Results for "Straight Ahead"

Straight Ahead

Out of Detroit's lively jazz scene, which has produced some of the best musicians in the world, comes the ground breaking all female jazz group, Straight Ahead. A group of strong, inventive instrumentalists and vocalists, they have shown themselves to be powerful and imaginative composers and arrangers.

Widely recognized for their eclectic and soulful approach to creating music, the Straight Ahead sound ranges comfortably from mainstream jazz R&B ballads, avant-garde to Brazilian funk. Their live performances are a dynamic celebration of power and joy. The ladies delight in changing textures, moods, and tempos and love to throw in the occasional musical joke!

Sebastian Mueses

Born: April 20, 1998

Sebastián Mueses Selig (Santo Domingo, 1998) is a double bassist and electric bassist with a continuous career in the Dominican professional jazz scene since 2018. Trained at the National Conservatory of Music and the International School of Contemporary Music of Pedro Henriquez Ureña University (UNPHU) in Santo Domingo and with advanced studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg (Germany), he combines the rigor of acoustic jazz with the flexibility required by popular and commercial formats.

His calling card is the volume and variety of his work as an accompanist. He has been the trusted bassist for directors and soloists on the Dominican circuit—Oscar Micheli, Eddy Alba, Carlos Mota, Carlos Marcelo, Jordi Masalles, —and the musician called upon to support international artists visiting the country, from Berklee graduates to instrumentalists based in Boston, New York, and San Juan. This role demands a specific and difficult skill: preparing other artists' repertoire in a short time and sustaining it live without extensive rehearsal.

Katie Garonzik

Austin Di Pietro

The Scornful Four

Active since: 2023

The Scornful Four is a multi-generational jazz quartet from Meanjin that features repertoire that is entrenched in the history of jazz with a uniquely Australian approach, evoking the incomparable vast landscapes and vistas of our home.

This group reveres the bleak counterpoints of the classic Mulligan-Baker Quartet, and the jazz hero-worship continues with nods to the legendary pianoless groups of Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane’s fiery 1960s ensembles. But the enigmatic beauty and undeniably Australian rasp of Bernie McGann, the intensity of Mark Simmonds and Scott Tinkler, and the genre-breaking excursions of Sandy Evans are the prevailing elemental sounds that drive the Scornful Four to bring you new explorations of the jazz vernacular. 

Grant D Richards

Born: 1990

Grant Richards is an award-winning pianist, composer, and educator based in New York. A native of Portland, Oregon, he began playing piano at the age of eight and enrolled at Berklee College of Music on a full-tuition Jimmy Lyons Scholarship in 2009. He has since performed with Grammy award-winning artists Esperanza Spalding, Eddie Gomez, and Terri Lyne Carrington, as well as luminaries Simon Phillips, Kurt Rosenwinkel, and Valerie Simpson.

A prolific bandleader and composer, Grant has released four albums as a leader over the past ten years to critical acclaim while performing extensively in the US and abroad. Over a career spanning two decades, Grant’s skillful versatility as a pianist and educator has brought him around the world, spending extensive time based in India and Japan before settling in NYC.

Pete Kelly

Finn Yang

Finn Yang is a composer, arranger and jazz pianist working out of the Pacific Northwest. 

He has played at venues such as Salem’s Historic Grand Theater, studied with Steinway Artist Randy Porter and Grammy winner John Daversa, and worked under the PJCE Young Jazz Composers mentorship.

He is currently the regular pianist for Jon Deshler's "TUNE TOURS" group, the Salem Big Band, accompanist and pianist at Silverton United Methodist Church, leader of the Finn Yang Trio, and director of the PNW Jazz Project (@pnwlovesjazz).

Paul Silbergleit

Paul Silbergleit is a Milwaukee-based jazz guitarist, bandleader, composer, educator, and author. Straight-ahead in style, he bears the influence of figures such as Grant Green, Wes Montgomery, Jim Hall, Pat Metheny, Pat Martino, and Kenny Burrell.

Paul has performed with a wide array of jazz luminaries such as Melvin Rhyne, Phil Woods, Benny Golson, Tierney Sutton, Jon Faddis, Richie Cole, Brian Lynch, David Hazeltine, and Jack McDuff, to name just a few. A member of area jazz supergroup We Six, he has also worked with notable institutions like the Milwaukee Repertory Theater and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. His critically acclaimed albums Silberglicity, My New Attitude, and January all heavily feature his own compositions, while The Hidden Standard shows off his arranging skills with an amazing variety of reimagined familiar tunes in a sextet setting. His latest release, The Stillness of July (Calligram), presents a mix of unique originals and arrangements, and showcases the great chemistry of the long-running Paul Silbergleit Trio lineup with bassist Clay Schaub and drummer Devin Drobka.

Oscar Caucaly

Born: March 30, 1985

Oscar Caucaly’s musical story begins in Bogotá, where as a teenager he immersed himself in salsa and Latin jazz. Those early years—filled with clave, improvisation, and rhythmic exploration—became the foundation of his artistic identity. From there, he dove deeply into the jazz tradition, embracing bebop language, straight-ahead repertoire, and modern jazz concepts that would define his evolving voice.

After studying at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, he continued his formation in Barcelona at the Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu, supported by Fundación Carolina. He later completed a Master’s degree in Jazz Studies at New York University, where he worked closely with masters such as Alan Broadbent and Ari Hoenig, and performed under the direction of Alan Ferber and Chris Potter at the Blue Note Jazz Club in New York City.