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Centerpiece Jazz is a unique musical group with a wide variety of music styles. Individually and collectively we have recorded and performed with some of the country's top musicians. We have performed at many national and international jazz festivals. Centerpiece Jazz can provide musical entertainment for club dates, special events, and corporate functions. To hear our CD, click here!
"Add a Little Class to Your Special Event!"
For booking information, call 303-237-5649
or email -rpmoewes@comcast.net
Here's a little background about our four musicians!
Joni Janak
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Born and raised in Amarillo, Texas, vocalist Joni Janak moved to Denver in 1969 where she continues
to reside. She has worked and/or recorded with such notables as Carl Fontana, Ralph Sharon,
Stefan Karlsson, Marvin Stamm, Ed Soph, Tom Warrington, Ross Tompkins, Carson Smith, Bill
Watrous, Andy Simpkins, Jake Hanna, Bob Cooper, and Conte and Pete Candoli. Her Colorado
colleagues include Ellyn Rucker, Ron Moewes, Ed Stephen, Dean Ross, Dale Bruning, Rich Chiaraluce, Eric
Gunnison, the Gordon Dooley Orchestra, The Hot Tomatoes, and the Dean Bushnell Orchestra.
Her first European tour occurred in Derry, Northern Ireland in 2001, followed by a highly acclaimed appearance
during the Derry Jazz Festival in 2002.
Her recordings have met with high praise in Jazz
Journal (England), Jazzscene of Oregon, International Trombone magazine, The Denver Post, and Jazz Review
(Canada), among others.
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Ed Stephens |
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Queens, New York is the hometown of guitarist/arranger/composer stalwart Ed Stephen. Primarily a
self-taught musician, he counts Johnny Smith, Howard Alden, George Van Eps, Bill Evans, and
Phil Woods, among his influences. “In fact, an on-going goal of mine is to develop a technique like
Johnny Smith, while coming up with ideas like Bill Evans!” quipped the gregarious and gracious Ed.
After moving to Colorado in 1975, Ed taught Jazz Guitar at the University of Colorado at Denver. He continues to
teach the guitar privately; he also teaches reading and English as a second language for the Range View Library
District in Adams County.
His Colorado playing credentials include the type of diversity strongly associated with such a skilled musician as
he is. He has worked with the Denver Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Pops Concerts. Those concerts featured
the likes of Michel Legrand, Carol Lawrence, Oscar Peterson, and Ferrante & Teicher.
He has played in the Walt Smith’s Roaring Fork Jazz Party, which featured Harry Allen; the Sacramento Jazz
Festival, and the West Coast Jazz Festival, where he worked with the Summit Ridge Jazz Band with Bob Craven
as leader. Some of his other playing cohorts include the Gordon Dooley Orchestra, Joni Janak, Dean Ross,
Ron Moewes, Vern Baumer, Bob Craven, and Carl Fontana. His first recording on JLE’s label is
Get Outta Here!
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Dean Ross |
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Manzanola, Colorado is the hometown of the intrepid bassist Dean Ross. Except for a stint in the US
Army Band, he has lived and worked in Colorado throughout his career.
Musicians he has worked
with include Ralph Sharon, Ross Tompkins, Billy Eckstine, Dave Grusin, Marlena Shaw, Helen 0’Connell, Steve Allen, Pete and Conte Candoli, Jon Hendricks, Big Tiny Little, Ron Moewes, Ed
Stephen, Joni Janak, Ellyn Rucker, Dale Bruning, Spike Robinson, Rich Chiaraluce, and The Hot Tomatoes.
He has also worked with Chicago’s James Dapogny’s Band at the University of Northern Colorado as well as
The Sounds of New Orleans. His first recording on the JLE label is Get Outta Here! with Centerpiece Jazz.
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Ron Moewes
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A native of Denver, Colorado, drummer Ron Moewes (pronounced Mavis) received his Bachelor’s Degree
in Music Education from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Later, he earned his Master’s Degree in
Creative Arts from Lesley College in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
With his degrees in hand, he began a 31-year career teaching music (orchestra, jazz band) in the
Jefferson County school system. While he taught during the day, he gigged at night and on the weekends, making
himself an indispensable drumming staple in Colorado. Ron has worked with such notables as
Ralph Sharon, Carl Fontana, Clark Terry, Marian McPartland, Herb Ellis, James Moody, Zoot Sims, Pete
Christlieb, Sonny Stitt, Jon Hendricks, Al Grey, Buddy DeFranco, Doc Severinsen, and Peter Appleyard.
In Colorado, he has worked with Joni Janak, Ed Stephen, Dean Ross, Ellyn Rucker, Rich Chiaraluce, Dale
Bruning, The Gordon Dooley Orchestra, Ken Walker, Mark Simon, Eric Gunnison, Jeff Jenkins, Les James,
Spike Robinson, and Bud Poindexter, among others. An outstanding composer and lyricist, some of his originals
can be heard on his recordings Ron Moewes & Friends: All This You Gave to Me and Get Outta Here!
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