DC Bebop

MUSIC: FEATURED MUSICIAN & PLAYLIST*

Jeff Antoniuk - Amy Shook - Johannes Linstead -
Tim Warfield - Mads Tolling -
CDs - Najee - Cindy Blackman

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 US West

Mads Tolling, Violinist, Violist and Composer

Listening To

Mads was born and raised in Copenhagen, Denmark. At the age of 20 he came to the United States to "pursue jazz studies". He attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts where he graduated summa cum laude from the Berklee College of Music in 2003. While at Berklee, Mads was recommended to join

Stanley Clarke's band by renowned jazz violinist Jean-Luc Ponty. "Since then, he has performed more than 100 concerts with Clarke worldwide, including the Newport Jazz Festival and the Hollywood Bowl." Mads is a member of the Grammy Award-Winning "Turtle Island Quartet". Mads "has received Denmark’s Sankt Annae’s Award for Musical Excellence as well as grants from Queen Margaret, the Sonning Foundation and the Berklee Elvin Jones Award. He has performed with Paquito d’Rivera, Kenny Barron, Joe Lovano, Stefon Harris, The Assad Brothers and Leo Kottke." He is an accomplished composer with three recordings of original material, one features the well-known pianist JoAnne Brackeen. Another with vibraphonist Dave Samuels and the third on RMB singer Teena Marie’s recording “La Dona”. He has contributed numerous arrangements and compositions to the Turtle Island Quartet’s repertoire. Mads is viewed as "a thriving force in the educational aspects of jazz and improvisation. He has been active as a Yamaha clinician and has been involved in workshops, coachings and master classes throughout Canada and the U.S." Links: website, Facebook, Wikipedia, Discography and DC Bebop page.

MUSIC CD ARCHIVE: ONECD

Najee

Najee - Poetry in Motion (2017) "The multiple Grammy-Award nominated instrumentalist, composer and quadruple threat who is equally adept on soprano, tenor and alto saxophones and flute, recently celebrated his 30th anniversary as a recording artist. Najee, who has collaborated with iconic figures Stevie Wonder, Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock and George Duke, has just released his seventeenth album as a leader, the stunning Poetry In Motion. The CD is dedicated to two ground-breaking musicians with whom Najee has had the distinction of working - Prince and Al Jarreau. "Both artists in their own way have changed the culture of music forever," shares the saxophonist. "Whenever I have worked with people of their caliber of artistry, I have always walked away with something that helps to shape my musical conversation." " ~ Soul Tracks, ~ Wikipedia, Facebook and Website

MUSIC CD ARCHIVE: DOUBLECD

Cindy Blackman

Cindy Blackman - Works On Canvas (2000)
"After drummer Cindy Blackman’s eruptive 1987 debut, Arcane, it’s interesting to hear how delicately she opens her latest album, Works on Canvas. Pianist Carlton Holmes’ sparse accompaniment at the beginning on the standard “Green Dolphin Street” is given added sparkle by Blackman’s shimmering brush strokes. Shortly afterwards, she steadily builds the climax with her sparkling cymbal work and quick cross-rhythms. Tenor saxophonist J.D. Allen then improvises on the melody with a dark robust tone, while bassist George Mitchell helps Blackman drive the classic into a fiery yet impressionistic bliss. The end result is one of the most magical interpretations of the Kaper composition in recent years.". - ~ John Murph - Jazz Times, Wikipedia, Facebook, and Website page.

Cindy Blackman - Another Lifetime (2010) "American drummer Cindy Blackman's inspiration is the late Tony Williams, the man who Miles Davis called "the centre that the group's sound revolved around" in his great 1960s quintet, and who went on to become one of the leading creative influences in 1970s jazz-fusion. Blackman pays homage to Williams here, on a firebreathing session with guitarists Mike Stern and Fionn O'Lochlainn, plus organist Doug Carn, and with saxophonist Joe Lovano an inspired guest on a Coltraneish improv track. The mad-axeman guitar and boneshaking drumming this style invites is certainly present on Another Lifetime, but Blackman balances it with tonal splashes of abstract colour. Carla Bley's mantra-like Vashkar bonds the set, appearing three times (from pulsatingly groove-straight to bouncingly funky, to free-jazzy with some scalding swing), the freewheeling drums/sax duet with Lovano yearns, yelps and whirrs, and Williams's hypnotically dirgey There Comes a Time is lightened without being softened by Blackman's clear and yet soulful voice." ~ John Fordham - The Guardian.

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.

Top of Page