Steve Russo hails from Long Island, New York, and is currently based in northern Nevada. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Shenandoah Conservatory of Music and a Master of Arts in Music from California State University.
For 22 years, Steve worked as a freelance trumpet player in Sacramento and spent an additional 12 years performing in the San Francisco Bay Area. Before embarking on his teaching career, he was a member of the United States Air Force Band. Throughout his freelance career, he has collaborated with several notable groups, including the Grammy Award-winning Pacific Mambo Orchestra, the Reno Philharmonic Orchestra, the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus, as well as artists such as Gregg Allman (of the Allman Brothers), The Temptations, The Four Tops, The Drifters, and the Sacramento Jazz Orchestra.
Steve dedicated 34 years to teaching music in public schools before retiring in 2021. He also served as adjunct faculty at American River College and Sacramento City College. Below are raw live recordings of salsa solos, captured without editing using a Zoom H2 recorder placed at the base of my music stand on stage.
