People, Places and Happenings in the US



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Featured this week,
David Gerald - Guitar, Vocals, Bandleader, Songwriter and Producer - David is a blues guitarist. He is originally from Detroit, Michigan. Growing up in the "Motor City" and the home of Motown, meant that he was surrounded by the soulful sounds of R&B and the Blues. After many years of listening, at age 16, he began to learn to play the guitar. He attributed his interest to the musical influence of Prince and other 80’s rock guitarists. In Motown, the sound is soul and R&B, but somewhere along his path, David says "He rediscovered the blues" and began listened more seriously to the music of Albert King, ZZ Hill, B.B. King, and Stevie Ray Vaughan. In the 80's David composed rock and pop tunes. At age 24, he began writing and composing tunes with the help of a computer program, and has continued to write and compose to this day. In 2009, David released his first album "Hell and Back" (CD Baby) containing 5 of his original tunes and a selection of cover tunes previously recorded by Blues greats. The "Thrill is Gone", "Red House", "Cold Shot", and the other cover tunes were recorded live at J. Dubs bar in Riverview, Michigan. David can be seen and heard playing at clubs and festivals in the Detroit area.
David Gerald
(Blues/Rock/R&B)
- I'll Play The Blues For You
Jessy J
(Jazz/Pop/Latin)
- Tropical Rain
Esther O'Connor
(Rock and Roll )
- making me clean
Terell Stafford
(Jazz)
- Pegasus
Cagle & Nash
(Nu-Jazz/Jazz)
- Big Ol' Empty Room
Jim Adkins
(Jazz/Nu-Jazz/Soul)
Into The Storm
Josie Aiello
(Pop)
- Even If
Cindy Blackman
(Jazz/Rock/Experimental)
- The Three Van Goghs
Michael Burks
(Blues/Funk/Soul )
- Empty Promises
Aldritch Dubuisson
(Jazz/Acoustic/Bossa Nova)
- caribean flavor
 

the Music of...

 
 
 
Paul Ahlstrand
Nate Birkey
Kiku Collins
Perry Conticchio
Freeport
David Gerald
Joel Harrison Guitar
Lauren Hooker
Sara Jones
Mark Mosley
Mark Rapp
Kyle Spark
Karl Sterling
"Sweet" Sue Terry
Arch Thompson
Ragan Whiteside
Wayne Wilentz




MUSIC - US EAST - (Images linked to websites or galleries)

David Gerald - Guitar, Vocals, Bandleader, Songwriter and Producer - David is a blues guitarist. He is originally from Detroit, Michigan. Growing up in the "Motor City" and the home of Motown, meant that he was surrounded by the soulful sounds of R&B and the Blues. After many years of listening, at age 16, he began to learn to play the guitar. He attributed his interest to the musical influence of Prince and other 80’s rock guitarists. In Motown, the sound is soul and R&B, but somewhere along his path, David says "He rediscovered the blues" and began listened more seriously to the music of Albert King, ZZ Hill, B.B. King, and Stevie Ray Vaughan. In the 80's David composed rock and pop tunes. At age 24, he began writing and composing tunes with the help of a computer program, and has continued to write and compose to this day. In 2009, David released his first album "Hell and Back" (CD Baby) containing 5 of his original tunes and a selection of cover tunes previously recorded by Blues greats. The "Thrill is Gone", "Red House", "Cold Shot", and the other cover tunes were recorded live at J. Dubs bar in Riverview, Michigan. David can be seen and heard playing at clubs and festivals in the Detroit area.    Links: MySpace Music, Website, Facebook, YouTube and Reverbnation.
