Kelsey WallnerA three-time Downbeat award-winning vocalist, educator, and bandleader based in Denver, Colorado, Kelsey Wallner charms audiences with intimate, soulful, and inventive interpretations of jazz touchstones while placing the history of the music front and center.Kelsey began her performance career at a young age in Madison, Wisconsin. Studying the lineage of the music she most loved led her to vocalists Sarah Vaughan, Sheila Jordan, and Carmen McRae, who would become her primary influences. After earning a Masterโs Degree in Jazz Studies/Vocal Performance from the University of Northern Colorado in 2023, Kelsey has begun to make her mark on the Denver jazz scene.She released a self-titled album this year and will be featured on a forthcoming album with the Chris Rottmayer Trio, performing her own original compositions and arrangements alongside Clark Sommers and Matthew Endres.As a highly versatile performer, she is a lead vocalist with funk and jazz fusion groups, maintains a private studio of vocal students, and enjoys performing her own jazz projects throughout the Denver metro area.Ben Parrish Ben Parrish is a guitarist, composer, arranger and educator currently based in Denver, CO...
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Kelsey WallnerA three-time Downbeat award-winning vocalist, educator, and bandleader based in Denver, Colorado, Kelsey Wallner charms audiences with intimate, soulful, and inventive interpretations of jazz touchstones while placing the history of the music front and center.Kelsey began her performance career at a young age in Madison, Wisconsin. Studying the lineage of the music she most loved led her to vocalists Sarah Vaughan, Sheila Jordan, and Carmen McRae, who would become her primary influences. After earning a Masterโs Degree in Jazz Studies/Vocal Performance from the University of Northern Colorado in 2023, Kelsey has begun to make her mark on the Denver jazz scene.She released a self-titled album this year and will be featured on a forthcoming album with the Chris Rottmayer Trio, performing her own original compositions and arrangements alongside Clark Sommers and Matthew Endres.As a highly versatile performer, she is a lead vocalist with funk and jazz fusion groups, maintains a private studio of vocal students, and enjoys performing her own jazz projects throughout the Denver metro area.Ben Parrish Ben Parrish is a guitarist, composer, arranger and educator currently based in Denver, CO. A Seattle native, he moved to Greeley in 2012 where he attended the University of Northern Colorado. He graduated in 2015 with a Bachelorโs degree in jazz guitar and again in 2019 with a Master's degree in jazz guitar from the University of Denver. Ben plays in several different groups, including internationally-renowned rock band Milquetoast and Company, Dart Echo, indie-rock sensation Amazing Adventures, Thunder Hill Jazz Band, and with RnB groups Unsus and SSIIGGHH. His studio experiences include work with MLQ, The Cairn Project, UNC Lab Band I, and numerous pop, RnB, and folk projects. Ben has performed at various music festivals including Music in The Mountains 2018 in Durango, CO with an orchestra comprising of members from the Dallas Symphony. His debut recording, "Song of the Forest" was released in 2015 and featured all original compositions. He has performed with musicians like Chris Potter, Debra Brown, and Brad Leali, and has experience performing on the Norwegian Jade cruise ship. In 2013, Ben won 1st place in the UNC Jazz Composition Contest. In 2018, he was a member of the Lamont Jazz Orchestra which won the Monterey Next Generation Jazz Festival. Ben currently plays throughout Denver in jazz settings, wedding bands, and rock groups both on guitar and bass.โIn addition to actively performing, Ben maintains a private teaching studio with students of all ages. Ben's latest album of all original music entitled "Quiet Stream" is out now.
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