Chris Pedrone: percussion and vocals
Drummer Chris Pedrone's first memory is of the Beatles'
Corinn Pedrone: sax
The sweet sounds of soprano, alto, and tenor saxophones come from Corinn Africano Pedrone.
Corinn has taught music in many area schools, including McQuaid Jesuit and Nazareth College,
where she served on the woodwind faculty for 14 years. She currently teaches privately and at
Holy Trinity school. Corinn graduated from Eastman Preparatory Dept. in piano and saxophone
where she studied with Ramon Ricker. She received her Bachelor's degree from Nazareth College
and her Masters of Music degree from Northwestern University, where she studied with Fred Hemke.
Corinn has conducted and played with many diverse musical ensembles for the past 30 years. "The
Coda Combo is a dream for me -- to play with friends and have fun!"
Cy Edmunds: bass
Cy started playing bass in a jazz band made up of friends from work almost 30 years ago. When Coda Combo was created, Cy got asked to audition mostly because he lives across the street from Corinn and Chris. Cy also plays guitar and a little piano and is an amateur composer. A sample of his work in MIDI form can be found here. His most commonly performed piece is certainly the Coda Combo theme song "Ace in the Hole" (lyrics by Vicky Lee). Cy is also the Coda Combo webmaster and a member of the Peter Torpey Trio.
George Conte: trumpet, flugelhorn, and vocals
from zakspak: For touches of class and velvet, on Vocals, Trumpet and Flugel Horn, George Conte is another continuous Rochesterian. It's easier for George to count the places that he hasn't played rather than the ones he has. A wide vocal range, a dead on melody on his trumpet rounded out with a kick ass flugelhorn. George was a member of the infamous "Horn Dogs" of "T. Blast and the Horn Dogs" fame that played at venues in all around the city. Before that George played with numerous party bands and jazz groups at supper clubs, restaurants and festivals in and around town.
"Bossa" Bruce Rice: guitar
Bruce's classical music education started with the piano when he was 5 but soon switched to the violin which he studied until he was 15. Although influenced as a young boy by an Andrés Segovia concert, his family did not consider the guitar a "serious" instrument and it wasn't until the last year of high school that he started to play a guitar on his own. While attending UMASS/Amherst, Bruce studied classical guitar with Robert Phelps and also played guitar in the UMASS jazz workshop. In addition to the Coda Combo, Bruce has played guitar in the Melody Masters Big Band and is presently studying jazz guitar with Bob Sneider at the Eastman's Community Music School.
Vicky Lee Crosta: vocals and percussion
Vicky Lee Crosta began her musical journey on the streets of Europe as a singer/songwriter. After moving to New York in the 80's she quickly became a part of the music scene there. Playing solo, as well as with many bands including opening acts for Taj Mahal and Little Feats Paul Barrere. She has recorded with Duke Jupiter's Marshall Styler and her former band Passenger as well as many solo projects. Many of her originals have had air play on local radio and cable stations.
Vicky' s vocals have been compared to everyone from Janice Joplin to Billie Holliday. She has played everything from Rock to Reggae. In reality, Her style is her own and when on stage her love for the music is obvious. Vicky is proud to be a part of her favorite band to date:
the Coda Combo.
Michael DeLuzio: sound
Mike was lucky to grow up in a house full of music. His father loved big band swing and often played the piano or accordion at family gatherings. At age thirteen, Mike began learning to play the electric guitar and banged around in garage bands throughout high school. During college he became interested in audio, and worked as an engineer and disc jockey at the campus radio station. In the late seventies, he did the sound for Outside the Gate Dance Theatre. He’s played guitar with a group of friends (including Coda bassist Cy Edmunds) for the last thirty years, and plans to keep it up for thirty more. He also plays for the Peter Torpey Trio.