Guitarist Joe Washington III - born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. He was a Chicago Police officer for 11yrs. Started playing guitar under the direction of a local teacher by the name of Jack Cecchini, who he believes is still teaching on the north side of Chicago. He studied with a classical guitarist by the name of Paul Herman at the Chicago Music Conservatory, and the Chicago Musical College. Says he has done some minor studio work, notably "with a great jazz guy by the name of Bobby Irving". Joe sat in on an album by a singer named Susan Osborn (produced by Bobby Irving), and he has played with a number of small groups and bands over the years locally. Joe says "the one thing that has drawn me to jazz and the guitar would most assuredly be my dad, who unfortunately passed away last year, however he's the one who purchased my first guitar and my first jazz guitar album, "Movin' Wes" by the late great Wes Montgomery, and that album and albums by George Benson, Kenny Burrell, Pat Martino, Pat Metheny, Ronny Jordan, Earl Klugh and many, many more has made me crazy for jazz. At this stage of my life, I guess more than anything I want to play, but I want to play with guys (and gal's) who want to play, and truly appreciate the only true American music heritage, Jazz and all that goes along with that statement".   Links: MySpace Music and YouTube.
Kevin Peter Jones - Drummer, songwriter, producer, arranger and educator. Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, he began playing drums at the age of ten. During kevins musical career he has met and performed with many music legends. Pianist Roger Smith; Grammy Award winning drummer William Kennedy; percussionist Alex Acuna; Keyboardist Bernard White; Bassist Wayman Tisdale; Club Nouvou and Pianist Dave Brubeck. More recently, Kevin is involved in recording a new CD with numerous Grammy Award winning musicians from Pieces of a Dream, Sypro Gyra and the Yellowjackets. Kevin is also a dedicated drum instructor and mentor to many promising musicians. In September 2009, Kevin released his exclusively produced debut-album, "Magnetic Journey" on on Sakestyle Entertainment, which is available through CD Baby.  Links to Kevin's website and MySpace page.
Saxophonist, composer, arranger, band leader, and producer Paul Ahlstrand, is considered to be one of the best saxophonist in the Boston area. He can generally be heard leading his stellar quartet on Sundays in Cambridge, MA performing at Toad in Porter Square. Paul has both performed and toured with many well know musicians. He also arranged, produced and performed songs with R&B Vocalist Tony Lynn Washignton. Check out Paul's most recent CD on the Gibraltar label titled "Sunday Hang", which showcases several original tunes by him.  Read about him on his Website and listen to him on MySpace.
Kiku Collins -Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Valve Trombone, Vocals, Actor, Songwriter.
Kiku Collins, classically trained trumpet player at the prestigious Interlochen Arts Academy and Manhattan School of Music, found her way to a successful pop/jazz career, sharing the stage with many musicians - most notably with Beyonce (on trumpet and trombone) and Michael Bolton (trumpet and vocals). She has also been seen as an actor/musician in off-Broadway shows in NYC, as an on-camera actress in Television commercials, as well as heard on countless television and radio commercials and television shows. Listen to Kiku on MySpace. Visit her website,  her Facebook Fans, and her page on DC Bebop. Buy her CD at CD Baby.com.
Pianist Wayne Wilentz, originally fron New York, moved to the DC area in 1989 and has played Brazilian Jazz in the nation's capitol since then. Before coming to DC Wayne was a keyboardist and composer for the '80's funk band "SKYY", and received a gold record commemorating their #1 Album "Skyy Line" on Salsoul Records. During his career he has performed with such famous R&B acts as Carl Gardner's Coasters, The Shirelles, The Marvellettes, and Jimmy Norman. Since moving to the DC area, Wayne has recorded on a number of CD's, many of which he co-produced. In 2004, Wayne released his first compilation of original material entitled "Break of Dawn". It featured vocals by four of DC's finest jazz singers, Pam Bricker, Patrick Desantos, Nicki Gonzalez and Steve Washington. Over the years Wayne has done many sessions for ESL Music and Thievery Corporation, and can be heard on remixes by them. The Wayne Wilentz Quartet has released a new CD, Recordar E Viver (2008) on CDBaby.com.  Link: MySpace
Trumpeter, composer Mark Rapp. Mark is originally from South Carolina, he began playing trumpet in the sixth grade. He is a graduate of Winthrop University in South Carolina. He received his Masters in Jazz from the University of New Orleans. Mark moved to New York to cast his fate to the musical winds there. It was difficult times in the beginning,  but his music carried him through. He has performed with many top artists over the years including "Rockers like Darius Rucker, Hootie & The Blowfish, Edwin McCain and Sister Hazel."  From the jazz side, He has worked with Walter Blanding Jr., Don Braden, Gerald Clayton, Wess Anderson, Wycliffe Gordon, Seamus Blake, John Ellis, Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis and Rodney Green, to name a few. Mark is seen as being a "new breed of young trumpeters... The resultant music they create melds and brings together the radio music of their youth with the history of their horn to find fresh ways to approach and fashion a style of playing." Mark is seen to be "one of the best examples of the direction being taken by this new breed". Currently, Mark dually resides in Geneva, Switzerland and New York, NY and is constantly performing in support of his critically acclaimed debut record Token Tales. Mark and Don Braden (Braden-Rapp) have released their new CD: The Music of Billy Strayhorn titled "The Strayhorn Project" recorded with Gerald Clayton and Sachal Vasandani.   Links: MySpace, website, Braden-Rapp, Mark Rapp store, DC Bebop.
