Smalls Afternoon Jam Session Hosted by Ryo Sasaki

Born in 1976, Tokyo Japan. Ryo Sasaki started playing trumpet at the age of 15.From 1996 to 1999 he attended Berklee College of Music in Boston MA and earned a college diploma as a performance major and studied privately with Darren Barrett, Tiger Okoshi and Charlie Lewis .He has played and taught trumpet professionally in Tokyo, Japan since 2000.The spring of 2006 he arrived in New York and has played many venues including The Blue Note, St Nick's pub, Minton's Playhouse and the Cotton club. A native of Pittsburgh, PA, Steve Ash received his formal musical training at Indiana University, where he received his bachelor’s degree in Jazz Piano.He has been performing in the New York City area as well as internationally for over 30 years. Some steady engagements have included the Rainbow Room, Windows on the World, and Smoke Jazz and Supper Club.Steve has appeared with many jazz recording artists, including Frank Wess, Jon Hendricks, Jimmy Cobb, Louis Hayes, Eddie Harris, Warren Vache, Harry Allen, Chris Connor, Annie Ross, Mel Lewis, Vernell Fournier and Doc Cheatham. Steve was honored to be selected by The Kennedy Center and The U.S. State Department to tour West Africa and France as part of The Jazz Ambassadors in 2004. His touring experience also includes performing at The Bern Jazz Festival with Warren Vache’s All Stars in 2001, and The Caesarea Jazz Festival in Israel with The Harry Allen Quartet in 2006, The New Mexico Jazz Festival with Jon Hendricks in 2012.His recordings include The Steve Ash Trio, "Once I Loved", The Steve Ash Trio, “Everything I Love,” Warren Vache’s “ Swingtime,” the Metropolitan Bopera-House, “Still Comin’ On Up,” Barbara Lea with The Loren Schoenberg Big Band, “Black Butterfly,” and the Neal Miner Sextet, “The Evening Sound”, Fabien Mary, “Conception”.Steve’s piano can be heard in the movie “Evening” (2007), accompanying Claire Danes on “Time After Time” as well as on the movie’s soundtrack recording, playing a solo version of “Pretend”.weblinks: [email protected] This artist does not have a bio yet. Steve Little has recorded with the big bands of Lionel Hampton(Newport Uproar), Charlie Barnett (Live at Basin Street), and Duke Ellington (two Grammy Award-winning albums, His Mother Called Him Bill and The Second Sacred Concert). He also recorded with Dave Brubeck, Ray Nance, Terry Gibbs, Sal Salvador, and played with Zoot Sims, Al Cohn, Clark Terry, Weather report(on perc) The Smithsonian jazz orchestra and many others. Steve has worked and recorded with many singers including Teri Thornton, Joan Baez, Dick Haymes, Peggy Lee, Billy Ekstine, Pearl Bailey, Josephine Baker, Sara Vaughan, Anita O’day and Andy Williams. He has played a number of Broadway shows, in the pit orchestra at Radio City Music Hall, classical music concerts including The Stravinsky Festival at Lincoln Center, recorded George Antheil's Ballet Mecanique with Maurice Peress, Dialogues for Bassoon and Percussion by Alvin Brehm, and recorded many movie and TV films and television shows. His playing probably reached its largest audience during his 22 years in the studio band that recorded the music for Sesame Street and The Electric Company.