Based in Buffalo, New York, and founded by Jacob Jay and Dalton Sharp, the Jay/Sharptet performs music with a focus on original compositions and arrangements. Inspired by the ensembles lead by the great Miles Davis, the group strives to make every performance a unique musical statement. Past performances include the Northwest Lewiston Jazz Festival, the Queen City Jazz Festival, the Colored Musicians Club Jazz Festival, the Pappy Martin Legacy Jazz Festival, the Buffalo Jazz Festival, the Palmetto Theatre and Pausa Art House.
Jacob Jay is a professional trumpet player and music educator in Buffalo, NY. He is a graduate of SUNY Buffalo State, where he received a Bachelor of Music in Music Education/Minor in Digital Music Production and the University of Arkansas at Monticello where he received a Masters of Music in Jazz Studies. While at UAM, Jacob was awarded the Outstanding Band Award at the Elmhurst College Jazz Festival in Elmhurst, Illinois as a member of UAM’s Jazz One ensemble. As an educator Jacob is the Band Director at Global Concepts HS, Adjunct Instructor at Villa Maria College and Brass Instructor for the Pappy Martin Legacy Jazz Collective’s Love Supreme School of Music. Jacob also works for the Honors Performance Series by WorldStrides for programs in NYC at Carnegie Hall, in London, England at the Royal Festival Hall and in Sydney, Australia where he performed at the Sydney Opera House.
Dalton Sharp is an active professional saxophonist, and drummer based in Buffalo, NY. He has performed with groups including jazz legend Onaje Allan Gumbs, billboards #1 trad jazz singer Svetlana & the New York Collective, international touring artist Tia Brazda, Bill Easley and the CMC Centennial Big Band, and 2022 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee Neil Giraldo to name a few.
Ian Liedke is an accomplished pianist and music director currently based in Buffalo, NY. He has over 20 years of experience playing the piano in a variety of different styles and graduated from SUNY Fredonia with a degree in Music Performance with a minor in Jazz Studies. Some of Ian’s gigs include performing jazz throughout Buffalo, NY, and parts of NYC, music directed at a regional theater in Vermont for their production of Tintypes, as well as teaching jazz at the Chautauqua Institute School. He has played alongside such artists as Arturo Sandoval, Cory Henry, and Bruce Johnstone.
Nate Kalnitz is a professional bassist and sound engineer based out of Buffalo, NY. Nate brings a wide variety of influences and musical backgrounds to his music including jazz, funk, progressive rock, fusion, and blues music. Nate is a recent graduate of the Conservatory of Music at Capital University where he studied with Lou Fischer and Roger Hines. Nate also performs on Norwegian Cruise Lines in the islands of Hawaii.