Flutologist Arch Thompson began his musical journey at the age of twelve. In High School he began playing flute. When he was 16, he said his father would take him to clubs where he would sit in with the band. He remembers standing online with other musicians waiting to have a turn on stage. His father was his spokesperson at the clubs for his music and the club "Jam Sessions" were his inspiration. Arch attended and studied music at City College in L.A. It was also around this time that he heard the music of John Coltrane. He said Coltrane's "Love Supreme" raised his consciousness and he began playing his own "music within". While a member of the U.S. Army Band, a chance opportunity arose for him to play with a salsa band. This introduced him to a number of Latin artists and awakened an interest in Latin music. This interest launched him on a musical odyssey which took him to Puerto Rico, New York and finally to DC. Since arriving in DC, Arch has immersed himself in the diverse musical atmosphere of the city. He performs a wide range of music from classical to hip-hop, but he is always connected to and performs Latin Jazz. Arch can be heard performing in venues in the DC area with several groups. He more commonly seen per Flute Visions, Visions of Jazz, The Sabroso Latin Jazz Ensemble, ElectroKoustic, solo and with other groups. Links: Website, MySpace and CDBaby.com
Composer, trumpeter and vocalist Nate Birkey. He studied music at Berklee in Boston, Seattle Pacific University and the University of California Santa Barbara. For a number of years Nate was a "jazz presence" in Southern California and was referred to as a quintessential "west coat jazz musician". He performed with a number of groups before forming his own Quintet and moving to New York City. Over the years, he has contributed to and released a number of CDs. His Quintet released "Indelibly You" in 1998, "Mennonite" in 2001, "Ballads" also in 2001 and "Shortest Day" in 2004. All of Nate's efforts have received glowing reviews for his songwriting, composition, style of play and his singing.  In 2008 Nate released "Almost Home" and "christmas" - "his first recordings made with his New York City quintet of saxophonist Sal Giorgianni, pianist Jim Ridl, bassist Tony Marino and drummer Marko Marcinko."  Bob Agnew of the L.A. Jazz Scene writes, "Nate's subtle vocal and trumpet approach has often been compared to that of Chet Baker and Miles Davis respectively. A sound poised and assured, powerfully stark and spare, it creates an atmosphere at once solitary and electric."   Listen to Nate on MySpace. Visit his website.
Joel Harrison - guitarist, composer and vocalist, a DC native whose medium is primarily jazz, but his music emanates from many sources: African and Indian, contemporary classical, blues and R&B all have a place in his unique voice. Over the course of his musical career, Joel has involved himself in ever-inventive bands and projects, including Free Country, Harrison on Harrison, and Harbor, but he is best known for his composing and arranging skills. He has twice been selected as the winner of the Jazz Composer’s Alliance Julius Hemphill Composition Competition. Joel has been evolving his musical craft through the release of several CDs over the last few years. He recorded "Harbor" (2007) with internationally renowned guitarist Nguyên Lê , and his 60 minute chamber/jazz piece for double quartet entitled "The Wheel" (2008) and his latest titled "Urban Myths" (2009). Links: website, MySpace and website music store.
