The Professors are Mark Dziuba, Vinnie Martucci, Jeff “Siege” Siegel & Rich Syracuse. Their life’s work is defined by the creation and performing of great music and sharing their lifetimes of performing and teaching experiences with the upcoming legions of aspiring jazz musicians.

Having met up in the Woodstock/New Paltz area of New York’s Hudson Valley in the early 90’s after years of living in New York City, the group members were destined to become friends, band mates and colleagues. Coming together for the first time as a unit in 1994 on guitarist Mark Dziuba’s CD release “Up Until Now”, the unit officially formalized as a quartet once bassist Rich Syracuse joined the other three Professors faculty at SUNY New Paltz in 2015.

The four friends have continued their joy of performing together in side projects and gigs throughout the decades ever since, and in fact, the friendships and playing associations go back as far as the mid 80’s for some of the members. The founding musicians of the The Professors, guitarist Mark Dziuba (Director of Jazz Studies, SUNY NP), pianist Vinnie Martucci (former Chair of Music, SUNY NP), drummer Jeff “Siege” Siegel (Adjunct Professor of Percussion, SUNY NP) and jazz bass professor at the time, John Menegon, officially started the group in 2010 to perform at a local venue. Performances and clinics with the group continued in as far away places as Beijing, China in 2011 at the University of Beijing (w/ Menegon) to local gigs around the Hudson Valley area of New York. In 2018 a unique partnership between the Escuela de Musica y Audio Fernando Sor in Bogota, Colombia and SUNY New Paltz continued the The Professors overseas activities, now joined by Rich Syracuse, where they performed clinics and performances. Club performances and concerts have since followed.

The pandemic of 2020 has not held back the intense desire of the group to make music together and they are happy to announce a new compilation of original material by the four band members (all composers in their own right). The video and audio were recorded, mixed and mastered at Vinnie Martucci’s studio. (Album now available for pre-order.)

The Professors are now offering their decades long chemistry and lifetimes of experience in both live and virtual jazz clinics for your university or public school. Private lessons on guitar, bass, piano, drum set, arranging and composition, recording techniques and more are also available individually by the group members.

Mark Dziuba has been a guitarist, improviser and composer for most of his life. He has performed with a who’s who of Jazz, Blues, Rock and Bluegrass musicians and has performed and taught at workshops and festivals internationally for over 40 years.

Mark is a tenured professor of music at the State University of New York at New Paltz where he directs the Jazz Studies program. He was a part of the internationally acclaimed National Guitar Workshop for 25 years and has been a part of the Crown of the Continent International Guitar Festival since its birth.

Mark is a published author and a featured soloist and composer on numerous recordings. He continues to explore the world of improvised live and virtual music and can be found performing often in the area and abroad. (dziubam@newpaltz.edu)

Rich Syracuse has been a mainstay on the New York area scene for more than four decades.  He began his performing career at an early age in New York City and then went on to become the winner of the prestigious Congress of Strings Award.  Not long after he received a Bachelor of Music degree from Manhattan School of Music in New York City.  Rich performed with The Group for Contemporary Music under the Conductors Charles Wournin and Harvey Solberger, The Hartford Ballet and the New Jersey Lyric Opera Company.  Early jazz groups included work with John Mehegan, Joey Calderazzo, Ted Rosenthal and Bruce Barth.  After moving to the Hudson Valley of New York in the in the mid 1980’s, he began a long position as bassist in the Nick Brignola Quartet while playing clubs, festivals and recording sessions.  In addition he has performed with an array of artists including Mose Allison, Kurt Elling, Brubeck Brothers, Michael and Randy Brecker, Warren Bernhardt, Vinnie Martucci, Sumi Tonooka, David Torn, Mike DeMicco, Mark Dziuba, Pete Levin, Sam Morrison, Jimmy Cobb, Bernard Purdy, Adam Nussbaum, Jeff “Siege” Siegel, Eddie Henderson, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Dena DeRose, John Medeski, Michael Musillami and Ale DeMogli.

For over 22 years, Rich was bassist for legendary pianist Lee Shaw.  He is the Professor for String and Electric Bass Studies at Skidmore College in Saratoga, New York, Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Connecticut, and SUNY at New Paltz. 

