Dave's CD, "What's What" available
at the store and on CD Baby
The Dave Sterner Quintet came together in the spring of 2003 and performs a wide range of musical styles, including the blues, swing, funk, and Latin jazz. On their debut CD “What’s What” the group is heard composing its own original music and reinterpreting classic charts in a more modern style. In 2007, the group received “The Best Jazz Band” music award from the Cleveland FREE TIMES Magazine. The quintet consists of an alto and tenor saxophone on the front line, and a traditional piano, bass, and drum rhythm section.
As individuals, the group’s members have been on the Cleveland music scene for years and are in high demand. They have performed locally with such national acts as Aretha Franklin, The Temptations, Harry Connick Jr., David Sanborn, Donny Osmond, Tony Bennett, The Manhattan Transfer, Bobby Caldwell, Phil Woods and many others. As a combo, The Dave Sterner Quintet has performed as part of the TRI-C Jazzfest, The Madison Jazz Festival, The Lakeland Jazz Festival, The Ingenuity Festival, The Boston Mills Art Festival and the Cleveland Museum of Art Summer Concert Series. The group has also played at several establishments including The Cleveland Bop Stop, Legacy Village, Crocker Park, Nighttown, and The Cleveland Chop House.
Dave Sterner is a 1992 graduate of Indiana University’s Jazz Studies program, where he studied under renowned jazz educator David Baker. He is currently a part-time faculty member for the Cuyahoga Community College jazz program where he teaches advanced ear training and harmony. He also participates annually in the Lakeland Summer Jazz Camp, the TRI-C “Summer with the Jazz Masters” camp and is a clinician and adjudicator for the Lakeland and TRI-C Jazz Festivals.
“Cleveland-based alto man Dave Sterner brings some funk twists to the proceedings. This release has some snap and a real sense of joy in the way Sterner and his guys serve up the grooves on this no frills date. You get no sense of ego-driven sensibilities or weighty agendas, just good, clean fun.”
-Willard Jenkins - The Independent Ear
