Percussion – Drums

Alex Cano is a New York based folk/alternative rock solo artist. Studying music since the age of 5, he began his professional music career as a drummer in his mid teens. He has since lent his multi-instrument skills to a myriad of musical projects, eventually falling in love with songwriting and shifting his focus toward his own solo career shortly after graduating college.

​Cano’s sound has been described as a cross pollination between high energy alternative rock, and reflective folk/roots rock with a touch of outlaw country. His soulful baritone voice (often compared to those of Jim Morrison, Johnny Cash, and Eddie Vedder) makes you feel his honest stories of resilience and survivorship. Significant influences include Foo Fighters, Led Zeppelin, Pearl Jam, Jason Isbell, Chris Stapleton, and Soundgarden.

​Alex’s debut album ‘Every Rise of the Sun’ was released June 25, 2019. Co-Produced by Cano and his cousin Nick Sochan, and a majority of the instrumentation performed by Cano himself, it has since been featured in publications such as Paste Magazine and Indie Current. LEading up to and following its release, Cano has toured the United States in support of the record. Still active, the tour has spanned over 50 cities, and has been highlighted by performances such as Pleasantville Music Festival.

In the late ’80s, Joss Cano was a regular percussionist with the Ottawa Symphony and the National Arts Center Orchestra. Among the conductors with whom Joss holds fond performance memories is the late Erich Kunzel, conductor of the Cincinnati Pops. He performed with Kunzel on several occasions with the NAC Orchestra.

As Musical Director Joss has conducted classical and Broadway stars such as Karajan Gold Medalist Violinist Hanna Starosta, British soprano Fiona Jessica Wilson, and the world’s longest-running Phantom of the Opera, Frank D’Ambrosio.

A regular director-producer and music consultant for the Musiqueplus-Musimax and BRAVO! Networks in Canada in the ’90s, Cano conducted in-depth interviews with many notable recording artists such as Renée Fleming, Zubin Metha, and Philip Glass.

His passion for rhythm and especially for Afro-Cuban music led him to produce documentaries with all the members of the Buena Vista Social Club that were nominated for the Canadian Prix Gémaux.

Jake Staffin is a New York based drummer and percussionist teaching at Crestwood Music Education Center. Jake has been studying percussion since the age of 9 and is a Westchester native; he graduated from Scarsdale High School and took percussion lessons at Crestwood Music Education Center while in high school.

Jake holds a Bachelor of Music from Ithaca College, where he studied classical percussion under Gordon Stout, Conrad Alexander, and Mike Truesdell, as well as a Master of Business Administration in Entertainment and Media Management from Ithaca College. While at Ithaca, Jake became a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America, the world’s oldest and largest fraternal society in music.

Jake has performed as a percussionist with the Westchester Symphonic Winds under Curt Ebersole as a full time member of the ensemble since 2021, after starting as a substitute player in 2015. His areas of focus in music include classical percussion for solo and ensemble performance, plus various styles of drumming such as jazz, rock, fusion, musical theater and progressive rock. In addition to working at Crestwood Music Education Center, Jake works in the music industry full time, and is actively recording and touring with various independent rock and pop artists in New York City.

Willis Edmundson began studying percussion at the age of nine, transitioning from five years of piano to drums. He attended Berklee College of Music and was awarded the Armand Zildjian Scholarship in 2017. Graduating in 2018 with a double-degree in Drum Set Performance and Music Business, Edmundson now resides in Brooklyn, NY and is an active musician and music teacher. He has performed with artists Mali Obomsawin, Dabin Ryu, Adam Benjamin, Godwin Louis, Deerlady, Jordana and many others.