NOON  The Louisville Leopard Percussionists are an exciting jazz ensemble of 45 student musicians, ages 7-12, from Louisville, Kentucky. Under the guidance of founder and dedicated teacher Diane Downs, each student learns and acquires proficiency on several instruments, such as marimbas, xylophone, vibraphone, drum set, timbales, congas, bongos and piano.  The Leopard’s rousing performances, including at the International Association of Jazz Educators in New York, have brought audiences to their feet.  HBO recently aired a half-hour special about the Leopards.

1:05 PM  Miss Lucy Lion's combination of spoken word, Afrocentric beats, and Latin rhythms, presents thrilling music for the K and under crowd.  Kids love roaring to “A Lion's Grocery List," “The Alphabet Song,” dancing to the beats of the Djembe on “Jungle Letter Sounds,” and the drum set on “Hip Hop Letter Sounds.”  Miss Lucy teaches about percussion during the show and also boogies with kids and parents alike to the vowel sounds and a counting piece called “Seafood Stew.”  Accompanied by drummer Jon Laine and bassist Hamilton Hayes, kids swing to Miss Lucy Lion's music and are excited to learn about the instruments.  
 
2:00 PM  Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer blend elements of music and comedy, instrument making, trick roping, American Sign Language and audience participation into a contagiously high-spirited children’s and family show. Accompanying themselves on five-string banjo, acoustic and electric guitar, mandolin and steel drum, their energy, instrumentation and harmonies get entire audiences singing, yodeling, playing their “air guitars” and joining right along.  Their recent CD, "Scat Like That: A Musical Word Odyssey"—from scat singing to tongue twisters, limericks and Pig Latin—encourages reading skills and motivation.  With eleven Grammy nominations for folk and children's music, their recordings have received awards from organizations such as Parents’ Choice Foundation, The Oppenheim Toy Portfolio, American Library Association and Early Childhood News. The Washington Area Music Association has honored Cathy & Marcy with 45 WAMMY Awards.

2:00 PM  The U.S. Army Blues celebrated its 35th Anniversary in 2007. Over the years it has evolved into the premier jazz ensemble of the U.S. Army, performing with numerous jazz luminaries including Dizzy Gillespie and Slide Hampton among others. In January 2007 the Army Blues recorded the band’s first CD since early 2004. These sessions showcase charts created by composers and arrangers from within the group, such as a track of a New Orleans-style small group that traveled to a hurricane-ravaged Louisiana in September 2006. 

3:30 PM  Na´Rimbo was founded in 1998 by young marimba players from Chiapas, Mexico who have studied and mastered the contemporary and classical techniques of the instrument and who posses a strong background in the traditions of marimba music. Led by Israel Moreno, Na´Rimbo has performed to enthusiastic audiences at national and international festivals. The group has won awards from the Marimba State Competition and National Marimba Competition winning first and second places, respectively. Na’Rimbo’s style remains true to the marimba tradition while maintaining a sense of popular music in a contemporary ensemble properly balanced, brilliant, vibrant and mature.
(Presented in association with the Mexican Cultural Institute.)

4:40 PM With the ability to morph from a Latin Jazz Quintet into an 8-piece salsa band, La Timbistica is one of the most multi-faceted bands in New England. They are a mainstay in the Boston music scene with members making regular appearances at Havana Club, Ryles Jazz Club, Mojito’s Lounge, and Wally’s Jazz Café. Combining some of Latin music’s best young improvisers, with many of its members doubling as multi-instrumentalists and vocalists, La Timbistica brings you the sound of a full salsa orchestra with just eight musicians on stage.  The group includes Niv Toar (trumpet), Yaure Muniz Rumayor (trumpet), Enrique “Kalani” Trinidad (flute), Juan Moldonado (bass), Alex Brown (piano), Marcos Lopes (timbales),  Paulo Stagnaro (congas), Luis Figueroa (lead vox) and Nick Noonan (trombone).

Alona Lee, storyteller, vocalist and music teacher, weaves spoken word, song, and scat joyfully into the hundreds of books she reads to young people each year. She earned a Bachelor of Music degree from Howard University and a Masters of Science in Literacy degree from Long Island University (Brooklyn, NY).  A former elementary music teacher for the New York City Public School System for nearly a decade, she currently teaches music and reading in the DC Metropolitan area where she resides with her husband and their children.

