Carl Allen, drums
Richard Johnson, piano
Sharel Cassity, alto saxophone
Herman Burney, bass
With over 200 recordings to his credit, Milwaukee-born, New York-based drummer, Carl Allen has been a sideman, bandleader, entrepreneur, and educator for nearly three decades. He studied with Roy Sneider and band director Robert Siemele. His first hometown gigs were with sax greats Sonny Stitt and James Moody. Allen also played with Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, Benny Golson, Jennifer Holliday, J.J. Johnson, Rickie Lee Jones, Sammy Davis Jr., Branford Marsalis, Kenny Garrett, Lena Horne, Ruth Brown, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Bobby Hutcherson, Mike Stern, Nellie McKay, Terence Blanchard, Phil Woods, Benny Green, Cyrus Chestnut, Joe Henderson, Billy Childs and many others. Allen’s phenomenal sideman discography includes Jackie McLean (Dynasty), Donald Harrison (Indian Blues, Noveau Swing), Donald Byrd (A City Called Heaven), and Art Farmer (The Company I Keep)....
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Carl Allen, drums
Richard Johnson, piano
Sharel Cassity, alto saxophone
Herman Burney, bass
With over 200 recordings to his credit, Milwaukee-born, New York-based drummer, Carl Allen has been a sideman, bandleader, entrepreneur, and educator for nearly three decades. He studied with Roy Sneider and band director Robert Siemele. His first hometown gigs were with sax greats Sonny Stitt and James Moody. Allen also played with Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, Benny Golson, Jennifer Holliday, J.J. Johnson, Rickie Lee Jones, Sammy Davis Jr., Branford Marsalis, Kenny Garrett, Lena Horne, Ruth Brown, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Bobby Hutcherson, Mike Stern, Nellie McKay, Terence Blanchard, Phil Woods, Benny Green, Cyrus Chestnut, Joe Henderson, Billy Childs and many others. Allen’s phenomenal sideman discography includes Jackie McLean (Dynasty), Donald Harrison (Indian Blues, Noveau Swing), Donald Byrd (A City Called Heaven), and Art Farmer (The Company I Keep).
He co-founded Big Apple Productions in 1988 with saxophonist Vincent Herring, and Nella Productions where he runs jazz workshops around the world. Allen has produced recordings for Eric Reed, Dewey Redman. Pharoah Sanders, Freddie Hubbard, Kris Bowers and Lage Lund, and others, totaling nearly 70 credits as a producer.
He is an active as a sideman with Christian McBride and Inside Straight, Benny Golson and others. He recently led The Carl Allen Quartet and The Art of Elvin, an Art Blakey and Elvin Jones tribute band. https://carlallen.com
Saxophonist, Multi-Reedist, Composer, Bandleader, Recording Artist and Educator Sharel Cassity is a distinguished musician on the New York jazz scene where she resided for 16 years. Listed as “Rising Star Alto Saxophone” in Downbeat Magazine for the past 9 consecutive years & having earned her Masters from The Juilliard School on full scholarship, Sharel has won the 2007 ASCAP Young Jazz Composers Award & was inducted into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame in 2010.?
Known for her fiery and soulful style of improvising & her expert ensemble skills, Sharel is a versatile sideman having performed regularly alongside renowned artists Roy Hargrove, Lewis Nash, Joe Chambers & Darcy James Argue. Currently a regular member of the Dizzy Gillespie Big Band, Dizzy Gillespie Afro Cuban Experience, Nicholas Payton’s TSO, Cyrus Chestnut’s Brubeck Quartet and the Jimmy Heath Big Band, Sharel has toured 24 countries and performed at leading venue.
Sharel’s most recent project and 4th release as leader, Evolve, is her debut recording with her band ELEKTRA More at www.sharelcassity.com
Richard Johnson was born in Pittsburgh and was introduced to the piano by his father, a gospel pianist from Baltimore. After receiving a scholarship and graduating from Berklee School of Music in just two years, he earned a Master’s degree in Jazz Pedagogy from Boston Conservatory. He also received an Artist Performance Diploma at the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance at New England Conservatory under the direction of Ron Carter.
Richard was a member of Wynton Marsalis' Septet and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra from 2000-2003. He also played as part of the Russell Malone Quartet, Delfeayo Marsalis Quintet & The Bobby Watson Quartet. He was a U.S. State Department Musical Ambassador performing in more than 76 countries. Richard has also accompanied such jazz icons as Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock and Arturo Sandoval.
Richard is a Yamaha endorsed piano artist! www.rjjazz.com
Tickets: $25 advance/$28 door /$10 full time students with ID
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