Bullettes Quintet is at the National Jazz Workshop on July 10th

NJW_JTTBFinal.jpgI’m really looking forward to helping out and playing at the National Jazz Workshop this year! The Bullettes Quintet will be doing its favorite tunes from Hank Mobley/JJ Johnson/Curtis Fuller collaborations on Thursday, July 10th, at 3:30 PM in Armstrong Hall at Shenandoah University. The concert is free, so feel free to come on out and enjoy! This is a part of the National Jazz Workshop, one of the premiere jazz camps on the east coast. We will feature Anita Thomas on tenor, Lianna Gekker on piano, Lydia Lewis on drums, Shannon Fearon on bass, and myself on trombone.

JazzCast Ep. 14: Aaron Quinn, guitar!

Aaron_quinn_front.jpgHello everyone! I am very happy to bring to you this interview with Aaron Quinn, a jazz guitarist who hails from Columbus, Ohio. From “Liver Quiver” to “Surfs Up Hose Down,” Aaron was very generous with his time and his explanations of the tunes he picked for us to hear.  This is great music, people! I will update the site throughout the week with all the names that were mentioned in this podcast. In the meantime, here are the songs, in order of appearance: (you can download most of these from his band camp, linked up below)

  1. “No, but I think You’re Neat” – Liver Quiver
  2. “My Ordinary, No Avail” – Liver Quiver
  3. “The Ocean Gets its Saltiness from the Tears of Misunderstood Sharks (Who Just Want To Cuddle)” – Surfs Up, Hose Down
  4. “Bad Girls Go To Hell” – Surfs Up, Hose Down
  5. “Michalec” – Aaron Quinn Nonet
  6. “Chain Smoke Your F(@&$ Heart Out” – Aaron Quinn Nonet
  7. “Weird Doors Open, People Fall Into Things” – Aaron Quinn Nonet
  8.  “I Apologize for My S@#$% Cooking” – Liver Quiver

If you liked his music, maybe you’d like to see him as he goes about his Midwest Tour? Liver Quiver will be performing: Team Players East Coast/Midwest Tour

  • July 10: Team Players. UNC Chapel Hill (NC). (w/Dickens Campaign)
  • July 11: Team Players. Elsewhere (Greensboro, NC)
  • July 12: Team Players. Sharp Nine (Durham, NC)
  • July 13: Team Players. DC Jazz Loft (Washington DC)
  • July 14: Team Players. Nova (Woodbridge, VA)
  • July 14: Billy Wolfe’s Tetradectet. Bohemian Caverns (Washington DC)
  • July 15: Billy Wolfe’s Tetradectet. An Die Musik (Baltimore, MD)
  • July 17: Fields and Planes. Garden Theater (Columbus, OH) 10:00pm
  • July 18: Insane Jazz Posse. Jazz and Ribs Fest. 11:00am-12:30pm
  • July 18: Billy Wolfe’s Tetradectet. Brothers Drake. 5:00pm-9:00pm
  • July 18: Oliver Oak. Rumba Cafe. 9:00pm-2:ooam
  • July 19: Billy Wolfe’s Octet. Dick’s Den. 10:00pm-2:00am
  • July 21: Liver Quiver/Team Players. TBD (Cincinnati, OH)
  • July 22: Liver Quiver/Team Players. Natasha’s (Lexington, KY)
  • July 23: Liver Quiver/Team Players. Dreamland (Louisville, KY) – Team Players
  • July 24: Liver Quiver/Team Players. Black Sparrow (Lafayette, IN) – Team Players
  • July 25: Liver Quiver/Team Players. Merriman’s (South Bend, IN) – Team Players
  • July 27: Billy Wolfe’s Tetradectet. Phyllis’ Musical Inn (Chicago, IL)
  • July 27: Team Players. Hungry Brain (Chicago, IL)
  • July 28: Liver Quiver/Team Players. Gr8 Collapsin (Ann Arbor, MI)
  • July 29: Liver Quiver/Team Players. Detroit Contemporary (Detroit, MI)

The websites for Liver Quiver are here: http://liverquiver.bandcamp.com, http://liverquiverband.wordpress.com. Aaron Quinn’s website is at http://theatrociousspeller.wordpress.com.

