphy in live concerts, and spent many Friday afternoons playing for free beer in college hangouts. He began his career as an aerospace engineer, and helped form a band called the "South Bay Seven", which was popular in the San Jose area during the sixties. In 1973 he was recruited by Frank Goulette to join the "Monterey Bay Classic Jass Band" of Santa Cruz, CA. With this band he performed at  most of the jazz festivals on the West Coast, and enjoyed an eight-year run of Sunday afternoon gigs at the Dream Inn in Santa Cruz. Ernie and Lynne retired to Port Ludlow, WA in 1995, and joined the "Dukes of Dabob", a band that plays during the summer months in taverns and clubs near Port Townsend.  Ernie now spends the winters in Sun City, where he enjoys sitting in with the many talented musicians playing "happy music" here in the valley.

Cheryl Thurston - Piano
Cheryl began playing stride piano professionally at age 14 in Canton Ohio.  She got influenced by her father John Lewis who played cornet in various Dixieland bands around the Cleveland/Akron area. She starting playing piano in her Dad’s band, the “Rainbow Ramblers” until he passed away in 1981. At age 16, she toured Europe playing the trumpet with the American Youth Symphony. While living in Ohio, she was a member of the New Orleans Stompers and got recognized as one of Cleveland’s most interesting people. She has played with the Earlville Jass Band, Rubber City Retreads, Ted Witt Trio, Dixie Ramblers, Eagle Jazz Band, Preservation Hall Jazz Band and performed at the EARLYJAZZ Jazz Festival. She moved to the Phoenix area in 1990, and was a member of the Sun Lakes Stompers, Sun Lakes Dixieland Band, and Sun Lakes Big Band. Currently, she plays at L.J.’s Pizza weekly and has her own group the Cheryl Thurston Combo. She occasionally subs in the Gary Church Band, Joe Hopkins Band, Bob Wardlaw’s Swingtime Jazz Band, and the Bob Beck Trio. She is also a member of Music Al Carte. She has played the Tucson Jazz Festval and Arizona Classic Jazz Festival.

Ted Babcock - banjo
He has played locally in polka bands which has included playing with Frankie Yankovic. He has also played guitar with a local Hawaiian band. He has worked with the Desert City Six which involved playing in the Netherlands and Scotland along with five jazz cruises. He has played many jazz festivals on the West Coast, including the Sacramento Jubilee ten times. He played with Cheryl Stephens Vintage Jazz Band for five years and has been a part of five recordings with various groups.

Gary Church - cornet, piano, trombone and guitar Click here for Gary's Web site
Gary started his musical career in Phoenix and after 25 years has returned. He has performed at countless jazz festivals and clubs. He was with the Silver dollar Jazz Band, Boondockers, Desert City Six, Fulton Street, and many others. Although jazz is his main love,Gary performed and recorded with such Country greats as Roger Miller, Willie Nelson, Mel Tillis and Merle Haggard. He is currently on tour with the Mel Tillis Show. In 2002 Gary was the 23rd musician elected to the Western Swing Hall of Fame.
His career has taken theses twists and turns: 1970-1974- Jeff Woodhouse Dixieland Band, Desert City Six, The Barehanded Wolf Chokers Old- time Dixieland Band Inc.
1974-1976- Walt Disney World -Orlando Florida, Bill Allred's Reedy Creek Jazz Band, Sammy Gardner's Dixieland Band at Rosy O'Grady's in Pensacola Florida, Central Florida Hot Jazz All Stars with Jim Maihack, ( backing up Bobby Hackett in Orlando)
1975- Worked as a replacement trombonist in Jim Cullum's Happy Jazz Band in San Antonio, Tx
1976- Crazy Ed's Place in Deer Valley with Igor, George Rock, Bruce Leeland and The Desert City Six and Igor’s Jazz Cowboys
1977-1979 Went on the road with the Freddy Powers Show from Nevada, while with Freddy got to work with, Al Hirt,Peanuts Hucko, Milton Quackenbush, Wild Bill Davison, Tiny Moore, Jimmy Ivers, Roger MIller and Willie Nelson.
1980-Walt Disney World in Florida worked with the Pearly Band and The Banjo Kings, with Lee Floyd, Eddie Erickson, Randy Morris 1981 - was in the house band at Willie Nelson's Jazz club in Austin Texas called DJANGOS with Ray Benson's Band "Asleep At The Wheel"
1982-1991- travled with Merle Haggard's Strangers playing Western Swing and the Sac Jubilee each year with Jimmy Rivers, also subbed in the Fulton Street Jazz Band and Jan Sutherland and Custer’s Last Band
1991-2000 worked with Mel Tillis and The Statesiders in Branson Mo. and with The Creole Jazz Band from Springfield, Mo.
2001- Joined the Boondockers in Sacramento Ca, returned to Phoenix and worked with his own groups , The Desert City Six, The Joe Hopkins Quartet, The 52nd Street Jazz Band, Bob Wardlaw’s Swingtime and others.
2004- Returned to the Mel Tillis Band.
He has recorded with; Larry Joiner And the Mavericks, The Desert City Six, Freddy Powers, Bill Allred, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, The Joe Hopkins Quartet.