Board of directors
Managing Director
Mac Santiago
Established drummer, percussionist, author and business owner, Mac Santiago (B.M. 1980), founded Jazz Central Studios with fellow musicians Tanner Taylor and Luis Santiago in July of 2010. Mac, Along with many of the areas finest jazz musicians, established Jazz Central Studios as a center for the jazz community. Currently, he serves as Managing Director of Jazz Central Studios inc., an un-paid position, with permission from the board of directors.
Board President
alden drew
Alden Drew is a retired business owner who has been a supporter of jazz in the Twin Cities for decades. He is Board Chair of the Twin Cities Jazz Festival and of Jazz Central Studios. He was a co-founder of JCS with Mac and Tanner Taylor. After years of drum lessons, he is resigned to being a listener and not a player.
Treasurer
Steve Kenny
Steve Kenny is active in the Minnesota jazz community as a performer, composer, and curator. Steve is a founding member of 'The Illicit Sextet', "Group 47", "What Would Monk Do?" and his own "Quartets". He curated a weekly Saturday Jazz series at the Black Dog Cafe, followed by KJ's Hideaway, producing over 400 Saturday night jazz shows. Steve's latest recording, "Quartets," includes original compositions played by four separate ensembles of twin cities jazz musicians, including a live version of his original composition, "Ghost Suite." In 2019, the National Jazz Journalists Association named Steve as a "Minnesota Jazz Hero" for his work in the jazz community and lifelong devotion to the idiom.
Board Member
Anthony cox
World renowned bassist and composer Anthony Cox has performed and recorded with a variety of artists: Sam Rivers, Stan Getz, Elvin Jones, Joe Lovano, John Scofield, Geri Allen
and Kenny Wheeler.
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He is an educator who has taught at Augsburg College, The University of Iowa, Mc Nally Smith College of Music and presently St. Cloud State University.
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More information can be obtained at: https://www.anthonywcox.com
Board Member
Laura stone-jeraj
Laura Stone-Jeraj studied piano at University of Texas at Austin and University of St. Thomas in Houston. After a career playing solo and with pop and jazz combos, accompanying singers and playing for musical theater productions, she made a detour into the legal profession. Now a retired attorney, she’s been studying piano with Claudia Chen, brushing up on improv and arrangement skills, playing with a local big band, accompanying high school musicals, and is currently interim pianist and small group collaborator for White Bear Unitarian Universalist Church. Laura has been associated with JCS as a volunteer for years and is happy to serve on the board of directors
Board Member
Stephen maki
Stephen Maki became a person in the Tongass National Forest of Southeastern Alaska. He later lived in California,
Hokkaido, Berlin, Singapore, and the Philippines. A veteran of the Air Force, he also studied music history and the
mysteries of spectrally selective optical coatings, which he applied in various ways during his fifty year career in industry.
Together with his wife Starr, they are blessed to provide support to Jazz Central Studios and other musical endeavors in the twin cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis.