DC Bebop

MUSIC: FEATURED MUSICIAN & PLAYLIST*

Melissa Morgan - Jeff Antoniuk - Amy Shook -
Johannes Linstead - Tim Warfield -
CDs - Brandee Younger - Dave Stryker

MUSIC US West

Singer Melissa Morgan

Listening To

Born in New York City, Melissa grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey. Her first musical instrument was the piano, which she began practicing at age four. Her singing began while in high school with local choirs and performing with a few select classical vocal groups across the U.S. and

other venues abroad. Inspired by the classic recordings by Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, Nancy Wilson and Sarah Vaughn, Melissa pursued her love of Jazz through studies of music. She attended the SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Music and graduated from the Purchase in 2002 with a B.A. in music. She has since performed as a regular at several of New York's top jazz venues; Cleopatra's Needle, Flute, G Bar, Smalls, Smoke and St. Nick's Pub to name a few. She was featured in performances with Jon Faddis and the Dizzy Gillespie Alumni All-Stars at the Blue Note in New York in 2001. Melissa competed and became a semi-finalist in the 2004 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition in Washington D.C., "the most prestigious jazz competition in the world. Melissa moved to Los Angeles, California where she pursued a recording career for a number of years. She has now moved to the Bay Area, where she continues to perfect her art, and can be heard performing in numerous venues. Links: Facebook, SoundCloud, YouTube, and DC Bebop page.

MUSIC BANDS

Jeff Antoniuk, The Jazz Update & Jazz Band Masterclass

Listening To

Jeff Antoniuk was "Born in Edmonton, Canada, Antoniuk studied at the prestigious University of North Texas, where he earned both a BM and a Masters Degree in Jazz Performance and Ethnomusicology. Living in Nigeria, Africa as a child, and traveling the world as a musician. Jeff has developed and served as Artistic Director on over 50

different workshops on specific jazz topics, and conducted over 2500 jazz masterclasses in the last 15 years. As a performer and composer, heralded for his “considerable chops” (Jazz Times Magazine) and “a creative spark that never lets up,” (Rochester City Paper). His recordings with Jeff Antoniuk & The Jazz Update and The MARS 4-tet have all received critical praise, with appearances on the Jazz Top 40 charts. Jeff Antoniuk has played with or led bands with such luminaries as fellow saxophonists Ralph Bowen and Walt Weiskopf, guitarists Tim Miller and Steve Rochiniski, drummers Sherrie Maricle and Warren Wolf, bassists Jimmy Haslip and Marcus Miller, and trumpet players Tim Hagans and Ingrid Jensen." Links - Website, Wikipedia, All About Jazz and YouTube

Led by Jeff Antoniuk, THE JAZZ UPDATE, with pianist Wade Beach, drummer Tony Martucci and bassist Tom Baldwin, is one of the top professional jazz groups in the DC/MD/VA area. The Jazz Update’s combined bio reads like a who’s-who of jazz and modern music, with performances and recordings with the likes of Sonny Stitt, John Aebercrombie, Marcus Miller, Mose Allison, Eric Alexander and many more. This is a seasoned band that knows how to get an audience engaged, enthralled, and on it’s feet.

Formed in 2004, this heavy hitting quartet is comprised of some of the top-call players in the mid-Atlantic. These seasoned pros have played festivals and clubs across the US, with numerous shows at the top local venues - Blues Alley, the Kennedy Center, Strathmore Hall, the Smithsonian, many local universities, and The White House. Jazz Update Band

JAZZ BAND MASTERCLASS, Saxophonist Jeff Antoniuk, Bassist Leonardo Lucini and guitarist Steve Herberman. The jazz Band Masterclass groups are for musicians who have studied privately or have some improvising experience. Each group is assembled with the aptitude and experience of its members in mind, from beginner/intermediate up to semi-pro. A Core Value: "Communication and Interaction is at the heart and soul of jazz and improvisation. The classes bring together like minds, those who have something to give and share. We create a forum for adult musicians, and give them the tools to achieve real musical communication. The instructors love facilitating interaction, in music and in life." The Jazz Band Masterclass is regularly featured in local jazz venues in the DC area. Links - Jazz Band Masterclass, All About Jazz, Jazz Teacher Training and Jeff Antoniuk's DC Bebop page

MUSIC DC Scene

Amy Shook - Bassist, composer and songwriter

Listening To

Amy holds two bachelor's degrees (performance and composition) and a master's degree (performance) from the University of Idaho in Moscow, ID. Amy also performs and teaches with various teaching artists, led by pianist Fred Hughes. The members of this ensemble are integral

components of the Washington Performing Arts Society's (WPAS) Capitol Jazz Project in affiliation with Wynton Marsalis and Jazz At Lincoln Center. Since settling in the Washington DC area in 2003, Amy has become "one of the most in-demand upright bassists" in the metropolitan DC and Maryland area. She is a versatile musician, able to play "jazz standards as well as new music." Amy co-leads "The Amy Shook Quartet" with drummer Frank Russo, and her husband, Pat. She is featured on singer/songwriter Felicia Carter's 2008 double CD release Feather/Step Lightly, as both a performer and an arranger of the music. In 2009, they released "So Far From Home" on Summit Records, which features original music by Amy and Pat. In 2011, Felicia Carter and Amy Shook released their first CD collaboration "Nothing To Do," receiving great acclaim. In the summer of 2013, Amy joined the Fred Hughes Trio (Fred Hughes, piano, Amy Shook, bass and Frank Russo, drums), performing for audiences up and down the east coast and the trio recorded a live DVD. In 2013, Amy joined Sherrie Maricle and the DIVA Jazz Orchestra backing up Maurice Hines' TAPPIN' THRU LIFE for critically acclaimed performances at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. and the Cleveland Playhouse in Cleveland, OH, where Sherrie and Amy met pianist Jackie Warren and formed the powerhouse trio 3Divas. 3Divas went on to more critically acclaimed performances of TAPPIN' THRU LIFE in Wilmington, DE at the Delaware Theater Company, Off-Broadway at New World Stages in New York, at Penn's Landing Playhouse in Philadelphia, and a live webcast concert version of the show at Dizzy's Club Coca Cola at Jazz At Lincoln Center in New York. Since then, they have released 3 more critically acclaimed albums, "Love Letters" in 2015, "I'll Be Home For Christmas" in 2015, and "Matrix" in 2016. They also did a TV performance of the show, filmed live at the Katherine Hepburn Performing Arts Center in Old Saybrook, CT, for The Kate TV series' 2nd season, airing in April of 2017. She has performed at numerous East Coast Jazz Festivals, including the Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival, and has shared the stage with Lionel Hampton, Jane Jarvis, Claudio Roditi, Al Grey, Bill Watrous, John Stowell, Greg Gisbert, Ingrid Jensen, Ethel Ennis, Slide Hampton, Paquito d'Rivera, Ali Ryerson, Maureen McGovern, Dee Daniels, Lanny Morgan, Jim Snidero, Frank Lacy, Walt Weiskopf, Greg Boyer and Bobby Watson." Links to - Website, Facebook, YouTube and DCBebop page.

MUSIC INTERNATIONAL

Johannes Linstead - guitarist, singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist

Listening To

Johannes is from Toronto, Canada and is an award winning musician who plays guitar, piano, mandolin, bouzouki, bass, wood flute and various percussion. He is "recognized internationally as one of best selling guitarist/composers in the nouveau flamenco genre". While growing up, Johannes and his parents spent a lot of time traveling to Spain,

Latin America and the Caribbean. Because of his father's interest in Spanish culture, it had a strong influence in all their lives. His mother taught Latin dance. While traveling with his parents in the Caribbean, Johannes was drawn to the music of the islands. He taught himself Spanish and Latin dance. His interest in learning the music lead to his befriending a number of island musicians, which began his musical journey towards learning to play. From his bio: Influenced deeply by the journeys he experienced as a youth, Johannes states: "The integration of the many cultures I have experienced, from Spain, to the Caribbean Islands, to Latin America, have moved me to create new rhythms and sounds. Experiencing these cultures - not just the music but also the people's everyday triumph over adversity - is what inspires my music." Links: , Facebook, Website, Reverbnation and DC Bebop page.

