Larry Eanet

Jim ByersLARRY EANET, a Washington, DC native, began to study the piano at the age of four and by his early teens had performed in solo recitals and as concerto soloist with amateur orchestras. Meanwhile he was serving his jazz apprenticeship in local small combos and dance bands. In college he was co-leader and valve trombonist of a Chicago-style “trad” band, Harvard’s Crimson Stompers. During the subsequent fifty-three years, he has played piano in and around the Washington, D.C. area with a great variety of local and nationally-known artists, including Zoot Sims, Al Cohn, Stan Getz, Lee Konitz, Coleman Hawkins, Scott Hamilton, Sonny Stitt, Harry Allen, PeeWee Russell, Dizzy Gillespie, Clark Terry, Bill Davison, Bobby Hackett, J. J. Johnson, Kai Winding, Urbie Green, Slam Stewart, Joe Venuti, Louie Bellson, Milt Jackson, Red Norvo, Gary Burton, and singers Cab Calloway, Jimmy Witherspoon, Eddie Vinson, Barbara Lea and Marlene VerPlanck. He toured Indonesia in 1989 with the Hot Mustard band, playing in Sumatra, Java and Bali, and toured Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany in 1991 with Brooks Tegler’s Hot Jazz. Since 1987, Larry can be heard in a variety of local jazz venues and social situations. He has recorded with Barbara Lea (Do It Again, on Audiophile) and has a recently-released two-volume solo CD set on the JUMP label, as well as a quartet recording on Arbors Records.

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Lucianne Evans

Vanessa RubinLucianne Evans has three decades of jazz under her belt, from Montreal, where she was featured at the Montreal International Jazz Festival, to doing jazz in New York and finally settling in Asheville, NC, where she teamed up with pianist Tom Coppola. Their record "Flamingo" was given the Blue Chip Award as one of the "Top Vocal CD's of 2002" in the Jazz Education Journal, of the International Jazz Educators, and now she is the Secretary of the IAJE for North Carolina - involved in promoting good jazz artists in the South and elsewhere. She sites national jazz critic Dr. Herb Wong as a mentor and has written a standard style tune for him as well as penning and recording other standard style originals. more...

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Kevin Mahogany

Rusty HassanWith his gift for bebop, ballads, blues, and swinging jazz, Kevin Mahogany's talents emerged long before he was old enough to spell" record deal". "When I was a kid, music was just as important as English and math in our household" says Kansas-City-born, Kevin Mahogany. "In fact piano lessons were a grade school staple for the whole family."

By 1970 after starting on piano and moving to clarinet, 12 year-old Kevin was playing the baritone saxophone. That same year he first played professionally with Eddie Baker's " New Breed Orchestra". Throughout high school he played in marching and concert band, orchestra and stage band as well as continuing his professional playing with Eddie Baker. But it was during his senior year in high school that his true talent was discovered- singing.

With eleven CD's as a leader, and quite a few as a sideman, Kevin has proved to be the quintessential jazz vocalist. Recently Kevin started the Miami Jazz Party, a series of jazz concerts in intimate settings such as art galleries. Newsweek describes him as " the standout jazz vocalist of his generation." New Yorker magazine writer Whitney Balliet writes, "There is little Mahogany cannot do." Says the LA TIMES, " Mahogany is one of the first truly gifted male vocalists to emerge in years." more...

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Heidi Martin

Vanessa RubinVocalist/songwriter Heidi Martin was born in Washington DC and grew up in Maryland singing folk music at church. By high school she was recording background vocals for professional artists that included Bill Danoff of Starland Vocalband. After attending a live performance of Shirley Horn, her love affair with jazz began.

She majored in music with a focus in Jazz Studies and Improvisation at the University of District of Columbia. Heidi then became an avid student of live shows, regularly attending the Monday night performances of Reuben Brown and Steve Novasel at One Step Down, where she was often asked to sit in. Before moving to New York City she became the protégé of legendary drummer/vocalist Grady Tate and flourished under his direction.

Soon after Heidi was officially introduced to the jazz community in a rewarding showcase at the renowned Birdland Club in New York City. While in New York she frequently returned home to Washington, performing to sellout audiences at the Blues Alley Jazz Club. Heidi Martin is a “spirited and self assured” vocalist whose songwriting is both prolific and provocative. more...

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Michelle Walker

Nicole YarlingWashington, DC based jazz vocalist Michelle Walker, in just a few short years of professional singing, has begun to amass a notable resume of concerts and festival performances. After starting a career as a policy analyst in 2000, Michelle began to occasionally sing in coffee houses after work and on the weekends to full fill her life long desire. Within only 3 months, this analyst turned vocalist quickly became a standard the DC jazz community. She performs straight-ahead jazz standards. Dave Nathan at AllAboutJazz.com says, "Walker demonstrates an extraordinary degree of musicality." She received her undergraduate degree in 1997 from the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP) in Government & American Studies with a minor in Music Vocal Performance and her Masters in Public Policy and Economics from American University in 2000.

With the release of her debut CD, Slow Down, she has performed both national and international and has been nominated for a number of awards including "Best Independent Jazz Vocal Album for 2002" and "Best Debut Album 2002". She studied with jazz vocalists Ronnie Wells, Madeline Eastman, Jay Clayton, Nancy Marano, Pam Bricker, Dena Derose and Miles Griffith. She now studies privately with the renowned jazz vocalist Mark Murphy in New York. Michelle is equally sought after as an instructor herself. She currently teaches privately and conducts workshops on musical performance and career management. She currently serves on the 2003-2005 Executive Board for the DC Chapter of the International Association of Jazz Educators (IAJE). more...

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