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Featured Performers' Biographical Information
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Ashlin Parker Quartet
Ashlin Parker recently completed his Master of Music degree in Jazz Studies at the University of New Orleans. As a member of the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra (NOJO) led by Irvin Mayfield, Ashlin shared in the 2010 Grammy award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble for NOJO’s CD, “Book One.” While in New Orleans, he also played with bands such as the Uptown Jazz Orchestra, featuring Ellis and Delfeayo Marsalis; Russell Batiste and Friends; Government Majik; Leon “Kid Chocolate” Brown and Chocolate City; and John Mahoney’s Big Band. Besides leading his own weekly gig at Snug Harbor Jazz Bistro in New Orleans, Ashlin played professionally with such musicians as Jason Marsalis, Herlin Riley, Ed Peterson, David Torkinowski, Adonis Rose, Vincent Gardner, Ron Westray, Brian Coogan, Simon Lott, and Bill Summers. Before graduate school, Ashlin worked as a sideman, arranger, and bandleader for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines from 2005-2007. Ashlin played in a number of jazz festivals in the Crescent City, including The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, French Quarter Fest, and Mid City Bayou Boogaloo Festival. He has also played at the North Sea Jazz Festival in the Netherlands, the St. Louis Jazz Festival in Senegal, Africa, and the Sunset Jazz Festival in Charlotte, NC. Playing lead trumpet, Ashlin tours, records, and films with Comic Relief, Inc.’s show: “The Return of Tony Clifton.” When at home in Charlotte, NC, Ashlin often plays with The Queen’s Collective, a group of band leaders led by jazz drummer, Ocie Davis. Ashlin Parker Quartet
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Bleu Orleans
Bleu Orleans is a jazz super group consisting of master musicians who are each capable bandleaders in their own right. Bleu Orleans band mates appeared as members of the Ray Charles Septet in the Academy award winning feature film, Ray staring Jamie Foxx. Collectively Bleu Orleans’ members have played musical events around the globe. They have been a mainstay at venerable New Orleans festivals including the Essence Music Festival and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Additionally, Bleu Orleans members have performed with such world-renowned artists as Wynton, Marsalis, Patrice Rushen, Tori Amos, Aretha Franklin, Jimmy Smith, Harold Battiste, Herbie Hancock, and Brian McKnight. Bleu Orleans Bleu Orleans Instrumentation:
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Edward Anderson: Bandleader/Trumpet
Producer, arranger, musician and founder of Fertile Crescent Entertainment, Inc. Anderson’s musical experiences include writing and arranging music for New York’s Jazz at Lincoln Center; Intern/Assistant to Executive Vice President and Head of A&R, Sony Columbia Jazz; and performances with the Treme Brass Band, Dr. Michael White, Kermit Ruffins. In 2005 he was featured as a member of the legendary Ray Charles Septet in the Academy Award winning motion picture Ray starring Jamie Foxx. As a producer, Anderson has produced albums for local jazz favorites, Leah Chase, jazz violinist Michael Ward and legendary song writer Harold Battiste. He is currently Director of the Institure of Jazz Culture Music Department at Dillard University in New Orleans.
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Darrell Lavigne: Co-leader/Pianist
Recognized by New Orleans Magazine as “The Best New Orleans Contemporary Pianists of 2002”, Lavigne is reaching new heights as a songwriter on Bleu Orleans. He has performed with Bill Summers of Herbie Hanock’s Headhunters, Kirk Whalum, Oleta Adams, Michael Ward, Wanda Rouzan, and Leah Chase. Darrell is a highly sought-after producer and songwriter. Currently rediding in Houston Tx, as a composer Darrell’s works have been sought after by many of New Orleans’ most established contemporary and smooth jazz artists.
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Aaron Fletcher: Saxes
Aaron began playing saxophone at the age of 6. His mother, Sheila Reed introduced him to gospel music, R&B, and other forms of Western American music and his father, Elton Fletcher exposed him to live performances. After graduating from the esteemed New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (N.O.C.C.A.) Aaron began touring with Terence Blanchard at the age of 19. This led to working with other artists including: Wynton Marsalis, Roy Hargrove, Stefon Harris, The Neville Brothers, Spike Lee, Stevie Wonder, Rza of Wu Tang Clan, Wyclef Jean and many others. Fletcher was also a finalist in the Thelonius Monk International Saxophone Competition in 2001.
