Todd Simon, piano
Shawn Simon, bass
Dover, Delaware native Todd Simon is a 2007 Peabody graduate and a mainstay on the Baltimore/Washington D.C. jazz scene as a pianist, organist, and saxophonist. He served in the U. S. Naval Academy Band from 2009-2014 as a multi-instrumentalist in several ensembles. In 2019, Todd moved to New York City and began immediately performing at several venues in Harlem, Manhattan, and Brooklyn. His career as a full-time freelance musician has led to opportunities to perform and/or record with Chris Potter, Nicholas Payton, Gary Bartz, Tim Warfield, Antonio Hart, Ralph Peterson, Gary Thomas, Paul Bollenback, Tarus Mateen, Mike Pope, Dontae Winslow, Mark Gross, Freddie Hendrix, Warren Wolf, Daryl Davis, and Vanessa Collier, as well as several acclaimed ensembles including The Fabulous Hubcaps, which his father founded....
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Todd Simon, piano
Shawn Simon, bass
Dover, Delaware native Todd Simon is a 2007 Peabody graduate and a mainstay on the Baltimore/Washington D.C. jazz scene as a pianist, organist, and saxophonist. He served in the U. S. Naval Academy Band from 2009-2014 as a multi-instrumentalist in several ensembles. In 2019, Todd moved to New York City and began immediately performing at several venues in Harlem, Manhattan, and Brooklyn. His career as a full-time freelance musician has led to opportunities to perform and/or record with Chris Potter, Nicholas Payton, Gary Bartz, Tim Warfield, Antonio Hart, Ralph Peterson, Gary Thomas, Paul Bollenback, Tarus Mateen, Mike Pope, Dontae Winslow, Mark Gross, Freddie Hendrix, Warren Wolf, Daryl Davis, and Vanessa Collier, as well as several acclaimed ensembles including The Fabulous Hubcaps, which his father founded.
Todd is featured as a sideman on 11 recordings to date and has 2 albums as a leader: Simon Says (which led to an ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award and the first of 2 top-tier MSAC Individual Artist Awards) and the 3-volume Simon Brothers Holiday Special with bassist (and brother) Shawn Simon. Todd also frequently plays for All Souls Unitarian Church in D.C. and the non-profit Voices of Vets, whose goal is to bring music to every veteran home in the country.
As a solo pianist, Todd's main early influences were Oscar Peterson, Gene Harris, Art Tatum, and now also includes modern masters like Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Cyrus Chestnut, and Mulgrew Miller. Elements of stride, blues, bebop, and the Afro-Cuban tradition are blended together in soulful, swinging, and creative arrangements of Todd's diverse repertoire that will leave listeners feeling moved, wowed, and satisfied.
Shawn Simon was born in Dover, Delaware and started taking piano lessons at the age of 9. In the 5th grade, he learned the trumpet and continued to play all throughout high school. At 16 years old, he taught himself the electric bass, and a year later, took lessons on the double bass. He received his bachelors degree at East Carolina University in Jazz Performance where he studied jazz bass (both electric and double bass) under professor Carroll V. Dashiell, and took classical bass lessons from Leonid Finkelshteyen.
At 24 years old, Shawn just received his Master's Degree at Towson University in music performance where he studied jazz bass under Jeff Reed. Shawn has played in various bands all throughout the east coast including Delaware, Maryland, Washington D.C., Virginia, North Carolina, and New York. Currently, he is continuing to play at jazz clubs throughout Baltimore, and Washington D.C. and plays with the Ashley Mitchell Band, a top 40s pop group. He is versatile in a wide variety of genres and looks forward to sharing his experiences and knowledge with his students.
Admission: $15 in advance/$18 at door/$10 full-time student with ID
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