2013 Artist Bios

Take 6
A cappella sensation TAKE 6 defies category. The instantly recognizable and irrepressible GRAMMY and Dove Award winners are a perfect representation of what Duke Ellington called “Beyond Category.”
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Jeff Hamilton Trio
The Jeff Hamilton Trio, featuring Tamir Hendelman on piano and Christoph Luty on bass, represents musicianship of the highest order. These three masters have been working together since 1994, bringing their own unique sounds together to create a smooth collaboration.
Photo by Mark LaMoreaux
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Regina Carter
Through her albums, incessant touring and various guest appearances and collaborations, Regina has developed into a distinctly diverse musical personality. She has repeatedly toured throughout the world, was the first jazz artist and African American to play Niccolo Paganini’s famed Guarneri “Connon” violin, has been featured with several symphony orchestras and performed with artists as diverse as Aretha Franklin, Lauryn Hill, Billy Joel, Kenny Barron and Mary J. Bilge.
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Sara Caswell
Sara Caswell “is a brilliant world-class violinist...one of the very best of the present generation of emerging young jazz stars” according to David Baker, internationally-renowned jazz educator and Director of the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra. Rooted in an early exposure to a variety of musical genres, Sara’s technical facility on the violin intertwined with her gift for lyricism continues to attract growing attention to her artistry as a jazz soloist, sideman, and teacher.
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Shawn Conley
Shawn has attended many prestigious summer festivals including The Tanglewood Music Center, The Henry Mancini Institute and the Domaine Forget Academy. Along with teaching privately, Shawn has been on the faculty of the Hawaii Contrabass festival in 2006 and 2008. In 2007 he was the third place winner at the International Society of Bassist Scott LaFaro Jazz competition. Shawn currently lives in Brooklyn, NY.
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Dee Daniels
Dee has cultivated a diverse career that has also seen her on theatre stages including the 2009 premiere of New York choreographer, Twyla Tharp’s, new musical, Come Fly Away, and, as an inspirational speaker with a keynote address being delivered at the 2009 Women’s CEO & Senior Management Summit in Toronto.
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Bruce Forman
Forman is a seasoned jazz player with top-level skills as a leader, entertainer and sideman. He creates soulful, lyrical melodies, inventive harmonies, and solid accompaniment. Though he can play bebop at blistering tempos with the best of them, he is no urban snob. Cow Bop, Forman’s unique “western bebop” band, hit four separate charts with its CDs, Swingin’ Out West, Route 66 and Too Hick for the Room.
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Fred Hersch
FRED HERSCH, pianist and composer, has been called "one of the small handful of brilliant musicians of his generation" by Downbeat. Hersch's numerous accomplishments include a 2003 Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship for composition, two Grammy® nominations for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance and a Grammy® nomination for Best Instrumental Composition.
Photo by: Steve J Sherman
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Kevin Kanner
Despite his age, over the years Kevin has amassed a large summary of jazz credits in collaboration with other artists.
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Josh Nelson
Josh Nelson, born and raised in Southern California, maintains an active and creative schedule as a jazz pianist, composer, teacher, and recording artist. Barely 30 years old, he has already performed with some of the most respected names in jazz.
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Maceo Parker
For the last two decades Maceo Parker has been enjoying a blistering solo career, building a new funk empire, one that is both fresh and stylistically diverse. He navigates deftly between James Brown's 1960's soul and George Clinton's 1970's freaky funk while exploring mellower jazz and the grooves of hip-hop.
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Trio da Paz
The Trio's critically acclaimed, multi-faceted debut recording Brazil from the Inside , with special guests Herbie Mann, Claudio Roditi, Joanne Brackeen and Maucha Adnet, received the "Indie" award for best album of the year. Trio da Paz followed that success with a daring and ambitious concept album, an exploration of the well-known themes from Black Orpheus, the soundtrack that set Brazilian music on a new course.
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Byron Stripling
A spectacular trumpeter with a very wide range, a beautiful tone, and the ability to blend together many influences into his own style, Byron Stripling is also the artistic director of the Columbus Jazz Orchestra, leader of his own quartet, and constantly in demand to play with pops orchestras around the world.
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Aaron Weinstein
Aaron Weinstein, named a ‘rising star violinist’ by Downbeat Magazine, is quickly earning a reputation as one of the finest jazz violinists of his generation. As a featured soloist, Aaron has performed at Carnegie Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Wolftrap Center for the Performing Arts, Birdland, the Blue Note, Iridium, and abroad at jazz festivals in England, France, Switzerland, Iceland, and Israel.
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Warren Wolf
Warren Wolf is a multi-instrumentalist from Baltimore, Maryland. From the young age of three years old, Warren has been trained on the Vibraphone/Marimba, Drums, and Piano. Under the guidance of his father Warren Wolf Sr., Warren has a deep background in all genres of music.
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