Big sound.
Bigger purpose.

Director · Trombone

Greg Cox

Greg Cox is The Establishment’s director and one of the band’s lead soloists, known for solid lead playing, creative improvisation, and an upbeat spirit.

Vocalist · Baritone

Russell Hospedales

A Trinidad-born, Queens-raised baritone, Russell Hospedales studied at Andrews University and the Brooklyn Conservatory before settling in Nashville, where he became an in-demand studio session and background vocalist. He is a natural fit for the crooner songbook, bringing warmth and polish to these standards.

Vocalist

Jaimee Paul

Jaimee Paul is known for elegant, emotionally direct interpretations of classic American popular song. Her performances range from intimate jazz settings and performing arts centers to symphony stages and major concert halls. Across those settings, her work is distinguished by expressive storytelling, refined musicianship, and a natural connection with audiences.

Her recordings are heard regularly on SiriusXM’s Siriusly Sinatra, reflecting an enduring commitment to the Great American Songbook. Her discography includes At Last, People, The Gershwin Songbook, and the 2026 release The Richard Rodgers Songbook.

Many of Jaimee’s signature productions are developed in artistic partnership with trumpeter, arranger, producer, and composer Leif Shires. Together, they create concert programs for orchestras, performing arts centers, festivals, family series, and private engagements.

Lead Alto Saxophone

Chris Genovese

Saxophone section member.

Alto Saxophone

Jeff Byrd

Joined in 2012. A member of Soul Incision, Jeff has performed on saxophone, flute, clarinet, bassoon, tuba, banjo, piano, and guitar, including appearances with Denver and the Mile High Orchestra and Little Anthony and the Imperials.

Tenor Saxophone

Zach Tyler

Tenor Saxophone

Geoff Pfeifer

Geoff Pfeifer, a Nashville-based musician and composer, has lived and performed in Nashville since 2005. He studied saxophone with Ted Nash and Ralph Lalama and composition with Mike Holober and Jim McNeely. Geoff is a saxophonist and arranger with the R&B band Chubby and The Dots and holds the second tenor saxophone chair in The Establishment Big Band. He has shared the stage with David Liebman, Jim McNeely, David Amram, Chico O’Farrill, Arturo O’Farrill, Frank Kimbrough, Ben Allison, Michael Blake, and many other musicians.

Lead Trumpet

Scott Steward

Joined in 2014. A Dove Award winner and veteran lead trumpet player whose credits include Denver and the Mile High Orchestra, Louie Bellson, Bill Watrous, Natalie Grant, Casting Crowns, Carnegie Hall, and the stage production “Blast.” Scott is also a Kanstul Legacy Artist.

Trumpet · Organization president

Dr. Greg Weaver

Joined in 1996 and served as the organization’s president. Outside the band, he is a radiologist and chestnut farmer near Nashville.

Trumpet

Dr. Jack Wengrosky

Retired Master Sergeant Jack Wengrosky served as first trumpet, soloist, and clinician with the U.S. Army Field Band’s Jazz Ambassadors, the Army’s elite touring jazz orchestra. During his tenure, he toured 49 states and 15 countries, appeared with seven major symphonies—including the Baltimore Symphony, Cincinnati Pops, and Boston Pops—and performed for six U.S. presidents, in addition to numerous television and radio appearances. Jack earned his doctorate in jazz trumpet performance from the University of Miami and his Master of Music from the University of North Texas, where he played lead trumpet in the prestigious One O’Clock Lab Band. He earned bachelor’s degrees in Business Administration and Music from Elmhurst College. His teachers include Don Jacoby, Arnold Jacobs, Bobby Shew, Keith Johnson, Rich Corpolongo, and Doug Beach. He has 25 CDs to his credit and has performed with Diane Schuur, Doc Severinsen, Freddie Hubbard, Joe Williams, and many others. Jack has taught at Frisco ISD and Loyola Blakefield Academy and maintained private lesson studios in the Chicago and Washington, D.C., areas. He currently resides in Columbia, Maryland, and serves as a sergeant major in the Maryland Defense Force, a bugler in the Maryland National Guard Honor Guard, musical director of the Music & Arts Big Band, and adjunct professor of trumpet at Tennessee State University. He also remains active in the Nashville music scene.