Lauren Hooker Jazz vocalist, composer and lyricist. from Teaneck, NJ. In her bio it is written that Lauren "was born into music ... as early as in the womb (kicking to the beat - my mother tells me)... hearing my dad jam with his fellow musicians in the basement ... starting piano lessons at age four ... meeting Bill Evans at the Vanguard whom my father recorded with in college ... being exposed to and singing most of the major classical oratorios with full orchestra ...shaking hands with Duke Ellington and Dave Brubeck ...reaching for Sarah Vaughan's range, Ella's scat, Miles Davis' tone and Coltrane's intention. Lauren's talents were recognized and encouraged early in life and allowed her to develop her skills. Her critically acclaimed debut CD produced by Rufus Reid and Allen Farnham entitled: "Right Where I Belong" was released in May of 2007, with Rufus Reid on the bass, Allen Farnham on piano and Tim Horner on drums and percussion. Lauren has been featured and can be heard in many major venues in the New York metropolitan area.  Link: MySpace and Website
Karl Sterling, Drummer
Born in Ithaca, New York, grew up in Syracuse, NY. Both of Karl's parents attended the Ithaca College School of Music. Karl's father is a drummer, composer/arranger, and has been a leader of several successful bands in the Central New York area. His mother majored in vocal studies at Ithaca College and is pianist. Karl was 9 years old when he first saw legendary drummer Buddy Rich perform. Karl KNEW the drums were his instrument and began seriously studying and practicing under his father. When he was 11 Karl met drummer Peter Erskine and began a friendship that has lasted over 30 years. By the age of 13 he was playing gigs with his father's band. While in college Karl studied percusion with John Barker. Over the years he has studied drums with Peter Erskine, Danny D'Imperio, Joe Morello, Mike Melito, Wilby Fletcher adn Mike Lewander. Karl has played with many wonderful musicians and bands in the Syracuse, Rochester, and New York City area's. He has performed with Ronnie Leigh, Bob Dibaudo, Mala Waldron, Eye Level, Prime Time, Seaflight to name a few, and more recently ESP, which has released a new CD "Time's Up!" (2009) on CD Baby. Link: MySpace and E.S.P.'s Website
Bill McGee - Trumpeter, songwriter, arranger, producer, educator, musical mentor and quintessential musician. Originally from Richmond, Virginia, Bill comes from a family of musicians. His grandfather was a former educator and became a top selling gospel music recording artist and pioneer. Bill became an educator and he is noted as being a top trumpet man in the music industry for well over thirty years. His musical credits are numerous. Bill performed with Evelyn "Champagne" King. He worked as a member of the New York based studio horn section "Chops". His group recorded all of the Sugar Hill Records rap classics (before samplers took over). He played lead trumpet on many of the original rap records by “Grand Master Flash, The Sugar Hill Gang, The West Street Mob and Sequence (Angie Stone) He also played lead trumpet on albums by The O’Jays “Out In The Real World,” Leon Huff “The Right Stuff,” Patti Labelle, The Stylistics, and McFadden and Whitehead. Bill performed as a musician with Lou Rawls and Ray, Goodman, and Brown (The Moments.) After many years of recording behind the scenes for others, Bill decided to begin recording his own CD's. On these CD's you'll find what he calls the 804 Jazz All Stars, and in Bill's words, "essentially the best musicians and singers that Virginia has to offer". Many of whom have their own outstanding professional discographies and track records. 
Link: Discography,  MySpace Music and DC Bebop.
Bob Niederriter - jazz artist, composer, guitarist and arranger   - During his career he has studied and performed with great artists in jazz and modern classical music. All for the purpose of achieving excellence in his pursuit of music. At the same time searching and finding inspiration and instruction from masters of music. During the course of his life Bob has pursued multiple art forms. His other artistic accomplishments include being a glass blower, painter, cook and gardener. He is an accomplished artist in many disciplines. As a Guitarist he cites the dominant influence of Wes Montgomery on his thumb technique, his tone and his compositional style. He also points to the seminal recordings of Charlie Christian and Barney Kessel as having had an important impact on his playing. As a guitarist he has also been strengthened through study with masters such as Jimmy Rainey, Cal Collins, Jack Wilkins, Herb Ellis and Jim Hall With respect to chording and texture , one hears in Niederriter's playing the influence of Farlow and Montgomery". Bob is very active in the Cleveland jazz scene and can be heard at numerous venues in the area.
Links:  Listen to Bob on his CD "Full Circle (2003) available on CD Baby,  MySpace Music and DC Bebop.
