DAVID BLAUSTEIN
Saxophonist David Blaustein took an unconventional path in his pursuit of music. He was self-taught playing along to Rock and Jazz albums in his basement on his father’s beat up Saxophone with broken keys for years until he decided to get more serious. He had an epiphany in 2012 after dropping his son off for lessons at the New England Conservatory of Music that he should audition for an adult ensemble and studied there under Mike Tucker till 2018. He co-founded the original version of Bluedog, then known as Melodious Funk, a Jazz/Funk Quintet based in Needham Massachusetts. He plays Tenor, Alto and Soprano Saxophones.
ASHER SCHACHTER
Asher began playing bass at age 14, inspired by John Entwistle and Jaco Pastorius. He was a founding member of the Toronto reggae band, Fujahtive, with which he performed around the 1980s Toronto club scene, and composed & recorded bass tracks on several tunes on the band’s first album, “In Black and White”. Asher has had the privilege of learning from Jimmy Haslip, Rick McLaughlin, Bruce Gertz, Alexei Tsiganov, RaKalam Bob Moses, Nick Grondin, and Gary Fieldman, with many more influences. Asher joined Blue Dog (under prior band names) in 2002. He plays fretted and fretless bass guitar.
JON SEARLES
Jon has been playing drums for more than 25 years. He strives for clarity and versatility in his playing. His influences (drummers and non-drummers) are too numerous to count, spanning the genres of jazz, rock, fusion, latin, and pop. He lives in southeastern MA.
RAFAEL ORNSTEIN
Rafael Ornstein, originally from Cincinnati Ohio, grew up hearing neighbor Fred Hersch play in local bars and imagined a life playing jazz piano. At Wesleyan University he studied jazz improvisation with Bill Barron and meanwhile spent a summer at Berklee School of music. Over the past twenty years he has played at venerable local venues like Ryles and the Willow with the “Hot House Quartet”. He also appeared with the latin group “Cari-lan Jazz” from Worcester. His tastes and styles range from jazz standards to funk and Latin grooves.
GENO MARTINEZ
Geno embraced the music of the Beatles at an early age which inspired him to pick up the guitar. His influences are varied: Harrison to Hendrix, Martino to Metheny, Clapton to Carlton, along with countless others have all played a role in his musical development. While he possesses an eclectic and varied taste in all music genres, Geno’s undeniable passion for jazz comes out in his playing. He has studied under master jazz guitarists Fareed Haque and Eric Hofbauer. He joined Blue Dog in 2016 and is enjoying his current musical journey with the band
ROB SUTHERLAND
Rob has been a semi-pro performing musician in New England for 40 years. Though guitar has pretty much stolen his heart, percussion was his first love instrumentally!