Rich is a member of the International Association of Schools of Jazz.  He has toured throughout Europe, South America and Southern Africa.  In addition to touring, Rich is an in demand bassist throughout the northeast region of the USA.

Richsyracusebass.us

Drummer/Composer Jeff "Siege" Siegel is a veteran of the New York Jazz scene and has worked with a virtual "who's who" of artists. A member of the Sir Roland Hanna Trio from 1994-'99, Siegel's diverse career has also led him to perform and/or record with legends such as Ron Carter, Kenny Burrell, Jack DeJohnette, Benny Golson, Sheila Jordan, Helen Merrill, Mose Allison, John Medeski, Arthur Rhames, Dave Douglas, Stefon Harris, Pat Metheny, John Abercrombie, Kurt Elling, Ravi Coltrane, Ryan Kisor, Lee Shaw, The Levin Brothers, Hal Galper, John Medeski, Dena DeRose, Lee Shaw and many others. He has worked in the avant garde world as well with Wadada Leo Smith and Baikida Carroll. He’s performed over 30 European tours including four as leader of the Jeff “Siege” Siegel Quartet and several others as co-leader. The Jeff “Siege” Siegel Sextet performed a 3 week tour of Africa in the summer of 2019 including clinics for the US State Department and a featured appearance at the Standard Bank Jazz Festival in Makhanda, South Africa.   Other recent tours include The Levin Brothers in Japan, Mexico, Canada and the US west coast and Midwest as well as South & Central America.  His 2017 CD release “King of Xhosa” features South African trumpeter Feya Faku and is on the ARC label.  His most recent release with his quartet is the 2018 release on ARC entitled “London Live” and “When You Were There” (2019) with Hetko, Syracuse & Siegel.

Siegel teaches Jazz drumming and jazz ensembles at The New School for Jazz & Contemporary Music, SUNY at New Paltz as well as at Western Connecticut State University.  He’s performed clinics throughout Europe, United States, China, South America and South Africa.

He holds a Masters Degree in Jazz from Queens College where he studied Composition with Jimmy Heath.  He has been the recipient of several grants from Meet the Composer as well as United States Artists International (USAI). He is endorsed by Canopus Drums, Beato Bags and Vic Firth Drum Sticks.

Legendary saxophonist Jimmy Heath noted:  “Jeff's musicality is incredible. He is so tasty as a percussionist and he has become a fine composer/arranger with a good melodic concept and harmonic depth.”

Vinnie Martucci has had an exciting career in music and it’s likely you’ve already heard him in concert, at the theater, or on recordings, television or radio.  He has toured extensively on the international jazz festival circuit as co-leader of the Jazz Fusion Quartet “The Dolphins” with Dan Brubeck and Mike DeMicco. As an arranger, accompanist he’s performed with Laurel Masse (Manhattan Transfer), Eileen Fulton (Award winning star of As the World Turns), Blues artist Rory Block and many others. His recording dates, tours, and performances as a sideman span a wide range of music, including Nick Brignola, JR Montrose, Graham Parker, Livingston Taylor, and others.

As a composer, Vinnie co-wrote the music for the off-Broadway play “Clue, The Musical” with Galen Blum. Clue is one of the most in-demand musicals in regional theater today. And, if you watch TV; Vinnie has composed and produced numerous cable network TV themes for Lifetime, the Travel Channel, CNN, as well as daytime TV dramas “As the World Turns” and “Guiding Light”. As a producer, engineer, and studio musician, he worked with composer Baikida Carroll on numerous productions for theater and television such as WGBH and notably the Tony award winning play “Having Our Say”.

Vinnie is a noted educator, teacher, and clinician, giving master classes across the US, Europe, South America, and China. During his time as Professor of Jazz Studies and chair of the Music Department at SUNY New Paltz Vinnie developed a broad range of courses and programs in Jazz, improvisation, recording technology, and music industry studies. Vinnie also teaches at summer festivals and camps, especially at the Ashokan Center, where he has taught swing piano every summer for over 20 years. Vinnie is delighted to be collaborating with his lifelong friends “The Professors” in spreading the joy of music for over 30 years on stage and as teachers and mentors.