Rodney George Peacock - Rodney is a multi-instrumentalist, poet and writer. He is an eclectic artist.  He plays the flute, organ, piano, bass clarinet , harpsichord  and saxophone. In the late 60's into the early 70's, Rodney lived and played music in San Francisco. A dedicated hard working artist, Rodney is a self-described perfectionist. Over the years, he has contributed to several albums on the Chicago's Audio 8 label, playing flute and saxophones. He has recorded with Chicago hip-hop artists, noted jazz musicians and has written poems and an opera.  Artist of many talents, Rodney is also an opera man.  In June of 2006, Radio Free Urbana (WRFU-LP 104.5 FM) aired Rodney's "artist statement", which was a two-hour program chronicling his history as a musician and poet. During the program, he talked about his mythological opera, "Noontide Trilogy". Six actors from the University of Illinois performed four partial scenes and one full scene of the drama. Links: MySpace Music and Dolce Stil Nuovo CD (2001) - Audio8 Recordings.
Singer, Sara Jones from the Maryland Eastern Shore. Sara attained degrees in music from both St. Mary's College of Maryland and her masters in music from the University of Cincinnati in Ohio. She began playing piano at age 4 and professionally at the age of 14. She won first prize in the W.A. Virts Piano Concerto Competition in high school at 18.  Critics have written that Sara's musical voice is "lush", that she "beguiles and charms" the audience with her "velvet embrace" of the music. These qualities won her the " Billie Holiday Vocal Competition" in 2004. Since then she has toured and performed through out the U.S. While a full-time singer, Sara also performs as a pianist and accompanies both singers and instrumentalists on recitals. She is a featured vocalist on The Young Brothers CD "Tales of Time" (2007) on CD Baby.com.  Links: website and MySpace page.
Mark Mosley - Jazz and Blues Guitarist.  Mark was Born in Arkansas, but saw a lot of the world because his parents were career military. When he was old enough, Mark followed the military career path into the U.S. Army from which he eventually retired, then served in a reserve capacity for a number of years. Mark began playing guitar when he was 11, first learning to emulate the playing of BB King. Later he played in school bands and was part of R&B and Jazz bands. Through the support of his family members Mark kept faith with his music, which has evolved into a mellow, smooth and characteristic sound for him. He has performed with many musical greats. He toured with Lou Donaldson and has shared the stage with Gary Bartz, Keter Betts, and many others. Mark has been a band leader for several years, which also includes while living as a civilian in the Heidleburg Germany region. Some of the major venues performed in as a band leader in the DC and Baltimore area are Blues Alley, Montpelier Arts Center, Twins Jazz, Md. Public TV, WJZ-TV ch. 13 (Baltimore), WPFW 89.3 FM radio interviews/airplay, and various Borders Books and Music outlets.  Mark writes for Modern Guitar Magazine.  Links: Mark's MySpace Music page, Website and DC Bebop notes.
"Sweet" Sue Terry is an alto and soprano saxophonist, songwriter and writer. Sue grew up listening to Jazz from her father's jazz album collection. She later pursued the study of music while in High School, studying under pianist and educator John Mehegan.  Sue began her musical career performing at church functions and in musical theater at the age of 16. She attended and graduated from the University of Hartford where she was a protégée' of the late great saxophonist Jackie McLean at the Hartt School of Music, and the first graduate of the jazz studies program he founded. She began playing jazz gigs while attending Hartt. On the advice of Jackie McLean, Sue moved to New York City where she was a featured soloist with many bands. Sue has appeared as a Jazz soloist with the National Symphony at the Kennedy Center, with the New York Pops at Carnegie Hall and with the Brooklyn Philharmonic at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. She has performed at numerous jazz festivals, at Montreux Jazz Festival, the Nice Jazz Festival, the Pori Jazz Festival, the Northsea Jazz Festival and the Blue Note in Tokyo and many more. Link: Website, MySpace, CD Baby Discography, and on DC Bebop
Melvin Taylor -  Vocals / Lead Guitar
Melvin is based in Chicago, but is a world renowned Blues guitarist who has been at the top of the charts in Europe for years.  He and the Slack Band have turned out several award winning CDs under the Evidence Music label.  Melvin's second U.S. album, “Dirty Pool” remains the Evidence label's best-selling release ever. In 2000, Melvin released "Bang the Bell", which featured his original renderings of the classic Chicago blues tune “Bang the Bell”.  Melvin teamed with Lucky Peterson and Mato Nanji in 2002 to release “Rendezvous with the Blues”, which cemented his reputation as a mainstay in the American blues and roots rock scene. Links: Website, Wikipedia and NY Times article: "A Blues Guitarist Takes Off".
