Co-leader Douglas Stone, Saxophone

Doug Stone was raised in Peoria, Illinois and began playing the saxophone professionally at age 10.  He received his bachelor's degree from Northern Illinois University.  While at NIU, Stone performed with jazz legends such as Frank Wes, Frank Foster, Benny Golson, Rufus Reid, Ed Thigpen and Larry Ridley.  Stone also led the university's top combo as well as his own groups, the Jazz Arranging Syndicate and Scantily Clad, featuring his original works.  Professionally, Doug has performed with trombonist, composer and arranger Joey Sellers and is a member of Panoramic, a world-jazz group co-led by steel pan virtuoso Liam Teague and pianist/percussionist Robert Chappell.  In fall of 2004 and winter of 2005 Doug toured with Maynard Ferguson and the Big Bop Nouveau.Doug currently resides in Roselle, Illinois and has performed locally with the Joel Spencer Quartet, the Nick Fryer Trio, the Chicago Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra, the John Burnett Orchestra, the Model Citizens Orchestra, John Bany's Men of Note, Human Motion and the Ed Breazeale Group.  Stone also leads his own groups, Clear Conscience, the Doug Stone Quartet and Trio and is co-leader of the Nick Fryer/Doug Stone Quartet and the Stone/Bratt Big Band.  He has also written several pieces for big band and his works have been featured with the Central Illinois Jazz Train Orchestra and vocalist Kathy Kosins.  In addition, Doug has recorded with numerous groups including the Sam Craine Quartet, the Dave Hoffman Sextet, the NIU Jazz Ensemble and Jazztet, the Jazz Arranging Syndicate, Scantily Clad, Birch Creek Academy Big Band, the Ed Breazeale Group, the Ji Young Lee Quartet, the Stuart Mindeman Group and Panoramic.  For video clips of Doug's performances, visit http://youtube.com/mstone1981.

Co-leader Douglass Bratt, Drums/Percussion

Douglass Bratt has been actively performing around Chicago for over thirteen years.  Doug holds a masters in music with an emphasis in percussion performance and pedagogy from Northern Illinois University. While at NIU, Doug was a member of the NIU Jazz Ensemble where he performed with artists such as Wynton Marsalis, Jimmy Heath, Curtis Fuller, Frank Foster and Benny Golson.  Professionally, Douglass has performed with Joey Sellers, Steve Grismore, Mark Colby, Larry Gray, Marlene Rosenberg, JoAnn Daugherty, Liam Teague, Tito Carrillo, Brad Stirtz, Frank Catalano, Neal Alger, the Bobby Sanders Orchestra, the Brass Tracks Big Band, the Blooze Brothers and the Champaign - Urbana Symphony Orchestra.  From 1995-1997, Douglass performed in Pier Pressure, the house jazz group of Chicago's Navy Pier.  Also, Douglass backed Steven Stills of Crosby, Stills & Nash at the 1996 Chicago Democratic National Convention and has performed for Chicago Mayor Richard Daley.  He has had featured performance appearances on Chicago's WGN-TV and Detroit's FOX Channel 2 Morning News shows.  Doug has recorded with the Scott Stenten Group, the NIU Jazz Ensemble, the NIU Wind Ensemble, Robert Chappell and Liam Teague, the Jim Kanas Group, the Tim Burns Trio, Brien O'Callaghan and many others.Douglass Bratt currently resides in Woodridge, Illinois and is a full-time, tenured member of the music faculty at Moraine Valley Community College where he teaches private percussion lessons, music appreciation and directs the Moraine Valley Jazz Ensemble, College-Community Concert Band and Moraine Valley Percussion Ensemble.

1. Chaplin's Hat (9:44)
Soloists: James Davis, trumpet, Caroline Davis, alto saxophone; Michael Salter, tenor saxophone

2. Randy Stone (9:16)
Caroline Davis, alto saxophone; James Davis, trumpet; Ryan Shultz, bass trumpet

3. Sure Thing (6:18)
Matt Holman, trumpet; Scott Mertens, piano

4. Confined Within (DeKalb, Illinois) (10:00)
Doug Stone, soprano saxophone

5. These Be Bieb's Loose Bolues (13:02)
Raphael Crawford, trombone; Caroline Davis, alto saxophone; John Tate, bass; David Hoffman, trumpet

6. Carter's Constituency (5:45)
Rich Moore, tenor saxophone, Michael Salter, tenor saxophone; Doug Bratt, drums

7. Plugged Up (4:20)
Rick Rhode, trombone; Jeremy Budrow, baritone saxophone

8. Cellophane (11:46)
Nick Fryer, guitar; Victor Garcia, trumpet; Stuart Mindeman, piano

9. It's All in Your Head (7:08)
Doug Stone, tenor saxophone

Personnel:
Co-leader, soprano/tenor saxophones: Doug Stone
Co-leader, drums: Doug Bratt

Alto saxophone: Caroline Davis
Alto saxophone: Meagan Stone
Tenor saxophone: Rich Moore
Tenor saxophone: Michael Salter
Baritone saxophone: Jeremy Budrow

Lead Trumpet: Gerald Bailey
Trumpet: Victor Garcia
Trumpet: David Hoffman (2, 4, 5, 6, 8)
Trumpet: Matt Holman (1, 3, 7, 9)
Trumpet: James Davis
Bass Trumpet: Ryan Shultz (2, 4, 5, 6, 8)