This podcast took about 10 hours to finish. Apparently people are listening, so I wanted it to sound good. I had to edit out all my talking on the phone conversation, although you’ll hear a few little blips. I really believe in what Aaron’s doing, and hope others will connect if they like it too! Leave me a comment! More info coming soon… Mentioned in this podcast:

more coming later! … TBC

Bullettes Septet at the Carlyle Club June 24!

setptet_template_jttb2For those of you who are interested in my performance schedule, I will be playing with a septet version of my all-female big band “Shannon Gunn and the Bullettes” on Tuesday, June 24th at the Carlyle Club in Alexandria, VA. This will be a swing dance in conjunction with Gotta Swing! This time we’ll be joined by the illustrious Jessica Boykin-Settles on vocals! This is a swing dance so bring your dancin’ shoes and good spirits. There is a $10 cover and the dance starts at 9:00 pm and runs till 10:30 pm. Come on out for a swingin’ good time! The Carlyle Club is located at 411 John Carlyle Street, Alexandria, VA. Personnel for June 24th include: Jessica Boykin-Settles, Vocals; Halley Shoenberg, Alto Sax; Megan Nortrup, Tenor Sax; Shannon Gunn, Trombone; Miki Yamanaka, Piano; Nathan Kawaller, Bass; Tony Martucci, Drums! What a fantastic group of musicians!

JazzCast Episode 13: Bria Skonberg!

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Hi everyone! I am extremely excited to bring you this interview with the amazing Bria Skonberg!! I was able to catch her in between shows and appointments on this past Tuesday and wanted to put up her interview quickly so I could let you all know she is in the DC metro area on Thursday, June 19th, at the Bethesda Jazz and Blues Club! 

I met Bria about 4 years ago as I sat in with a band at the DCLX Lindy Hop Competition. I was impressed with her lead chops and her familiarity with the repertoire of that era. Then, I noticed she was playing with her band at the Takoma Park Jazz Festival as part of their “jazzy women” theme this year (2014.) My all-female big band “Shannon Gunn and the Bullettes” was also playing the time slot before hers, so I went ahead and asked if she might sit in with us on a tune. To my surprise, she said “yes!” She sang “All of Me” and then took a smokin’ trumpet solo. It was so much fun to work with her! Eventually the footage from that festival will be available on the Takoma Park station, from what I understand.

Anyway, this is the first interview I’ve had with a signed artist. I am so humbled that she agreed to get on the phone with me and allowed us the opportunity to hear portions of her new album. If you want to hear the whole song, please buy her album from Random Act Records, iTunes, or download it from her website at http://briaskonberg.com. I encourage everyone to support indie artists and boutique record labels so that they can continue to make the music we all love! My favorite is her “mash-up” of Sir Duke and Three Little Words. Genius arrangement! I hope you enjoy!

Also, you might notice I will be putting up new podcasts more regularly now. My job as a teacher just got a LOT easier so be ready for a new episode every Tuesday over the summer! Or more!

Mentioned in this podcast:

JazzCast Ep. 12: Brent Birckhead!

birck_header.jpgToday we welcome to the JazzCast Brent Birckhead, jazz saxophonist and NY/DC musician extraordinaire! Please enjoy his music and his infectious spirit.  Thanks for listening!

Mentioned in this podcast:

 

 

 

 

Bullettes Septet at the Carlyle Club wsg Danielle Wertz May 20th!

septet_bullettesjazz.jpgSorry for the cross posting, but I wanted to update my website to include an upcoming Bullettes gig with my all-female jazz band. We are playing at the Carlyle Club on Tuesday, May 20th, with a special vocal guest on summer break  – Danielle Wertz! Two years ago, Danielle won the Washington Women in Jazz Festival Young Artist Competition and we are happy to have her back with us with our Septet. We’ll be singing old songs and playing a swing dance groove. This event is sponsored by Gotta Swing and will have advanced swing dancers there. Hope to see you there! The details:

  • Tuesday, May 20th
  • 9:00 – 10:30 PM
  • The Carlyle Club at 411 John Carlyle Street, Alexandria, VA
  • Swing Dance with Live Band
  • Our CD, Bullettes Play Basie, will be available

We have an all star lineup, with a couple of guys to help us out as well, and they are part of the all-stars!