Trumpeter Arzo Tureaud originally from Springfield Missouri. While growing up, Arzo's mother encouraged him to pursue the musical arts. Her encouragement and his dedication to music won him many awards. In 1995 he won the "outstanding soloist" award at Disneyworld's "Magical Music Days.". Over the years, Arzo has studied and performed with many noted musicians. He studied under Trumpeter Terell Stafford.  Carnigie Hall's Jazz direcotr, John Faddis, Dr. Joel Treybig, an  international music scholar. Arzo is currently being mentored by jazz trumpeter Tony Lujan, Miles Jaye and saxaphonist, Bobby Watson. Arzo can be heard performing  with his Jazz Quintet.  Link: MySpace. and Music Lessons with Arzo at Pellegrino's School Of Music
Perry Conticchio, a musicians musician - plays all the saxes, a bit of flute and occasionally bass clarinet. Perry is also a band leader, mentor and teacher of music. A New Jersey native, he studied music at Miami University of Ohio and Berklee College of Music in Boston, at Berklee he studied with Joe Viola, John LaPorta and Charley Mariano. In 1976 Perry relocated to the DC area, where he performed with and learned from three multi-talented musicians - Don Cherry, Anthony Braxton and Sam Rivers. At one point, Perry was co-leader of a jazz quartet "Clarity". From this experience, he started his own quartet. Perry plays all types of music, but he says his real love is jazz. Perry can be heard performing at several local venues in the DC area. Pick up his CD "Speak Your Truth" which you can purchase on his website. Links: website and MySpace page.
Flutist, vocalist. songwriter, Ragan Whiteside is taking the Contemporary Jazz world by storm. With her unique style and soulful vibe, this "triple threat" is bringing the flute back into mainstream focus. After winning the 2006 Capital Jazz Challenge, Ragan returned to the 2007 Capital Jazz Festival with a new critically acclaimed album, "Class Axe", produced by Pianist/Arranger Bob Baldwin and Engineer/Arranger Extraordinaire Dennis Johnson.  Link: MySpace, Website and Jazz Review Interview
Piano, Keyboardist, Songwriter, Arranger
Kne-O'chaw Hampton
is (at this writing) a 15 year old prodigy from Willingboro, New Jersey, who has been actively engaged in creating and performing her own music. She began playing keyboards at age 8. By the age of 10, Kne had learned "to write songs at an advanced and accelerated level".  She wrote and arranged her first CD titled "The Other Side of Town". She created and released her second CD "From Deep in My Soul" at age 11. Kne released her third CD in 2005 titled "Planet 9ine". In addition to her original works, Kne also plays Classical, Gospel, R&B and Jazz Standards. Link: Buy "Planet 9ine" at CD Baby.com.
Guitarist Ronny Smith, Originally from Baltimore, Maryland. Ronny is a self-taught musician who began learning to play the guitar, by ear, at age 12.  Ronny has performed on stage with the famed Motown singing group, the Marvelettes and also with drummer and Philadelphia jazz icon Bobby Durham. He had the opportunity to share the stage with R&B singer and actress, Melba Moore who performed with the U.S. Army band. Ronny has recorded four CD's . His first, "Long Time Comin", "Laid Back", "Got Groove", "Simply Stated" and his latest (released in 2009) "Just Groovin".  Links: Website, DiscographyMySpace and DC Bebop page.