Lead Trombone: Raphael Crawford
Trombone: Kevin Fort (1, 3, 7, 9)
Trombone: Rick Rohde
Bass Trombone: Mark Houston

Guitar: Nick Fryer
Piano: Scott Mertens (1, 3, 7, 9), Stuart Mindeman (2, 4, 5, 6, 8)
Bass: John Tate

Confined Within (DeKalb, Illinois)is dedicated to the victims of the NIU tragedy on February 14, 2008

All music written by Douglas Stone (BMI) © 2008

Produced by: Douglass Bratt + Douglas Stone

Recorded: November 18, 2007 + January 13, 2008 at Moraine Valley Community College, Palos Hills, IL
Engineering + mixing: Brien O'Callaghan
Associate Producer/conductor: Aaron Moe
Design by: John Pobojewski+Bud Rodecker
Band Photography: Brian Turnbull
Email: stonebratt@dougbratt.com
(P)(C) 2008 The Stone/Bratt Big Band

Founded in April of 2006, the Stone/Bratt Big Band is the inspiration of two long-time friends and musical associates: Doug Bratt and his near-namesake, Doug Stone. Stone and Bratt first met in 1999 as members of the acclaimed Northern Illinois University Jazz Ensemble. In the fall of 2001, their collegial, collegiate association resulted in the formation of a group to host the weekly jam session at DeKalb's House Café. Not coincidentally, that same year, Stone and Bratt were also enrolled in NIU's jazz arranging course, taught then by composer, Joey Sellers. Inspired by Joey's tutelage, early in the run at the House Café, Stone proposed that the group expand to a 9-piece format, initially known as the Big House-Big House Band. This larger unit provided a 4-horn fronted group for which members of the jazz arranging course began to write. The excitement generated by this group of young musicians and writers, performing their own original works each week, was palpable. With each new performance, the audience grew and by the end of the year, the group performed and recorded a full night of original works for a packed room.  In the fall of 2002, Bratt graduated from NIU and moved to the Chicago area to freelance and teach. The group continued on, led by Doug Stone and under the new moniker: The Jazz Arranging Syndicate. The Syndicate, continued to draw large crowds and new writers for the duration of the 2002-03 school year.

Fast forward to 2006 and a flash of inspiration! Noticing a dearth of creative playing opportunities in the Chicago area, and seeking to rekindle the camaraderie of the House Café group, Doug Bratt contacted Doug Stone in the spring of 2006 with the idea of starting a big band consisting of young, area music professionals. Stone had recently returned from touring with the late, great Maynard Ferguson's Big-Bop Nouveau band and although both Stone and Bratt had been working steadily with many outstanding Chicago area musicians, neither had overlapped much in their respective performing spheres. Delighting in the opportunity to play, hang out and reconnect with old friends, Stone quickly jumped on the idea. Together, Bratt and Stone called upon many old friends, still in the Chicago area, who had been part of the NIU jazz scene.  Those spots in the band that could not be filled with old friends, were filled with new friends. In fact, the overriding concern in asking musicians to join in this labor of love, was that they have a positive, easygoing vibe and a passion for playing adventurous music of all kinds.

Capitalizing .. access to a cozy, well-appointed rehearsal space at Moraine Valley Community College where Bratt teaches music, rehearsals began in April of 2006. The initial meetings of the Stone/Bratt Big Band, were exhilarating, inspired and joyous! Old friends and new, joining together to play, laugh and create – does it get any better than that?!? Oh yeah, there was food and drink, too . . .

By the summer of 2006, the band had secured two public performance opportunities: a late June debut at Lilly's on Lincoln Avenue in Chicago and a July appearance opening for the legendary Brass Track's Big Band at Hackney's Restaurant in Palos Park, Illinois. With each performance, the group received rave reviews and complements from audience members. Building on the momentum of their initial appearance, in August of 2006, the Stone/Bratt Big Band returned to Lilly's for seven more monthly performances ending in February of 2007. In February of 2007, the band moved their monthly performances further up Lincoln Avenue to the Bad Dog Tavern. After a nearly year long run, the Monday night Bad Dog jazz series came to a close in February of 2008.

Meanwhile, eager to capture this lightning in a bottle, Stone and Bratt organized two weekend recording sessions in November of 2007 and January of 2008 to put together the band's first album, eponymously titled and recently released in June 2008. These sessions, recorded on-site at Moraine Valley Community College and engineered and mixed by recording guru, Brien O'Callaghan, capture the band live. There are no overdubs and none of the typical isolation and separation of a studio recording, rather, listeners hear an exciting, interactive, dynamic ensemble the band as they would when performing in concert.

For 2008, the Stone/Bratt Big Band performed at Northern Illinois University and will perform with the Moraine Valley Jazz Ensemble in a joint fall concert. On August 27th, the band will be one of the featured groups for the 2008 Chicago Jazz Fest Club Tour.  In addition, the band will share the stage with One Louder at S.P.A.C.E. in Evanston, Illinois and be a featured guest artist for the Fremd High School Art Festival in Palatine, Illinois in November. Certainly, there are exciting possibilities as this journey continues . . . stay tuned for more . . .