DAVID FREY was born at a very young age. He began to study the banjo with Leanoard Moors in March, 1969. Dave performed with the Marin Banjo Band from 1970 until 1974 and with the Oakland Banjo Band also in 1974. In 1975, he founded the Southtown Strummers with Bill Houston also on banjo, Greg Stevens on piano, Phil Anderson on banjo and string bass, and Jim Brennan on tuba. Dave still leads this group. Dave joined the Jazz Salvation Company in 1983, performing on a regular basis at Jazz Festivals and Clubs, with members: Tom Barnebey - cornet, Bill Badstubner - trombone, Duane Ewing - clarinet/soprano sax, Red Thomas - piano, Jim Brennan - tuba.
Dave was a founding member of the Fourth Street Five in 1990 with members: Robert Young - cornet & reeds, Ron Dubin - trombone, John Howard - reeds, Jim Brennan - tuba. The band played at Old Vic's on Fourth Street in Santa Rosa every Thursday night from June through September in 1990, '91, and '92. The band also played on the first Sunday of every month at Lena's Restaurant from 1992 until October 1994, then at Grazianos in Petaluma from January through June 1996. They recorded their first CD at Bay Records in Berkeley in July, 1997.
Dave joined the 16-piece San Francisco Starlight Orchestra in 1991. The orchestra continues to perform on the first Saturday night of every month at the Strawberry Recreation Center, Tiburon, CA.
Dave became a member of the Dress For Less 3 in March, 1991 to perform at the Ross Dress For Less department store on Farmers Lane in Santa Rosa. The band includes Tom Barnebey on cornet and Robert Young on bass saxophone.
Dave recorded with Ted Shafers Jelly Roll Jazz Band on their Stomp Off album in 1993.
Most recently, Dave was the summer substitute with the Cell Block 7 from Lodi, California from 1996 through 1999, and a substitute with the Hot Chamber Music Society and Gold Coast Jazz Band in 1997.
SUSANNE SANGIACOMO became a dedicated plectrum banjo player in 1994. Previously she had studied and played five string bluegrass style banjo. Sue's desire to play the tune "Waiting For The Robert E. Lee" turned her toward the plectrum banjo. She began to take lessons from Dave Frey and inquired about where to get thorough plectrum banjo instruction manuals. Sue quickly discovered that no definitive plectrum banjo instructional sources were in print. Utilizing her skills as a writer and editor of training manuals for a number of Fortune 500 companies, Sue took on the monumental task of organizing and editing Dave Frey's plectrum banjo lesson plans in order to create something that was cohesive and useful. She was able to develop those plans into a complete, easy to read plectrum banjo training Guide. The project ultimately took over three years to complete.
As a beginning banjo student, Sue could quickly see the instructional "gaps" in the Plectrum Guide. Working with Dave, she successfully made the Guide flow from chapter to chapter to its conclusion. The end result is a collaboration between player and student that creates an instructional guide unique in the plectrum banjo world.
