Results for "Washington"

Darden Purcell

Born: March 21

DARDEN PURCELL, a Washington D.C. based jazz vocalist, is an active featured soloist with symphony orchestras, big bands and small ensembles, band leader and vocal instructor. Ms. Purcell has shared the stage with many top jazz artists including Maria Schneider, Eric Alexander, Terell Stafford, Jim Pugh, Chip McNeill, Chuchito Valdes, Dana Hall, Alan Baylock, Glenn Wilson, Chip Stephens, Stockton Helbing, Byron Stripling, Bobby Floyd, Joel Spencer, Darmon Meader, Lisanne Lyons, Jim Carroll, Charlie Young, Chris Vadala, Shawn Purcell, Matt Niess, Dave Detwiler, Joe McCarthy, the Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra, US Navy Commodores, Naval Academy Big Band, Next Wave, The Airmen of Note, US Army Blues and the American Festival Pops Orchestra (Tony Maiello) performing at concert halls and clubs nationally and internationally, including Blues Alley, Pops for Champagne, The Jazz Kitchen, The Blue Wisp, The Kitchen Cafe, The Bop Stop, Con Alma, JazzB (Sao Paulo, Brazil), Sandler Center (back-up vocals for Ben Folds) Meyerhoff Center (BSO), Wolf Trap for the Performing Arts (NSO) and The Kennedy Center (back-up vocals for Mr. George Benson, Sara Bareilles and Caroline Shaw). Dr. Purcell is the Director of Jazz Studies, Jazz Voice Instructor and Director of the Downbeat Award-winning Mason Jazz Vocal Ensemble at George Mason University.

Ms. Purcell is a former Washington DC Air Force Band vocalist, with the groups High Flight and the Airmen of Note, performing nationally and internationally, including Germany, Italy, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. Purcell performed back-up vocals for nationally renowned recording artists, Chaka Khan, BeBe Winans, Bryan White, Lari White, Janie Frickie, Freda Payne, Sherrie Payne, Gloria Loring, Melba Moore and Rita Coolidge as well as a televised performance behind Darlene Love on "The Late Show with David Letterman."

In addition to her active performing schedule, Dr. Purcell is a sought-after jazz vocal educator and clinician. Dr. Purcell was the Jazz Voice Instructor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and founder/director of the University of Illinois Jazz Vocal Ensemble. She is now the founder/director of the Mason Jazz Vocal Ensemble. Her groups have been invited to perform at the New York Voices Jazz Festival, Western Michigan’s Gold Company Jazz Vocal Invitational, the 2012, 2018 Jazz Education Network (JEN) conference, Kansas City Jazz Summit and Tiffin Vocal Festival. Dr. Purcell has served on the faculty of the W.O. Smith Music School camp (Nashville), Illinois Summer Youth Music, George Mason Summer Jazz Workshop, National Jazz Workshop and Mason Jazz Camp to name a few.

Victor Provost

Victor Provost is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading voices on the unique, and often misunderstood, steel pan (or steel drum). Through appearances at concert halls, clubs, and stages throughout the world, he has been meticulously developing a reputation as a “dazzling” soloist, crafting an improvisational voice and style to be reckoned with. With a strong foundation in Bebop, a contemporary sensibility, and deep roots in Caribbean music, he works in countless genres and musical styles. The Washington D.C. City Paper’s “Jazz Percussionist of the Year” five years running, his freshmen release “Her Favorite Shade of Yellow” was named one of the top five albums of 2011, and the publications named him “Jazz Artist of the Year” in 2012. In addition to leading his own group, Victor tours with NEA Jazz Master, Paquito D’Rivera, is a member of the GRAMMY award-winning Afro Bop Alliance, and works with several of the Mid-Atlantic region’s most lauded musical collectives (including Dion Parson’s 21st Century Band, the Reginald Cyntje Group, and Michael Bowie’s Sine Qua Non)

Kim Cameron

Kim Cameron and the Side FX band offer an eclectic blend of pop, rock and jazz into a smooth, groovy listening experience. Think Carly Simon with an attitude. The group launched their first album, Contradictions in the September 2008. Combining a fresh, genre-shifting sound with inspired and deeply personal lyrics, every song in the album is wrapped around a personal experience of lead singer/songwriter, Kim Cameron. Gaining popularity quickly throughout the Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, MD area, Side FX offers an alternative sound that is all their own. Lead singer Kim Cameron spent the last twenty years working her way up the corporate ladder but there was always something missing in her life