and our friends

Shannon Gunn and the Bullettes Quintet: A Tribute to Hank Mobley and Curtis Fuller on Blue Note

website_forjttb.jpgAs part of the Blue Note @ 75 celebration, the Bullettes all-female quintet will pay homage to the Blue Note artists Hank Mobley and Curtis Fuller with the photography of Francis Wolff, Blue Note co-founder, in the background on May 28th. We will be so lucky as to have Anita Thomas on tenor, Isabel DeLeon on drums, Karine Chapdelaine on bass, Lianna Gekker on piano, and myself on trombone.  This quintet is a pull-out ensemble from my larger group called Shannon Gunn and the Bullettes. The performance will be from 8:30 – 9:30 PM on May 28th at the Goethe-Institut Washington in the FotoGaleria, 812 Seventh Street, NW, WDC, 20001-3718, $7/$4, (202) 289-1200

JazzCast Episode 11: Marty Nau

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This is a podcast is an interview with Marty Nau, DC based alto saxophonist. Marty can be found playing all over the metropolitan DC area, including at Twins Jazz Club, with the Bohemian Caverns Jazz Orchestra, with the Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra out of GMU, and with the Smithsonian Masterworks Jazz Orchestra. This interview was really fun for me because none of his music is available online; you have to purchase a physical CD (which you can only get from him, or perhaps on Amazon). He’s old fashioned in that way and proud of it. He has self produced several albums; this podcast will feature songs from his project with strings and his clarinet project arranged by Scott Silbert.  If you’d like to know more about his mentor and favorite jazz musician, you can read his interview with NEA Jazz Master Phil Woods by clicking hereIf you like his playing, you can hear him this weekend at Twins Jazz Club at 14th and U St. in Washington, DC! May 9th and 10th at 8 and 10 pm sets, $16 tickets with $10 minimum with Steve Williams. Thanks for listening! Please subscribe and review on iTunes if you get a chance.

Mentioned in this podcast:

Two shows this week!

jjI just wanted to let everyone know that we’ll be playing two times this week- Tuesday night, April 22nd, is at the Carlyle Club for a swing dance with the whole big band, and Thursday night, April 24th, we’ll be playing as a quintet at Twins for a tribute to JJ Johnson. 

So come on out, celebrate Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM), and join us for good jazz and swing!

Here are the details:

Tuesday – April 22nd – 2014

Carlyle Club Swing Dance with Gotta Swing
411 John Carlyle Street, Alexandria, VA
9:00 – 10:30
$10 cover
 

Thursday – April 24th – 2014

Twins Jazz
Tribute to JJ Johnson
Bullettes Quintet
Featuring Anita Thomas on tenor sax, Isabel DeLeon on drums, Lianna Gekker on piano, Nicole Saphos on bass, and Shannon Gunn on trombone
1344 U St NW, Washington, DC, accessible on the U Street metro stop
8pm and 10 pm sets
$10 cover
 
Take your pick – do you want big band or bebop? 
 
Hope to see you there!

Keep swingin’!
Shannon Gunn and the Bullettes

 

JazzCast Episode 9: Timothy Whalen Part 2

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Welcome back to Part 2 of the interview with Timothy Whalen! This was a continuation of the first episode with his selection of one more nonet original tune as well as three funk tunes. Thanks for listening and I hope you enjoy!

Mentioned in this podcast:

JazzCast Episode 8: Timothy Whalen Part 1

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Welcome to Episode 8 of the JazzCast, the podcast dedicated to curated listening sessions with jazz musicians! Today’s episode is part one of an interview with Timothy Whalen, DC based jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. He is playing with his four horn septet this weekend at Twins Jazz on U Street in DC, so come on out and listen if you enjoy this music! March 28 – 29, 8 and 10 pm sets, http://twinsjazz.com.

Mentioned in this podcast:

 

 

JazzCast Ep7: Interview with Amy Bormet

AMY_rectangle***Update*** So sorry everyone, I had accidentally turned down the volume of the second song on the original version – audio has been fixed, and hopefully is better quality now – thanks for checking by!!  sorry for the inconvenience! ****  Welcome to Episode 7 of the JazzCast, the podcast dedicated to curated listening sessions by jazz musicians! Today’s episode is an interview with Amy K. Bormet, who is a DC-based-but-transplanted-to-LA pianist, composer, educator, and leader of the Washington Women in Jazz Festival! March 15 – 22 will mark the fourth year of the festival and I wanted to give everyone a sneak peak at some of the amazing music that will be featured. There are quite a few phenomenal musicians who are mentioned in this podcast, so please feel free to check out their links below! I have also posted a link to the sponsorship site. Get your brand in front of thousands in a personable way!