- Brice Winston Quartet
Saxophonist and composer Brice Winston is a native of Tucson, AZ, but cut his teeth learning jazz in the city where the music began, New Orleans. For more than 16 years he lived in New Orleans performing with numerous world-class musicians including such notables as Brian Blade, Ellis Marsalis and Nicholas Payton. After touring with Nicholas Payton’s band for a year, his acquaintance with band leader and composer Terence Blanchard led to a close musical relationship that continues to this day. Brice has been touring with Blanchard for over ten years, affording him the opportunity to perform and record with some of the greatest musicians in the world including Herbie Hancock and Dave Holland, as well as record for movies scored by Blanchard for film director Spike Lee. March 2, 2010 marks the release date of his inaugural CD, Introducing Brice Winston, recorded in New York with former Blanchard band mates Aaron Parks, Derrick Hodge and Kendrick Scott. Brice currently finds himself back in his hometown of Tucson, AZ running the Tucson Jazz Institute (TJI) and continues to record and perform in jazz clubs and music festivals all over the world.
Brice Winston Quartet
- Chandler-Gilbert Community College Band
The CGCC Jazz Band, under the direction of Randy White, is an eighteen-member “Big-Band” jazz ensemble that performs at on-campus concerts, jazz and art festivals, community park concert series, and in the public school. The group contains 5 saxophones, 4 trombones, 5 trumpets, piano, guitar, bass and drums. The band performs a wide variety of music ranging from 40’s “Big Band Swing” style all the way up to today’s “Contemporary Jazz” styles and rehearses Monday evenings on campus.
- Dmitri Matheny Group
Born December 25, 1965 in Nashville, Tennessee, Dmitri Matheny was raised in Georgia and Arizona. Attracted to his father’s collection of jazz and classical LP records, Dmitri began piano lessons at age 5 and switched to the trumpet at age 9. Young Dmitri loved to perform and spent much of his childhood on stage, but he did not become serious about music until his teens, when he fell in love with the flugelhorn and left home is search of formal musical training. Matheny is an honors graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy and a 1989 magna cum laude graduate of the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Following private studies with Carmine Caruso in New York City, Matheny was the protégé of the legendary Art Farmer with whom he studied for ten years. At 29, after launching a busy recording career on the West Coast, Matheny made his New York debut at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, and then began touring internationally. The soulful sound of his horn garnered praise from critics and audiences alike, drawing frequent comparisons to Miles Davis, Chet Baker and, not surprisingly, Art Farmer. Dmitri Matheny performs with Grant & Matheny, the chamber jazz duo directed by Oregon-based pianist Darrell Grant, and leads the Dmitri Matheny Group, an all-star ensemble featuring some of the most accomplished jazz artists in the western states. Matheny has toured extensively as a soloist and bandleader throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. He has traveled to 19 countries and has performed with many Motown and popular music acts including the Temptations, Martha Reeves, Fabian, the Four Tops, Sandy Patty, Bobby Rydell, Frankie Avalon and the O’Jays. He has been honored to appear in concert with jazz luminaries Larry Coryell, Nathan Davis, Amina Figarova, Tommy Flanagan, Darrell Grant, Larry Grenadier, John Handy, Billy Higgins, Red Holloway, Denise Jannah, James Moody, Jean Louis Rassinfosse, Tony Reedus, Sam Rivers, Max Roach, the Rosenberg Trio, Bud Shank, Sonny Simmons, Mary Stallings, Billy Taylor, Bobby Watson and Paula West. Matheny has released eight critically-acclaimed albums as a leader. Although best known as a flugelhorn player, he is also a prolific composer and lyricist who’s published compositions span the jazz, pop, symphonic, choral, chamber and world music genres. He has received premiers and commissions from meet the composer, the Manhattan New Music Project, the American Society of Composers Authors and Publishers, the Jazz composers Orchestra and 20th Century Forum. Matheny’s most ambitious creation to date is Spiritu Sancto: the New Millennium Mass. A monumental sacred work scored for chorus, organ, percussion, brass quintet, jazz ensemble and gospel soloist, Spiritu Sancto received its world premiere at the stroke of midnight on the dawn of the new millennium at St. Domenic’s Cathedral in San Francisco. After two decades residing in San Francisco, Dmitri recently relocated to Phoenix, AZ. Now at home in the Valley of the Sun, Dmitri serves as Vice President of the Board of Jazz in Arizona, a nonprofit organization which cultivates jazz interest through youth education, community outreach, concert presentation and scholarship opportunities. Celebrated for his warm tone, soaring lyricism and masterful technique, American musician Dmitri Matheny has been voted “Best new Artist” in the Jazzlz Readers Poll and “Talent Deserving Wider Recognition” in the down Beat International Critics Poll.