Fahir Atakoglu

A native of Turkey, Fahir Atakoğlu is an international award winning composer and pianist well known in the fields of large symphonic works, film music and jazz. His works have been performed in various music festivals in Europe and The United States to critical acclaim, and he is considered one of the most outstanding pianists and composers in the world today. Fahir was recently honoured (2015) as one of the 50 Most Influential Turkish American Artists. Since 1986, Fahir has composed jingles, documentary and film music for many national and international productions. For his work in film composition, he won first prize for “Documentary Music Compositions” at the Milano Film Festival as well as “Outstanding Achievement in Arts Award”, Platinum Sales awarded by EMI Greece, Telos Dios Telosfor sales in excess of 480,000 and he won “The Best Song Award” from the Mega Channel in Greece

John Kocur

Jazz saxophonist and composer John Kocur is captivating new audiences by putting an adventurous yet accessible spin on a classic tradition. Kocur’s compositions have been described as “mainly straight-ahead and clearly influenced by the playing of past masters such as Johnny Hodges and Cannonball Adderley, but they are not simply derivative. The ballads in particular display a maturity in writing and playing” (Bruce Lindsay, All About Jazz). While highlighting original music, the group also creates unique interpretations of popular American songs from past and present. The group’s style is an intimate, all-acoustic format, where the music takes center stage. Recent performances by the John Kocur Quartet have included venues such as Bohemian Caverns, Blues Alley, Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, the DC Jazz Festival, Twins Jazz, and the Phillips Collection.

Patrick De Santos

"A voice as great as Patrick de Santos' comes along only once in a lifetime.... The first time I heard this gifted singer in New York City. I was immediately impressed by his breathtaking artistry, stunned, actually, that's such a formidable talent could arrive on the city's music scene relatively unheralded." - Russ Musto AllAboutJazz-New York tones to crystalline high notes and topped by a sparsely used astonishing siren-like falsetto." --"... a remarkable balance between disciplined technique and emotional abandon. His voice is an extraordinarily flexible instrument, ranging from velvety low Joel Siegel, Washington City Paper A native of the Cape Verde Islands, West Africa, Patrick De Santos moved to and was raised in France from the age of 6

Janine Gilbert-Carter

Born: September 25, 1960

Janine Carter was introduced to gospel, Jazz and blues at a very early age by her parents and grandmother. This Pennsylvania native cannot remember a time when music was not a part of her very existence. She began her musical journey like so many contemporary artists as a member of the choir at her church in Aliquippa, PA. She also had the opportunity to expand on her solo performances as a member of the Bach Choir of PA which performed some of Broadways most exciting musicals. Janine continued to use the gift she was given to perform at various functions and special events until she relocated to the Washington, DC Metropolitan area in the summer of 1988

Jaared

Born: January 20

PA virtuoso on the alto, soprano, and tenor saxophones, as well as the unique EWI breath controller, Jaared is an internationally acclaimed recording artist. He is also an accomplished singer, who often brings the house down with his vocals. Jaared entered the Washington, D.C., music scene at a very young age, rapidly gaining prominence for his work on the alto sax. As he continued as a full-time entertainer, he received more and more recognition for his music, and was soon known to audiences all over the world. Always wanting to keep things fresh, Jaared chose to expand his musical message with the soprano sax, EWI, and tenor sax, and now plays all three, while continuing with his main voice, the alto sax

Shirley Horn

Born: May 1, 1934

Shirley Horn remembered playing her grandmother's piano when she was four years old. Uninterested in playing with the neighborhood children, Horn enjoyed nothing more than to play that piano, and would close herself off in her grandmother's parlor, which was kept for guests and was chillier than the rest of the house. After several years of this, her mother, who admired classical music, enrolled the girl in piano lessons. Shirley was surrounded by music in her family, and admitted that the majority of the songs in her repertoire are those she heard while she was growing up, in Washington D.C. She played with a choir, at Sunday school, and won a talent contest and 13-week radio engagement at age 13

Sharón Clark

"New and amazing . . . an absolute triumph"! — Will Friedwald, Wall Street Journal “You can’t underestimate the transformation of what seems like an ordinary song when an interpreter like Sharón Clark tears it apart and peers inside." — Stephen Holden, New York Times “A revelation . . . I never thought I'd hear a singer with the range, musicality and command of tone and timbre that was Sarah at her best, but now I have.” —JazzTimes Washington, D.C. standout Sharón Clark has brought festival and concert audiences to their feet across the globe. Her New York run drew raves from the NY Times and the Wall Street Journal, and she won New York’s Bistro Award for Best Vocalist