Donkilo! is a collective of talented New England area musicians, including:

Dave Kobrenski

Fula flute, kamalen'goni, djembe

Dave Kobrenski is a musician, artist, and educator who has traveled yearly to Guinea, West Africa to study with master musicians such as Famoudou Konaté, Mamady Keita, Sayon Camara, and other musicians of the region. He has studied the African flute extensively with a master of the Malinké flute tradition, Lancine Condé. Immersed in traditional Mande music and culture for over a decade, Dave has a unique musical perspective and skill-set, which he brings to Donkilo in both his performance and songwriting, on a variety of instruments.

Dave’s passion for music and culture have led him to realizing that part of his life's work is in studying and preserving the musical and cultural traditions of indigenous peoples around the world. He has been teaching traditional West African percussion styles to students of all ages since 1998, performs regularly with Landaya Ensemble as well as Donkilo! Afro Funk Orkestra, and has been featured on NHPR’s The Front Porch radio talk show.

More info: davekobrenski.com and landaya.com

Jared Steer

Drums, percussion

Jared Steer is known for his singular creative approach to drumming. Having studied with some of the finest percussionists in New England (including Bob Moses, Jeff Ballard, Bob Gullotti, Jerry Leake, Tim Gilmore and Dave DiCenso) Jared's expressive playing is road-tested and acclaimed, and his performance history includes gigs at: The Regatta Bar, Ryles, The Kennedy Center, The Discover Jazz Festival and Lincoln Center. A champion of genre-bending, Jared has made a name for himself playing jazz, rock, world music, blue-grass, and even children's music.

When not anchoring a jazz rhythm section Jared can be heard with the Donkilo! Afro Funk Orkestra or with the Blue Ribbon All Star Band. 

Mike Rossi

Bass guitar

Mike likes to explore the realms and possibilities of twentieth century music, with an emphasis in the improvised music of the jazz and world genres, pop, and with some good ol' shit kickin' country thrown in for good measure. Playing clubs, cafes and festivals from Burlington, Vt. to New York, NY to Northwest Wyoming and beyond, he has been lucky to share and study music with many wonderful, creative and colorful people throughout his fifteen-plus year professional career. Mike brings his deep sense of groove, harmony and composition to the band.

Mike can also be heard with the Blue Ribbon All Star Band, and will be touring Europe with Mighty Sam McClain for part of summer 2011.

Randy Roos

Guitar

Guitarist and Berklee professor Randy Roos brings his unique talents and considerable experience as guitarist, performer, and composer to the Donkilo project. In the 1970s, Roos became widely regarded as a fast-rising young guitarist to watch. The groups he played with always packed the clubs. One such band, Orchestra Luna, with its successful blend of rock, jazz, Broadway, and performance art, brought Roos the opportunity to record for a major record label. Some A&R people from Epic Records came to hear Luna and signed the group. "We'd managed to blow their minds at our gig," says Roos. "The next thing we knew, we were in the studio with a huge album budget. Everyone was pleased with the album, but just two weeks after it was released, all of the people we were working with left Epic, and the new people had no interest in us. The momentum ended, and the whole thing just fizzled."

Says Randy of his career, "Starting off as a surf guitarist, I moved on to become a serious blues guitarist, then a jazz guitarist-turned-composer. I was one of the original members of Orchestra Luna, a theatrical rock group with a fanatical following and an ill-fated record deal with Epic. Continuing on as a bandleader, I released an LP entitled Mistral on the Spoonfed label, a result of a band I had for about a year with guitarist Mike Stern. Years past, bands evolved, many gigs were played, and more recordings were made including Photogenic Memory (Agharta, Japan), two with George Jinda and World News (JVC), three on the Narada label, and others."

In addition to his work with Donkilo, Roos performs with world/jazz/jam band Club d'Elf, and is involved with several other recording projects. As a composer, he has scored hundreds of shows, including the last twelve seasons of Scientific American Frontiers, a PBS science series hosted by Alan Alda, as well as several from the NOVA series. An Emmy nomination came his way for his work on the European art film, A Celebration of Architecture.

Randy owns and operates a recording studio in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire. More info can be found here.

Matt Langley

Tenor Saxophone

Matt Langley has studied with Lou Marini of Saturday Night Live, David Baker, Ted Dunbar, and Stan Strickland. Since 1988, he has been a member of the Charlie Kohlhase Quintet (CKQ), recording three CDs on the Accurate Label. CKQ has toured the United States extensively, performing in jazz festivals from the Boston Globe Festival to the Rutabega Jazz Jam in Knoxville, Illinois, and giving clinics, master classes and individual lessons. CKQ’s fourth CD, Dancing on my Bedpost, showed up on the top ten lists of many jazz critics in 1999 and their fifth CD is currently awaiting release on the NADA label. Matt’s recording sessions have included ones with Ron Carter, John Medeski, Billy Martin, Chris Wood, Roswell Rudd, and many others. Matt performs regularly with Tonkin Toys and teaches at the Music School.

Matt's website: mattlangley.com
Follow Matt on Twitter: twitter.com/mattlangley
Matt is also the inventor of the Zool Yard Tool

Jonathon Lorentz

Tenor Sax

Billed as “Top Shelf” by one jazz club owner, saxophonist Jonathan Lorentz plays with a sound that is warm in tone and rich in melodic complexity. Recently relocated to the Lakes Region of New Hampshire from New York, he is a daring improviser that blends modern jazz with blues, rock, and the avant-garde. Jonathan has performed at Radio City Music Hall, CBGB’s, The Bitter End, The Cutting Room, and at various venues throughout the northeast. His performances have taken him from New York to Virginia, Washington DC, and on tours in New England, Nova Scotia and Costa Rica.

In 2008 Jonathan completed a PhD in music performance from NYU and began transcribing and engraving for Jazzlines Publications. Jon’s 2010 album Borderlands (his first for Britain's Métier Jazz label) was released to critical acclaim. In March of 2011, Fanfare Magazine’s Lynn René Bayley remarked that “Jonathan Lorentz has really got it: a great style, an explorative mind, and a concept for this album that goes beyond the usual fare you hear from jazz sax trios.”

More info: www.jonathanlorentz.com

Jim Dozet

Guitar

Jim Dozet is an alum of the University of New Hampshire where he received a degree in Jazz Guitar Performance. There he studied with Dave Newsam. Jim has taught master classes in funk guitar styles at S.Y.M.S (Summer Youth Music School) and makes regular appearances at UNH giving lectures and running clinics for the guitar students there.

Jim performs regularly throughout New England with a number of acts that include The Press Project, the Donkilo Afro Funk Orkestra, and Mica’s Groove Train. Jim is a sought after sideman for many other local acts and he’s the skipper of The Jim Dozet Group; a flexible ensemble into which he plugs various combinations of talent to add color and variety to his guitar chops.