Entertainers (Tempe, AZ)

Travis is a St.Louis Missouri, Mid-Western rocker inside and out. Starting with the typical, boring piano lessons at age 10, Travis quickly found his passion in Rock & Roll. He picked up the guitar and bass in addition to keyboards and was playing St. Louis coffee houses as a teenager. By his early twenties, he was an accomplished musician and entertainer when The Big Bang opened in St. Louis. Travis moved from St. Louis to The Big Bang Tempe in 2006, and has been performing there ever since.

John David Greco was born in Omaha, NE on March 2, 1975 to Dr. David and Nadine Greco. At age 5 his mom started him in piano lessons. Over the years he took classical lessons from several different teachers. Heavily inspired by Billy Joel concert footage, Johnny wrote pop tunes and started playing in bands. At age 17 two instrumental events happened for him. First, the drummer of his garage band quit. Living in Sioux City, IA at the time, there were few drummers to call on so he took it upon himself to learn the drums. Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, and Rush were favorite bands of his and he spent hours upon hours shedding John Bonham, Barrymore Barlow, and Neil Peart licks.

The 2nd event that happened was the highly competitive and State Winning Jazz Band at North High School had lost their pianist. John auditioned and quickly filled the spot. John found an appreciation for old-school jazzers like Miles Davis, Count Basie, and Thelonious Monk.

Johnny then attended the Clark Terry International Institute of Jazz Studies in LeMars, IA where his ear training, listening, and phrasing studies increased.

Johnny then moved to San Diego to finish college and played with a Brazillian drum line. After College Johnny moved to Los Angeles. He got a gig playing drums and acting in a protopunk New York Dolls theme show, "So Alone", which led him into a 2 year gig playing drums with punk band U.X.A. He studied percussion with Kirk Covington for 6 months after being mesmerized by the Scott Henderson Trio at La Ve Lee. Through Kirk, Johnny had learned more technique on the drum kit in the exercises from the book "Stick Control". He spent days transcribing and working through the complex grooves of Danny Carey from TOOL.

Johnny became a regular patron of Sing Sing in Irvine, CA, and that is where he saw his first dueling piano show. Inspired by the energy and improvisation in the show, Johnny set out to learn the gig, and make it just as fun for audience members as it was for him the first time he saw it. He now plays as a full time member at the Big Bang in Tempe, AZ. He credits the team he works with as well as Ron Shelton, Ricky Hernandez, and Billy Ward for taking the time to teach him the gig.

I grew up in Granite City, Illinois. I have a wonderful family that raised me in a loving, Christian home. I started piano at the early age of 4, and got my first experiences playing in church as a youngster. I continued playing throughout grade school and high school where I also began playing the drums. ( I was a band dork, and loved every bit of it.) My Big Bang journey started in St. Louis, Missouri, and in 2003, I moved here to open the Big Bang in Tempe. I feel very blessed to have worked with the Big Bang and look forward to the future with this awesome and talented company. I would like to “give a shout out” to all my big brothers that have made me feel like a rock star in this gig. (you know who you are!!)

Enough with the boring background…. Let’s talk about me. I am a very bubbly, and energetic gal, that loves to hang out and chill on my off time. I love to be the center of attention but I also get much joy in doing things for others. I love pizza, baking cookies, doing laundry, and if you invite me to your house, I will probably clean and organize it for you without you even asking. I enjoy simple things like playing board games with my friends and just spending time with the people I love. I am a huge fan of nineties rap, and if possible, I would like to be a backup dancer for Janet Jackson. And no….. Laura Saunders is not my sister so don’t ask. Later.

Jill Ragee has performed all over the world for the past 10 years as a vocalist on Carnival Cruiselines, Radisson Cruiselines, and Norwegian Cruiselines. Her unique smoky vocals have made her a favorite to crowds across the globe. Jill is a FORD model and has graced the covers of over 30 magazines for her spokesperson Always campaign by Proctor and Gamble. You can also see Jill in the opening of Sex and The City television show when Carrie gets splashed by the bus, as well as Season 2, the "Tantric Workshop." Jill's acting and modeling career has relocated to her NYC, LA, Miami Beach, and Cittavechia, Italy. Jill's dueling piano career started in North Carolina two years ago and she freelanced the country at various clubs until joining the ultra-talented duelers at Big Bang Tempe last October! Jill calls Arizona home now and enjoys writing original music in her free time.

I am originally from O’Fallon, Illinois and for those of you who have no idea where that is, it is just across the river from St. Louis, Missouri. Therefore, I am definitely a Cards fan and hate the Chicago Cubs. I just recently moved here to Tempe to become part of the Big Bang Crew. I have been singing for as long as I can remember, and after being forced to take piano lessons against my will, I soon took a liking to that as well. Throughout my high school years, music occupied the majority of my time, and yes, I was the choir nerd who was involved in everything possible. Music took a backseat when I went to college but was still a hobby for me in my spare time. I have been singing and playing in church and for weddings for quite some time, but the Big Bang atmosphere is very new to me….. and I must say that it is the most awesome venture that I have ever been a part of. It is an honor to work with people of this talent who have as much passion for music as I do, and I look forward to a wonderful career here.

Now about me in a short paragraph…… I am a Christian and love God because he has blessed me with all of my talents… I have the best family in the entire world, I love to shop, I love to play cards, (and I am very good so just be prepared if you ever play with me), I am addicted to diet coke, and I believe that Whitney Houston is the greatest singer of all time. And no…… Julie Martinez is not my sister so don’t ask. Peace.

I started Piano lessons @ age 6 on, studing to be a classical concert pianist. Attended The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University, University of CT, and the Berklee College of Music .
I was elected to the All State CT Chorus three times, and to the All Eastern United States Chorus one time. I was also melected to the CT Eastern Regional Band as a Tuba Player. My Great great grand father was a member of John Phillip Sousa's band in the early 1900's. I played my first professional job at age 16 with my Uncle Dan Vece, who wound up playing professionally until the age of 100.

Experience- 27 yrs as a working professional musician, mostly as a piano player.
I played along the Connecticut Shoreline in the early 1980's, and in Boston from the mid 1980's till the mid 1990's.
I was the keyboardist at Toby's Dinner Theatre in Colombia, MD for the production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in 1984.
Dueling Piano Experience- 17 yrs, including Jake Ivory's in Boston & West Bridgewater, MA, Howl at the Moon in San Antonio, TX & Miami FL, and The Big Bang in Tempe.
Other Musical Situations- Led my own Dixieland Band in the early 80's, Led an Oldies Band in the mid 80's. Led a punk and r&b band in the early 90's.
Band names: Billy and the Boys- The Incredible Dixieland Band, The Tall Boys, Blue Moon, B.O.M.B.(Boil On a Monkey's Butt), The Undertakers, The Ozone Rangers