Trumpet · Organization Treasurer

Justin Emmert

Justin Emmert joined The Establishment in 2013 and has served as the organization’s treasurer since 2016. He earned a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Vanderbilt University before pursuing a career in business. Justin continues to perform on trumpet with groups throughout Nashville, with The Establishment serving as his primary musical home.

Trumpet

Ben Classon

Ben Classon has been playing trumpet professionally for nearly twenty years. Career highlights include five years touring with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus band; three tours with the Broadway show “Blast!”; tours with an array of other Broadway productions; and performances with the famed Glenn Miller Orchestra, Walt Disney World, B.B. King’s Blues Club, and various cruise ships. He is currently in frequent demand as a freelance trumpeter and educator in Nashville, Tennessee.

Trombone

Bill Huber

Bill Huber is a freelance trombonist, teacher, and writer in Nashville with more than 30 years of experience. His remarkable versatility includes a unique musical “hat trick”: recording with James Brown, playing on the Grand Ole Opry, and performing The Rite of Spring. Whether serving as a featured performer, clinician, instructor, or ensemble player, Bill most enjoys sharing his love of music with others.

Recording credits: Bob Seger, Toby Keith, Delbert McClinton, James Brown, The War and Treaty, John Oates, Allison Moorer, Big Band of Brothers, Boots Randolph, the Nashville Jazz Orchestra, Terry Vosbein’s All Things Kenton, the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra, the Modern Jazz Tuba Project, Al De Lory, Brent Holmes, and numerous television and film soundtracks.

Performance credits: Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin, Natalie Cole, Little Richard, Manhattan Transfer, Henry Mancini, Michael Feinstein, the Muscle Shoals All Stars, The Temptations, The Fifth Dimension, The Four Tops, Mannheim Steamroller, the Bowling Green Chamber Orchestra, TPAC and Broadway musicals, and many others.

Featured performer and clinician: Blair School of Music, Knoxville Jazz Youth Orchestra, International Trombone Festival, University of Tennessee, W.C. Handy Music Festival, International Tuba & Euphonium Conference, Governor’s School, and The Cumberland Winds.

Teaching: Adjunct instructor of brass at Cumberland University and emeritus instructor of trombone and euphonium at Trevecca Nazarene University, with master classes and summer camps at universities and music programs throughout the region.

Fun facts: Bill loves coffee, good books, his Conn 8H, and sesquipedalianism.

Trombone

Jeff Adams

After concluding his career with the U.S. Army Field Band’s Jazz Ambassadors and relocating to Nashville in fall 2015, Jeff Adams began working with many of the city’s leading commercial musicians. His Nashville work includes recording sessions, musical theater, performing with his wife Cheryl Desere’e’s band, and engagements with the Nashville Jazz Orchestra, Tim Akers & the Smoking Section, Vinnie and the Hitmen, Lalo Davila & Friends, Music City Big Band, Chris West’s Junkyard Horns, and many other ensembles.

Jeff holds a bachelor’s degree in Commercial Music and a Master of Music in Music Education. Before his years with the Army’s premier touring jazz band, he directed a high school music department and maintained a private studio. Some of his favorite educational work has included summer jazz camps and the many clinics he presented through the Army’s free clinic program during nearly two decades of touring with the Jazz Ambassadors.

His professional affiliations, past and present, include the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, American Federation of Musicians, International Association of Jazz Educators, Jazz Education Network, and International Trombone Association.

Bass

Matt McKenzie

Matt McKenzie is a veteran Nashville bassist whose career spans jazz, country, and pop. After coming to Nashville as a member of Lyle Lovett’s original Large Band, he performed and recorded with artists including Don Williams, Olivia Newton-John, Patty Loveless, Steve Wariner, Lee Ann Womack, Ricky Skaggs, and Nanci Griffith. Matt has also performed as a regular member of the Grand Ole Opry staff band.