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!

Detroit Jazz Festival 2023: A Tribute to a Great Jazz City

by Paul Rauch
September 11, 2023

Detroit Jazz Festival 2023 Hart Plaza & Campus Martius Detroit, MI September 1-4, 2023 Opening night is always a gas. Whether it takes the form of the annual rite of spring in baseball, the long anticipated opening of a Broadway play, or for that matter, the opening salvo of a world ...

Joe Wittman

Born: June 26, 1990

Joe Wittman has been an active member in the NYC jazz scene for over 10 years. In searching for the tone of Kenny Burrell, the feel of Grant Green and the phasing of Jim Hall, Wittman hopes to find something altogether different- himself. He enjoys a raw and earthy approach to guitar, with a maturity beyond his years (to quote what was allegedly on Jim Hall’s business card: “can’t play fast, won’t play loud”). You can catch Joe playing nightly around New York City, playing well thought out sets containing a mixture of songbook standards and original compositions

Jeff Lopez

born and raised in New York City, He has been playing bass for over 45 years and is an accomplished composer and arranger. 

Jeff is also an accomplished bandleader, composer, and arranger. This is evident on his first two CD releases, Sun And The Rain 1998 and Jeff Lopez-Jazz Composer, as well as numerous Jazz Ambassador recordings. Jeff’s compositions have appeared in various film and network TV productions.

Jeff’s professional career has included performing and touring that have taken him around the globe, including a 20-year tenure as the bass player of the U.S. Army Jazz Ambassadors, He has toured in 35 countries and all of 50 states in the USA. Some performance highlights were his two orchestral appearances at New York City’s legendary Carnegie Hall.

Changamire

Changamiré is a jazz vocalist and recording artist from Washington, DC. Glenn "HarrMonika Musik" Turner, pianist for the late Gil Scott Heron, was her first vocal coach and introduced her to recording. She receives vocal training from Howard University Professor, Kehembe Eichelberger.

AllAboutJazz.com writes “It’s difficult to nail down just what makes her voice so darn compelling. Maybe it’s the comfort or familiarity, maybe the confiding honesty. Whatever the case, it works exceptionally well.”

In 2001, Changamiré debuted her critically acclaimed album, Only Human, which features a 14-piece string section. It led to a 2004 DC Commission on the Arts Artist Fellowship that funded her performance at the GIFT Festival in Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia. She also won the Artist Fellowship in 2022 and 2023.

Marshal Herridge

Born: October 23, 1994

Marshal Herridge is a Vancouver-born jazz bassist currently residing in New York, New York. He has shared the stage with some of North America's preeminent jazz musicians including Anthony Wonsey, Andre White, Kirk MacDonald, Joe Sullivan, Kevin Dean, Al McClean, Remi Bolduc, Dave Laing, Lorne Lofsky, Peter Bernstein, John Scofield, Donny McCaslin, Dick Oatts, Ari Hoenig, Sam Kirmayer, Caity Gyorgy, Tony Moreno, Pat Labarbera, Larry Goldings, Brian Dickinson amongst others. He holds a Bachelor of Music Degree from Humber College, a Master of Music Degree from McGill University in Jazz Performance and an Artist Diploma in Jazz Instrumental Performance from New York University. During his time in these institutions, he was fortunate enough to study with such world renowned performer/composer/educators as Dezron Douglas, Ari Hoenig, Mike Downes and Neil Swainson, where he learned to hone his craft and develop his own musical conception on the instrument. He was awarded the Oscar Peterson Prize from Humber College (the highest award offered in the program) and received a substantial scholarship to both McGill University and New York University. His debut album Chapter One (released in 2019) pays homage to his heroes Scott LaFaro and Paul Chambers. 

Gabe Terracciano

A native of Portland, Maine, Gabriel Terracciano has been playing the violin since the age of three. After eight years of strictly classical training, he discovered the jazz violin playing of Joe Venuti, Stuff Smith, and, later on, Zbigniew Seifert, who all changed his musical life (and life in general!) forever. Since then, Gabe has developed into a versatile multi-instrumentalist and a musician who has been recognized for playing the violin “in a way that’s unlike anyone else” (Sam Pfeifle, Portland Phoenix), while “proving himself as an improviser, never overplaying or imitating his predecessors on his instrument” (iTunes official album review for Crunch Time with Ron McClure). As an improvising string player, Gabe has delved into the fields of modern jazz, Gypsy and hot jazz, Middle Eastern, electronic, pop, bluegrass, and Latin styles, just to name a few! He has played for many years throughout the United States as both a leader and sideman, including multiple performances at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola (NYC), part of Jazz at Lincoln Center

Eric Jacobson

Born: April 7

As a performer, teacher, and clinician Eric Jacobson is in high demand and has been gaining a national reputation through his trumpet playing and as a jazz educator. Eric has performed with Grammy© Award Winners Phil Woods, Benny Golson, Brian Lynch, Tito Puente Jr., and Eric Benet. As a Music Major he studied Trumpet at UW-Whitewater from 1993-1997 with Dr. Frank Hanson, and Grammy Award winner Jazz Director Steve Wiest.

Eric is a top call trumpeter for high-profile gigs in Milwaukee, Madison, and Chicago. Eric performs in the windy city at the Green Mill, Jazz Showcase, Winter’s Jazz Club, and Andy's Jazz Club with some of the top Chicago groups such as The Chicago Jazz Orchestra, Chicago Yestet, Bakerzmillion, and Mark Colby’s Quintet.

Eric has also been busy in the recording studio with his latest CD released under Grammy Award winner Brian Lynch's jazz label Holistic MusicWorks.

In 2019 and 2021, Eric toured the east cost leading his own group in South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, D.C., Philly, and New York featuring world-class musicians Bruce Barth and John Swana.

"Eric is the real deal! - a truly world-class jazz trumpeter with a gift to inspire, motivate and teach students of all ages with dramatic results

Facing West

It all began with a podcast. Tenor saxophonist and pedagogue Donnie Norton received a call from his old friend, Doug Stone to appear on Stone’s podcast. Stone, a tenor saxophonist and educator himself, runs a program focused on all things tenor saxophone entitled “Tenor Talk” and saw Norton as a perfect fit for the program on an episode in 2020. Following the podcast, the saxophonists began talking about their mutual connections, both from school and life, and soon the names of drummer Brian Claxton and bassist Braun Khan came up. “All of the members knew each other and had played with each other in various other walks of life,” Norton says, “but the four of us had never played together as a unit.” That quickly changed as the four went from a group of friends to a powerful quartet, creating original music that pays homage to the freedom of expression found in the great chordless jazz ensembles of the past.

Vicki Burns

Born: August 26, 1961

Vicki Burns has a pleasing wide-ranging voice, crystal clear diction, and she knows how to sing as if she means it.” Bebop Spoken Here 

“Avoiding the predictability of safe havens, her music brims with many more surprises and uncharted delights... Vicki Burns is irresistible.” Dr. Herbert Wong 

Jazz singer Vicki Burns is the complete package. With her three-octave range, sure sense of rhythm, and perfect intonation, she can scat convincingly, swing like a horn, and write hip songs worthy of attention from other vocalists.

She has produced three CDs as a leader: Siren Song (2005), Live at Anna’s Jazz Island (2008), and her 2022 release Lotus Blossom Days.  Jazz writer Marc Myers said, "Vicki's voice on Lotus Blossom Days is warm and round, sophisticated and optimistic with shades of blue. She also takes terrific risks that pay off.”