Original member 1972 — Tenor, Woodwinds and Vocals

Jorge Nila, an inductee to the Nebraska Music Hall of Fame, was one of the original members of Travis in 1972, playing tenor saxophone, flute and contributing on lead vocals. In 1978, Jorge moved to New York City and performed there for 15 years, playing with Paul Simon’s “Capeman” project and six-time Grammy winner Eddie Palmieri’s Latin Jazz Band. You can also see Jorge on the video for the B-52s smash hit, “Love Shack.” After returning to Omaha in the mid 90’s he has played a number of major festivals in Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Colorado and Texas as well as clubs and concerts! Most recently, Jorge recorded his new CD “Tenor Time” which peaked at #12 on Jazz Week Charts and remained in the top 50, which is the standard for the polls in the industry, for months. Jorge enjoys recreating the magic Travis had in the 70’s with the new talent in the band!

Original member 1972 — Drums and Vocals:

Mike was the son of a drummer, Aristotle John Vlassakis, whom he began instruction with at age 5. Mike studied under the legendary Luigi Waites and the great Chris Stovall. Mike was an original member of Travis and played until the band dissolved in the early 80s. A core group of Travis musicians then formed Rockin Horse that performed in Omaha’s feature clubs of that era. Subsequently, Mike performed with other bands such as the MachPhonics, the Controllers, Bamboo Magoo, Charlie in the Box and other music projects including ethnic music and instrumental ensembles. Mike was also involved with session and voice over work for commercials. Mike hopes that reforming this group with some original members can honor the legacy and the memories of former members who have departed this life — Albert “Red” Travis, Robert Jergovic, Sylvester “Jake” Jakopovic, may they rest in peace.” Cheers!

Joined Travis in 1978 — Bass

Dan Curran started his music journey in the mid 70s playing heavy metal and funk music in a number of basement bands in the Upland Park area of South Omaha. The bands in that area played everything from Black Sabbath to Ohio Players to Led Zeppelin and to Parliament. While attending Omaha South, Dan played bass for the stage band directed by Red Travis. While at Omaha South, Red asked Dan to audition for Travis. At 18, he was the youngest member and was referred to as “Young Dan.” After Travis dissolved, four members formed the band Rockin’ Horse, which played music from bands such as Steely Dan, Rush, Styx and Journey. Dan moved to Lincoln and formed the band DV8 and played 80s dance music such as INXS, The Fixx, The Cure and Michael Jackson. In 2018, Dan spent time with Mike Vlassakis to assemble a band to play old blue-eyed soul music -- welcome to the new version of TRAVIS.

Ben Curran, Guitar and Vocals

Ben Curran started his music journey in the Academy Of Rock (AOR) program in Lincoln, Nebraska. Ben was an original member of the AOR blues program and recorded a cd of original music with the band, Cold in Hand. Ben learned and played on stage with blues greats such as Magic Slim and Levi William. Ben then joined the Omaha Blues Society’s Blues Ed program and joined the band Mojo Bag. In the Blues Ed program, Ben was mentored by musicians such as Ron Cooley and Craig Balderston. Mojo Bag became a fixture on the Omaha blues scene and played the International Blues Challenge in Memphis. Since then, Ben has played in a number of blues and R&B bands including Working Man’s Band, Big Daddy Caleb and the Chargers, The Roadrunners, Sebastian Lane Band, and Heather Newman. Ben is also active on the country music scene where he plays with Good Night and Bale Band and Sheila Greenland Band among others.

Frank Madrigal: Lead Vocals

A 1976 graduate from South where he met Peggy Yambor who also graduated the same year they were married in 1978. They have one daughter Jourdan, their son-in law Pat Burke and grandson Lowen James. Frank played trumpet at South in both concert and jazz band and was offered the opportunity to perform in Travis his junior year. He opted out for personal reasons, which he has since regretted. His senior year he debuted singing publicly in Sound Off performing “Love Won’t Let Me Wait” by Major Harris and formed the band Easy Street. Frank has performed in numerous cover bands, sings for weddings, and was involved with the Grace University Community Choir for 5 years. In 2003 he was asked to sing the National Anthem for George W. Bush at Air-Light Plastics where his brother in law John Otto (class of 72) was V.P. Operations. Frank currently performs with the swing jazz bands the Dapper Kings and ArhythMix.

Joel Edwards, Trumpet, Vocals

Joel received a BA in music education in 1977 and received a MS in Audiology in 1984 and Doctoral Degree Au.D. from ATSU in Phoenix Arizona 2010. Joel is currently an audiologist for Boys Town National Research Hospital. Joel Edwards performs with various groups in the area that include the Solid Brass Quartet, Omaha Brassworks, Omaha Trumpet Ensemble, Lincoln Trumpet Ensemble, Omaha Big Band, Blue House and the Rent to Own Horns, Resurrected Swing Big Band and Gooch’s Las Vegas Jazz band that performs in Omaha regularly. Joel has also performed with Ray Charles, Temptations, Four Tops, The Mighty Sam McClain, Johnny Mathis, Omaha Symphony Pops Orchestra and has played trumpet on many Broadway shows coming through the Omaha Metro that include Grease, Cinderella, Annie, Sound of Music, Damn Yankees, Crazy For You, Dream Girls (Dianna Ross Story), Fiddler on the Roof, and Spamalot to mention a few.

Skye Junginger: Saxophonist

Skye Junginger is a saxophonist, composer, arranger, teacher, and Omaha-native who is currently working on a Master of Jazz Studies at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. In high school, Skye joined the Omaha Blues Society’s Blues Ed program where he played with the band Us and Them and later joined forces with other Omaha musicians to form Alkajazz. Skye has been a fixture on Omaha’s music scene since a young age. He has toured the world, visiting Japan, China, Lithuania, Latvia, and the Czech Republic. He has also played alongside artists such as Chris Potter, Terrance Blanchard, Donny McCaslin, Karrin Allyson, and more.

Skye is looking forward to bringing his knowledge and experience to Travis.

JJ Mastny: Baritone Sax

JJ grew up listening to his mother and grandfather play music in dance halls and all over Eastern Nebraska. He started saxophone lessons at age 7 and continued through Fremont High School (FHS) studying under the late Brian Anderson. JJ earned two Louis Armstrong Jazz Musician awards at FHS. JJ continued tenor and baritone saxophone in Jazz Ensemble, Hockey Band and Wind Ensemble at UNO while studying music performance. He sat in with local dance bands, including the Duffy Belorad Band, Marlyn Grubbs, The Skyliners and others, but developed a love for modern jazz and funk music, ranging from Gordon Goodwin and Buddy Rich to Maceo Parker and Tower of Power.

J. J. is looking forward to holding down the horn section as part of Travis.

Angela Curran: Vocals

Angela grew up surrounded by music. Her father, Charlie Claus, played bass in bands that played in clubs and dance halls all over Central and Eastern Nebraska. Angela, as a toddler, often tried to get up on stage to dance and sing along to the music. Angela was singing from a young age and was very active in choirs, swing choirs and theater in middle school and later at Lincoln East High School. She studied theater and biology at UNL before entering Nursing School. She auditioned and participated in a number of productions while at UNL. Angela graduated from UNMC as a Nurse Practitioner. Her knowledge of medicine comes in handy for the older members of Travis.

Angela enjoys being in a band with her husband Dan, and her son Ben.