Nate "NateKid" Lombardi - Singer, songwriter, arranger, producer and dancer. Nate says he has "always been attracted to music with funk and soul" and it all started with his hearing the music of Stevie Wonder.  "As a kid, I do remember sitting in my room listening to him.. it changed my life." From Stevie he says it expanded to his interest in Hip-Hop.  While in high school Nate performed for fun. In college he was introduced to tap dancing and the ole movie musical. Nate saw "Singing in the Rain" with Gene Kelly and was inspired by both the cinematic performance and the music of the era.   Nate has "been in Off-Broadway shows, modeled, done TV and film, and sang with big bands". He says he "wants to bring brilliant and still relevant tunes back that the younger ears have never heard, (sometimes, with drastic interpretations, sometimes not) and write songs that will be as immortal as the ones from the American Songbook." Nate is cast in the role of a musical bridge that joins the past to the present. Classic jazz standards married to contemporary interpretations of the music of both times.  Links: About Nate, MySpace and Website
Sali Oguri - Singer, keyboardist, composer and arranger, is a Modern Pop Rock artist whose music has been described as being "emotionally gripping", and "is a linking of ethereal and hard-edged elements".  "With her smoky-angelic voice and high energy, blood-rushing performance, her sound is juxtaposition extremes: heaven and hell, hot and cold." Sali has captured the interest of top industry professionals and fans across the world. Links: MySpace, Website, WUJ Productions and buy her CD: Pink Manhattan (2005) on CD Baby
Phyllis Beard - Bassist. Born in Hot Springs National Park, AR, Phyllis started at the piano at age eight, but in junior high school she began playing the bass. Her talent earned here a music scholarshiop to Stetson University in central Florida, where she majored in Classical Bass Performance. After college she moved to Minneapolis MN, where she earned her teaching license, and master's degree in education. On one eventful night at the Dakota Jazz club in St. Paul, she heard Gerald Cannon of the Roy Hargrove Quintet performing and it revitalized here interest in performing jazz. Phyllis left Minnesota eighteen months later to pursue here musical career. Since answering her musical calling, Phyllis has toured Canada, Europe, Iceland, Greenland, Faroe and the Shetland Islands.  She performs with her trio in NYC. Link: MySpace.
Bassist Kyle Spark grew up south of Boston and has made his way around the country with two national groups. As a freelance bassist he did national tours with Blueground Undergrass (Atlanta,GA) and DJ Logic's Project (NYC). He currently is doing freelance bass work around Boston as well as working on his own solo and overdubbed bass compositions.
Link to Kyle's MySpace Music page.
Vocalist Maria Rochelle - from Kansas City, Missouri. Singer and lyricist. Whether singing her combination of Hip-Hop with European soul or and Italian aria, her melodies and lyrics capture the essence of love for diversity, humanity and romance.
Link to Maria's MySpace Music site.
Rhythm guitarist Tom Reaves, Jr. from Richmond, Virginia. Known for his style of playing as the "Tonedoctor", Tom can be heard laying down the rhythm and soul on tracks with producers; Lamont "Hit.La" Fleming, Marcus “Bellringer” Bell, and Nate Smith. He can also be heard on CD recordings with such artist as Trumpeter; Bill McGee, and singers; Eric Dozier, Antoinique, and Jarrard Anthony. In addition he regularly frequents the Virginia club circuit with his band “The Krewe”, and others. Link: MySpace.
Freeport, Smooth Jazz, Jazz/Funk, and Jazz Standards - Organized in 1981 in Philadelphia, Scott Marvill assembled a group of musicians eager to play the music they enjoyed. Jazz. Freeport has recorded and performed with Tower Of Power, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Special EFX, and Grover Washington Jr. to name a few. Several years ago Scott moved to Winston-Salem, NC where he reorganized Freeport. The band has been performing around the Carolinas and has released a new CD "Freeport Open". Link: MySpace and Website
Flutist Bill Haymon - is a native of New York City living in the DC area.   Bill is currently rekindling his musical career and can be heard at venues around town.  On most Friday evenings, he can be found and sometimes heard at the Friday night Jazz concerts at the Westminster Presbyterian Church.  Link to - Bill Haymon's Information
Atiba Taylor is a saxophonist and vocalist with a distinctive style. He has shared the stage with greats like Archie Shepp, Wallace Roney and Organist Jimmy Smith.  Atiba performs with the AJQ Jazz Quartet locally.  Link to Atiba's DC Bebop Gallery
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