Dmitri Matheny Group
- Nick Manson
The Brilliant keyboardist Nick Manson, originally from Seattle, is a two-time Emmy award winner whose consistently inventive jazz piano style is informed by his multifaceted career as a performer, composer, arranger, educator, and musician. A veteran of the L.A. studio scene, Manson has recorded and/or performed with dozens of jazz, pop, gospel and renowned studio musicians, including Christopher Cross, Deniece Williams, John Patitucci, B.B. King, Lenny Kravitz and Ernestine Anderson. “Manson’s gorgeous tone in crystal clear, with a wide palate of dynamics.” ~All About Jazz
Nick Manson and Festival Allstars
- The Royce Murray Jazz Ensemble
The ensemble represents the very essence of what jazz was created to inspire in musicians that do what we do. Express ourselves musically. We support each others expression of their soul in the improvisational interpretation of any song that we perform, and our collective and individual hope is to take the audience on a musical magic carpet ride. The players are great musicians in their own right. They are all gifted and can stand alone and play great jazz. But, when we come together and collaborate to make one musical sound, well then you have The Royce Murray Jazz Ensemble. Then you soar to places that you can reach only when a group of people sacrifice their individual greatness for the greatness of the whole. We’ve played all over the Valley. Many years ago at the Orbit Restaurant and Jazz Club and more recently at Bobby C’s. We’ve played the Velvet Room in Scottsdale and the Peoria Jazz Festival. We’ve played festivals here and in Wisconsin, Detroit, Illinois, and California to name a few. We’ve opened for Jimmy Smith, Tony Monaco, and others right here in Phoenix at the Rhythm Room. We are Royce Murray on Hammond Organ. John Vold on guitar. Paul Anderson on saxophone and Joe Costello on drums. We represent “the ensemble” and hope you love our music as much as we love playing it.
Royce Murray Jazz Ensemble
- Stan Sorenson and Jazz Prose
During his performances, Stan blends a variety of musical styles and songs with traditional jazz sounds. Cool, Be-bop, Latin beat and today’s contemporary jazz are combined to create his unique flavor. Known for his fiery performances, Stan’s vast repertoire includes original compositions and jazz standards, as well as drawing on modern and classic rock tunes played in his own unique style. Stan often does medleys of songs that may not seem to be possible to meld, but somehow he does it! Jazz Prose is Stan’s backup group, which includes Harald Weinkum on Bass and Andy Ziker on Drums who form the ‘rhythm section’ of this Jazz Guitar Power Trio. Inspired by a Herb Ellis recording his parents owned, Stan began guitar lessons at the age of eight. After seven years of private lessons, he began his professional career performing on the guitar in an accordion-based pop/polka band. Then came an all-original jazz/rock band. Two years later, Stan enrolled at the Phoenix College School of Music to explore and further his music skills. At Phoenix College, Stan studied classical and jazz guitar, along with composition, theory, acoustics, photography and other related art and music fields. Stan pursued his degree in Jazz Performance at Arizona State University. He received private lessons from several internationally renowned jazz guitarists including Joe Pass, Jeff Linsky, and Joe Dorio. Stan has performed locally and internationally, working with such greats as Nancy Wilson, Rosemary Clooney, Vic Damone, Jeffrey Osborne, The Fifth Dimension, Jimmy Smith, George Benson, Joey DeFancesco, and many others. Stan’s various jazz ensembles have performed at numerous festivals and have opened for Ella Fitzgerald, Burt Bacharach, David Benoit, Ray Charles and others throughout his career. Stan has also played in the orchestras for many Broadway style musicals including Zorba the Greek (starring Anthony Quinn), Annie, 42nd Street, A Chorus Line, Aida and Hairspray. You can visit Stan’s website at www.stansorenson.com for more information and browse through samples of his musical styles.
