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Grammy Award Winner, trumpeter, composer and bandleader Wallace Roney is one of the most exciting and innovative musicians on the creative music scene. His consummate artistry and eagerness to explore and transcend musical boundaries has led him to collaborate with diverse musicians such as Art Blakey, Miles Davis, Carole King, Ornette Coleman, Sonny Rollins, Prince, Herbie Hancock, Mos Def, Randy Weston, Abdulah Ibrahim, Stevie Wonder, Joni Mitchell, among numerous others. He is one of the few musicians in his generation who learned and perfected his craft directly from alliances with Jazz Masters. He is continuing his push to develop new concepts in jazz and is considered one of the leaders in the future movement of jazz music. Wallace Roney earned the admiration and respect of his colleagues and his elders since age 16. He has been an integral part of the band with Art Blakey, Elvin Jones, Philly Joe Jones, Walter Davis Jr., Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams, Jay McShann, David Murray, and McCoy Tyner; as well as a featured as a soloist with Ornette Coleman, Sonny Rollins, Curtis Fuller, Carole King, Joni Mitchell, and Dizzy Gillespie, to name a few. He was one of the most popular jazz sidemen in the music industry early into his professional career. In 1989, and again in 1990, Wallace won Down Beat Magazine’s Critic’s Poll for Best Trumpeter to Watch. Wallace was mentored by Miles Davis after Miles heard him in 1983 at his birthday gala performance in Carnegie Hall. Their association peaked when Miles chose Wallace to share the stage at his historic performance in Montreux in 1991. After Davis died, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Wayne Shorter, Tony Williams and Roney banded together and toured the world in tribute.
”This amazing trumpet player blends the bebop tendencies of the Parker/Dizzy era with the more contemporary Miles Davis jazz-fusion sound.”
”After several years of incessant Miles Davis comparisons, Wallace Roney has clearly emerged as a jazz giant on his own merits. His trumpet sound is unmistakable – beautifully dark and pensive in the lower register, clear and resonant on higher notes ... The Wallace Roney Quintet is one of the most progressive working groups in jazz – their Warner Bros. release early this year was a showcase of blistering bop and cool balladry, guided by Roney’s improvisational fire and compositional innovation.” – PhildelphiaCityPaper.Net
”I feel that my music is always a tribute to Miles because my music definitely has Miles’ stamp. He was like my father and I never ran from his influence,” says Wallace. |
Antoine Roney plays tenor and soprano saxophone. He is one of the most unique musicians of his generation. In his music there is a high level of creativity from which he strives to break sociopolitical, spiritual and metaphysical ground. His saxophone playing is beautifully abstract without trading in tradition. Antoine has worked with jazz greats such as Donald Byrd, Jackie McLean, Clifford Jordan, Ted Curson, John Patton, Rashied Ali, Arthur Taylor, Jesse Davis, Ravi Coltrane, Michael Carvin, Wallace Roney, Cindy Blackman, Freddie Hubbard, Geri Allen, Chick Corea and Elvin Jones and has released 5 recordings as a leader. He is currently a member of the Wallace Roney Quintet, led by his brother and trumpeter, Wal lace Roney. He is also involved with his own projects dealing with travelling and recording in Africa’s indigenous areas. |
Cuban pianist Aruan Ortiz was classically trained as both a violist and pianist, and his influences reflect Bach, Mozart and Liszt as well as traditional Afro Cuban music and jazz greats Bud Powell, Art Tatum and Thelonious Monk. After winning Best Cuban Composition at the Symposium of Cuban Music in Jamaica in 1995 and recording in Spain, he was awarded a series of scholarships to study classical piano at the Professional Conservatory in Vilaseca, Spain, and jazz piano with Joanne Brackeen and Danilo Pérez at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. In the U.S., he has played with Wallace Roney, Roy Hargrove, Stefon Harris, Lionel Lueke, Eric McPherson, Jane Bunnett and Jerry Bergonzi, and won numerous honors in Europe. In addition to his trio and quartet projects, Aruan also works as an assistant professor at Berklee College of Music, and gives workshops and clinics in jazz and Cuban music at different universities around the U.S. |
Bassist Rashaan Carter, son of a jazz saxophonist, was already a member of the Washington, DC jazz community as a high school student, performing in venues such as Blues Alley, Twins, HR-57, and the Bohemian Caverns. Before graduation he appeared with Gary Thomas, Roy Hargrove, and Stefon Harris, and played in trio around DC with brothers Roland and Russell. He cites Paul Chambers, Ray Brown, Dave Holland, and Ron Carter as his key influences. |
At only 17 years old, Kush Abadey is an accomplished drummer, bandleader and composer. Kush was raised in a musical family so the interest in playing became very natural. His father, Nasar Abadey, has been a drummer for over 30 years and made the drums a prominent part of his life. Kush has shared the stage with some of the world’s finest musicians such as Wallace Roney, Gary Thomas, Antoine Roney, Joe Ford, James King, Ameen Saleem, Kris Funn, Tim Warfield, Barry Harris, Buck Hill, Russell Kirk, Benito Gonzalez and Keter Betts just to name a few. In 2004 Kush opened the All-Star concert in celebration of Duke Ellington’s birthday at the Lincoln Theatre. In the spring of 2005 the Levine School of Music invited Kush to perform for their annual fundraiser, a tribute to Dr. Billy Taylor held at Mellon Hall in Washington DC. In 2005 Kush led a jazz quartet at the Public Playhouse in Maryland, in a program entitled ”Jazz on a Sunday Afternoon” for an educational fundraiser. The Atlas performing Arts Center has been the venue for two concerts featuring Kush’s band Gyroscope. One for H Street Main Streets and the other concert in a father and son band, back to back at the Washington DC Duke Ellington Jazz Festival. Kush studied jazz improvisation with Jeffrey Chappelle and percussion with Tom Teasley at the Levine School of Music. Kush has been a recipient of the Laurel Fund, where he has performed primarily as a soloist, at various community service projects taking the music to those who don’t necessarily have the opportunity to go to live concerts, as well as to audience at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage. On a separate occasion Kush’s band was invited to perform at the Millennium Stage with his quintet, all of witch can be viewed on the website of the Kennedy Center Archives. One of his most prestigious accomplishments has been to be the youngest artist to date, ever selected for the Strathmore Artist-in-Residence program for performance and composition. Most recently Kush was offered a full scholarship to attend a Summer Jazz Workshop at the Berklee College of Music in Boston Massachusetts, where he was able to gain a 4 year full scholarship to attend the school in the fall of 2009. Kush is currently a senior attending Griggs University International Academy. Kush previously attended Suitland Senior High School in the Visual and Performing Arts Program in PG County MD, as a piano major, and a member of both the Concert Choir, and the Jazz Band. Kush has a tremendous passion for music, especially African American classical music, more commonly known as jazz. His desire is to be an arranger, producer and teacher in the future. |
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