Bringing a fresh perspective to the entire spectrum of jazz—from stride, swing, bebop, to progressive, fusion, Brazilian and Afro-Cuban—Christian Sands is a welcome addition to the growing family of outstanding young jazz musicians today. Making two appearances at the 2006 and 2007 Grammy Awards, including an outrageous, entertaining duet with legendary pianist Oscar Peterson, Christian is truly making a name for himself. He has been featured as a special guest of jazz adjudicator and legendary pianist Dr. Billy Taylor during the 2006 and 2007 “Jazz at the Kennedy Center” Series.  Christian has performed with many noted jazz artists, including Lou Donaldson, Phil Woods, James Moody, Wycliffe Gordon, Kirk Whalum, Avery Sharpe, Rufus Reid, Bill Summers, and Chip Jackson.
 

Constantly in reverence of his predecessors while remaining innovative in his own right, Winard Harper has become one of the most celebrated drummers in jazz. He is a virtuoso on the drum set as well as the balafon, the West African equivalent of the marimba. Critics have commented that Harper is as pleasing and entertaining to watch as he is to hear. The group appears regularly all over the United States from the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. to Yoshi's, the legendary West Coast jazz club, and internationally. He is also well known as the long-standing, dynamic drummer with the Billy Taylor Trio. Joining Winard Harper this evening are Jon Notar on piano, Dayna Stephens on tenor sax, Bruce Haris on trumpet, Ameen Saleem on bass, and Jean-Marie Collatin on percussion. 
 

Born in Durham, North Carolina, Master Drummer Grady Tate began his distinguished career performing with such noted artists as Wild Bill Davis, Quincy Jones, Dizzy Gillespie, and other innumerable jazz legends.  Thanks to the encouragement of his friend Peggy Lee, Grady began to focus his professional career as a vocalist. For six years he was the drummer on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show and he served as assistant conductor and drummer for the Broadway productions of Lena Horne. Today he performs primarily as a jazz vocalist and teaches at Howard University. Tate, a Grammy nominee, received critical acclaim for his two most recent recordings, TNT-Grady Tate Sings and Body and Soul.

Graduating from Berklee College of Music and adopting the seven-string guitar in 1993, Steve Herberman has risen to become one of the most sought-after Washington DC-area guitarists on the scene today. Herberman has performed with a host of distinguished musicians including Buster Williams, Gary Bartz, Jeff Hirshfield, and John Pisano. His recent release "Action: Reaction" has received much critical acclaim from the likes of JazzTimes, Jazz Improv, and more.  NPR featured Herberman’s music on  “Morning Edition” and he can be heard regularly on WPFW FM.   In addition to performing, Steve Herberman teaches at Towson University as well as writing instructional material for Downbeat Magazine. Smith Farm opened in May 2008 to advance the understanding and  utilization of the arts to unite, uplift, teach, build communities, transform  lives, inspire and heal. Featured artists will be present works based upon the Smith Farm's beliefs.
 

Duke Ellington will always be remembered for “the daring innovations that marked his music - the strange modulations built upon lush melodies that ramble into unexpected places; the unorthodox construction of songs… [and] the bold use of dissonance in advance of the time…” (Ebony magazine).  He will also be remembered as leader and conductor of the incomparable Duke Ellington Orchestra which ignited and delighted audiences throughout the world for more than fifty years and and whose memory lives on under the baton of the Duke’s grandson, Paul Mercer Ellington.   A pianist, songwriter and composer, Paul Ellington is proudly committed to exposing the immeasurably wonderful sounds of Duke Ellington to new generations of music lovers and knew from quite an early age it was “expected” of him.  When Paul was touring with his father, Mercer, he was gently taken aside: “This is all yours… make sure to keep it going! ”  And he has, to the gratitude of audiences far and wide.  Edward Kennedy Ellington no doubt smiles appreciatively upon each of this Ellington Orchestra’s performances, content that his artistic vision lives on and will be carried further into the future.

Presented in association with the Lincoln Theatre

Inspired by the late legendary bassist Ray Brown, the DC Bass Choir was commissioned by the Duke Ellington Jazz Festival and premiered at Busboys & Poets during the 2006 festival with musical director Herman Burney, Jr., Michael Bowie, and James King.  The choir, featuring a revolving representation of some of the finest bassists in the DC area, performed at the DEJFs annual Jazz Appreciation Month concert at the Lincoln Theatre in April.  Joining Burney for that concert in a tribute to the late DC legend Keter “Papa” Betts -- Ella Fitzgeralds bass play for nearly 25 years -- were Steve Novosel and Victor Dvoskin.  At this concert, Michael Bowie, James King and Herman Burney welcome the great bassist Christian McBride as their special guest for this performance.