Stan Sorenson and Jazz Prose
- Swing Fever
The music is our passion. Witty and romantic tunes from the 1930s and ‘40s have inspired Swing Fever since 1978, and we can’t seem to get enough. We stopped keeping track of our song list after 1000 tunes. We learned from the originators of the music, which is why our performances have an authenticity that fans expect and critics appreciate. It helps to have the most experienced jazz players in the San Francisco Bay Area. Swing Fever musicians have performed and recorded with: Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Ella Fitzgerald, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, BB King, Rosemary Clooney, Stan Getz, Thelonius Monk, George Shearing, Coleman Hawkins, Peggy Lee, Chet Baker, Vince Guaraldi, Bill Evans, Red Norvo, Wes Montgomery, Teddy Wilson, Max Roach, Earl “Fatha” Hines, Michael Feinstein, Glen Campbell, John Hendrix, Johnny Mathis, Carmen McRae, Mel Torme, Joe Pass and Kenny Burrell. And then there’s our fine vocalist, Denise Perrier, read more about her on the Players page. Swing Fever has been performing jazz of the 1930’s and 40’s since 1978. The band has toured and recorded with renowned musicians, including Count Basie – Duke Ellington trumpeter Clark Terry, clarinetist Buddy DeFranco and vibraphonist Terry Gibbs. Swing Fever has released three CDs, two of them with Duke Ellington – Count Basie trumpeter Clark Terry, growing out of several tours together and an appearance at the Monterey Jazz Festival. A fourth CD, from live tour performances with Buddy DeFranco and Terry Gibbs will appear this Fall. Swing Fever is dedicated to the music of the Swing Era, playing it as critic Phil Elwood said, “as though the numbers are on today’s Hit Parade.” The band treats Swing Era music as a living breathing form, to which the players bring fresh excitement, new arrangements and unusual instrumentation. Clever, fun, romantic, moody, witty – here is wonderful, classic music presented in its full emotional range. As Jazz Now said, “Swing Fever keeps its music alive without turning it into a museum piece.” If this is the band’s mission, it is a successful one, as demonstrated by the band’s notable longevity and popularity. Created and nurtured in the San Francisco Bay Area, Swing Fever has always persisted, somewhat against the grain. In its own piano-less Swing style, well garnished with vocals, devoted to classic Gershwin and Ellington on the one hand and jive on the other. Swing Fever has played the Monterey Jazz Festival twice, also the San Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento and Los Angeles Classic Jazz Festivals. In 1990, Swing Fever was honored by the California Arts Council with an appointment to its touring roster. It has remained on that roster since then and played more than 400 concerts in California. The band has played two recent concert tours in Alaska, and is a long time member of Western Arts Alliance. Rhythmic, romantic, torrid and witty…this is Swing Fever’s music and they’re crazy for it. Watch out, you may catch Swing Fever too.
Accomplishments:
An active jazz band since 1978 * Two performances at The Monterey Jazz Festival * 125th Anniversary Gala of the San Francisco Art Institute * Mayor Willie Brown’s Inaugural (both public and private celebrations) * The Getty/Coppola Wedding * Thousands of wedding and private events * Four San Francisco Black and White Balls * 12 years of New Years Eve performances at Domaine Chandon in Napa Valley * 14 years of more than 450 state-wide concerts supported by the California Arts Council * 600 Corporate events, 1100 weddings, 450 concerts * Four CD's .
Swing Fever
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