MUSIC US East

Tim Warfield - Saxophonist, band leader & educator

Listening To

Tim is originally from York, PA. He has played the alto saxophone since the age of nine. He began playing the tenor saxophone in High School, where he played in a number of musical ensembles, from which he received a number of awards for his solo performances. After high school,

he attended Howard University in Washington, D.C. for a period of time before becoming a band leader. He has performed with CBS/Sony recording artist Marlon Jordan's Quintet, Jazz Futures (a world touring group), on the Today Show, Bill Cosby’s You Bet Your Life (as a member of the house band), and at Ted Turner's 1998 Trumpet Awards. He has shared the stage with "such names as Donald Byrd, Michelle Rosewoman, Marcus Miller, Marlon Jordan, James Williams, Christian McBride, The Harper Brothers, Dizzy Gillespie, Isaac Hayes, Shirley Scott, Jimmy Smith, Nicholas Payton, Charles Fambrough, Eric Reed, Carl Allen, Terell Stafford, Stefon Harris, Orrin Evans, The Newport Millennium All Stars, "Papa" John Defrancesco, Joey Defrancesco, Claudio Raggazzi, Danilo Perez, and others." Tim has released several albums since his debut CD, "Cool Blue," in 1995. His last three releases are "Tim Warfield's Jazzy Christmas," (2012), "Eye of the Beholder," (2013) and "Inspire Me" (2013). He has served "as a board member for the Central Pennsylvania Friends of Jazz as well as an artist-in-residence at Messiah College in Grantham, Pa." In 2012, Tim released " Tim Warfield's Jazzy Christmas." Edward Blanco, at All About Jazz says, "Performing a selection of familiar songs with a heavy contemporary flavor, the music is so straight-ahead in nature that such seasonal tunes like "Let It Snow," "Joy To The World," and "Silent Night," are almost unrecognizable as Christmas music and could easily be part of any playlist throughout the year." Links: Messiah College, Facebook, YouTube, Discography and DC Bebop page.

MUSIC CD ARCHIVE: ONECD

Brandee Younger

Brandee Younger - Soul Awakening (2019) "Younger, 35, has spent much of the last dozen years in a state of arrival, or maybe a process of emergence. Recent events suggest that she's now fully emerged. She was a winning feature of the most stylish jazz album from 2018, Makaya McCraven's Universal Beings. Like McCraven, she contributed a track to the all-star Beatles tribute A Day in the Life: Impressions of Pepper. A generous taste of her music, from a 2013 Field Recording filmed by NPR Music in an oddities museum, can be heard during a touching scene in Homecoming, Beyoncé's documentary film. " ~ Nate Chinen - NPR First Listen, Facebook, Wikipedia, and Website page.

MUSIC CD ARCHIVE: DOUBLECD

Dave Stryker

Dave Stryker - Eight Track III (2019) "Stryker visited the popular music of his youth with Eight Track (Strikezone, 2014), bringing '70s pop, rock, and soul classics into the jazz realm with his trio mates—organist Jared Gold and drummer McClenty Hunter—and guest vibraphonist Stefon Harris. Not too much has changed for the sequel. He's working with the same trio again, the great Steve Nelson fills the "guest vibraphonist" role to complete the quartet, and a selection of popular songs from the '60s on into the '80s are reworked to fit Stryker's language—a swinging, blues-infused, no bullshit argot that has long served him well. If you're looking for something radical or one step beyond, this isn't it. But if you're looking for more of that good-time spirit, with well-played twists on familiar favorites from the radio—and the eight-track players—of yesteryear, you've come to the right place." ~ David Becker - AllAboutJazz.com, Website, YouTube, Facebook and Discography.

Dave Stryker - Messin' with Mr. T (2015) "On Messin' with Mister T, guitarist Dave Stryker could have enlisted only his organ trio to salute friend, mentor and musical hero Stanley Turrentine; instead, he chose to step back and let other voices do most of the talking. The encomiums are thus provided by ten of the world's most accomplished tenor saxophonists, making this one of the most unique and impressive testimonials ever recorded. Turrentine would no doubt have been pleased to see such heavyweights as Houston Person, Jimmy Heath, Don Braden, Chris Potter, Bob Mintzer, Eric Alexander and others lining up to pay homage to his artistry, and even more pleased that every one of them, in Stryker's words, "came immediately on board" when asked to take part in the enterprise." ~ JACK BOWERS - AllAboutJazz.com

MUSIC CD ARCHIVES:
DOUBLECD - SINGLES - ONECD

*The most recent featured musicians and play lists from the five Music listings on DC Bebop. A musician listed on a DC Bebop page with an intro, is featured for 10 days with one of their songs. Included in the play list are songs by nine other musicians in a table on DC Bebop. The songs are linked to a page (MySpace, Reverbnation, YouTube or where ever the song can be heard). The play list is not a top 10 list. It features songs I liked and think perhaps others might appreciate the music as well.

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