Christian McBride’s prowess as a premier bassist with an intense and heart-felt passion for the craft has earned him a well-deserved reputation as one of the jazz genre’s most respected, in-demand artists.  He has performed with a wide range of artists from McCoy Tyner, Pat Metheny, and Sting to Kathleen Battle and Diana Krall.  He is currently performing with his own group, the Christian McBride Band (Ron Blake on saxophone, keyboardist Geoffrey Keezer and drummer Terreon Gully). With a formidable repertoire of original jazz compositions under his belt, McBride was recently commissioned by the Portland Arts Society/NEA to write and produce “The Movement, Revisited,” a dramatic musical portrait about the struggle of the civil rights era.
 

In a career that spans more than four decades, acclaimed-Jamaican pianist Monty Alexander has spent a lifetime exploring the rich depths of musical and cultural diversity. As a testament to his versatility, Alexander has performed and/or recorded with artists from every corner of the musical universe: Frank Sinatra, Ray Brown, Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, Quincy Jones, Ernest Ranglin, Sly Dunbar, Robbie Shakespeare and many more. Highlights include a collaboration with Natalie Cole on Unforgettable, a tribute album to her father, Nat "King" Cole (which won seven Grammy Awards), a Swiss festival performance with opera singer Barbara Hendricks in a program of Duke Ellington compositions, and as pianist in a George Gershwin "Rhapsody in Blue" concert with a full symphony orchestra directed by Bobby McFerrin at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland His latest recording, The Good Life, is a collection of songs of one of his all time favorite artists, Tony Bennett.
 

Artist TBD

Electro-jazz cellist/composer Dana Leong fuses jazz, hip-hop, and electronics to create a signature boundless sound. Often referred to as a “hi-def Yo-Yo Ma,” Dana has revolutionized the cello with his cutting edge amplification, lyrical melodies, and collage of jazz textures and improvisations. He is featured in the August 2008 issue of Downbeat magazine. In 2007 the quartet was selected for The Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad Program and toured in Cambodia and the Philippines. On screen, the versatile Leong has acted and performed in Steven Spielberg’s “The Terminal,” in Robin Williams’ “August Rush” and television’s “Law and Order.”  Dana is an accomplished, innovative and popular addition to “the scene.” MILK & JADE features Adam Platt on keyboard, Aviv Cohen on drums, and Mtume Gant on vocals.

Legendary, saxophonist Sonny Fortune embodies all the finest qualities of other great artists: hard work, dedication to his art, and exceptional music. CBS TV's 48 Hours with Dan Rather did a feature on Sonny, and he also was the subject of a recent CBS Sunday Morning feature with Dr. Billy Taylor.  He was also featured soloist on the soundtrack for the Jack Nicholson film, The Crossing Guard.  His CD You and the Night and the Music spent three weeks at No. 2 on JazzWeek and three months in the Top 20. Joining Sonny will be Bob Butta on piano, James King on bass, and Nasar Abadey on drums.

Seasoned drummer and vibraphone player Chuck Redd has been described by Jazz Times as “exquisite” and “notable for [his] rigor and melodiousness.” Redd has performed with distinguished musicians in the jazz world including Mel Torme All-Star Quintet, Terry Gibbs, and Ken Peplowski since his international debut with the Charlie Byrd Trio in 1980 at just 21 years old. Today Redd is Artist-in-Residence at Smithsonian Jazz Café here in Washington, DC. While performing in New York, DC, and headlining festivals around the country, Redd can also be found conducting workshops, master classes, and lectures as a faculty member at the University of Maryland School of Music. Redd recently released “When Redd is Blue” which features saxophonist Harry Allen. Redd’s Arbors CD “Happy All the Time” is a praise-worthy tribute to his mentor, Barney Kessel.

Soulful, sassy and melodic are adjectives enthused audience members use to describe the voice of DC-based vocalist Tarea Anderson. She is the 2004 winner of 105.9 FM's “Sexiest Jazz Vocalist Competition” and has shared the stage with artists such as the James Cotton Band and Marcus Johnson during their performances at DC’s renowned Blues Alley. 

(Winard Harper ticket holders from the 7:30pm show at the Atlas will receive $10 off admission with ticket stub)