Mentioned in this podcast:

Thanks for stopping by! Come back next week on Tuesday and we’ll have a new episode up.

JazzCast Ep 6: John Kocur Part 2

Kokur post pic 2Welcome to Episode 6 of the JazzCast, the podcast dedicated to curated listening sessions with jazz musicians! This is the second in a two part series of my interview with John Kocur, jazz saxophonist from Washington DC. On this podcast you will hear a little more about his influences as well as four more of his original songs from his albums “Fortitude” and “The Smoker.” I hope you enjoy his wonderful music and thank you for listening! I have to make one correction: the song played as an intro is actually called “Requiem” not “The Year of the Dragon” and was a tribute to some of the people who passed away that were close to him. Please join my email list or check back next Tuesday for additional episodes. Also please check out the links below to his songs that are available on iTunes and CDBaby.

Songs played in this podcast:

Mentioned in this podcast (including part 1):

 

JazzCast Ep 5: John Kocur part 1

Kokur post pic 1 finalWelcome to the 5th episode of the JazzCast, the only jazz podcast dedicated to curated listening sessions by jazz musicians! Today you will hear an interview with John Kocur, jazz saxophonist and professor of music at Northern Virginia Community College. I decided to split the interview up into two parts, both of which will be posted today but in separate posts. I just wanted to have smaller file sizes for people to download and I also wanted to make each episode about a half hour long. I really enjoyed recording this interview, and his song “Requiem” is a very fitting song to listen to in retrospect. Thank you John Kocur for generously giving your time and talents! You can purchase his albums from CDBaby and all the typical online outlets, as seen below. John Kocur can also be found at his website at http://johnkocur.com. Thanks again for listening, and please also check out part 2!

Songs featured in this podcast:

Mentioned in this podcast:

This sunday – DC Jazz Loft – Tribute to Carl Fontana/Al Cohn collab

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Hi everyone! I’m really excited to get the opportunity to give a tribute to one of my favorite trombone players, Carl Fontana and to specifically highlight his work with Al Cohn from “The Great Fontana” album. I am super privileged to be joined by Leigh Pilzer this Sunday night at the DC Jazz Loft performance at Union Arts DC (411 NY Ave NE). This is a great hang and always has a jazzm at the end. That’s a jazz jam btw. If you are looking for some underground and artistic music in the District this weekend, come on by, it’s friendly and you can BYOwhatever. There is a donation suggested. I want to thank Gio and Luke of the CapitalBop blog for having me on. I really appreciate it!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0O4Omj_Drg]

JazzCast Ep 4: Ryan McGeorge, Jazz Euphonium

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Welcome to the 4th episode of the JazzCast, the jazz podcast dedicated to curated listening sessions by jazz musicians! Today I am very happy to bring you an interview of Ryan McGeorge, valve trombonist and jazz euphonium player who plays with the President’s Own Marine Band as well as lead trombone in the Bohemian Caverns Jazz Orchestra. I hope you enjoy listening to an electronic euphonium playing music from the Predator soundtrack. Or a crazy take on Rosanna by Toto. He also features his brass quartet in a transcription of Strunz and Farah’s “Gypsy Earrings.”

You can get the tracks here:

Mentioned in this podcast:

Hope you enjoy! Check back next week for the next podcast interview. I’m going to try to put one up every Tuesday.

JazzCast Ep3: Interview with Elijah Jamal Balbed

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Welcome back everyone to another episode of the JazzCast! Today we have Elijah Jamal Balbed, DC tenor saxophonist, on the show to talk about his current musical projects. Listen to the end and you will hear some unreleased material that is a sneak peak for his upcoming live album he will be releasing later this year.

Elijah plays with some heavy cats! Mentioned in this podcast are (in order of mention):

Hope you enjoy listening! Please feel free to sign up for my email list or follow me on twitter @jazztothebone for episode updates. Thanks for stopping by!

 

JazzCast Ep2: Interview with Billy Wolfe

JazzCast_Ep2_BillyWolfe***UPDATED! I added new songs by Billy Wolfe and leveled out the volumes a bit.*** Finally got this up! A little late, unfortunately. But the music is good, so here it is. I hope you enjoy this second episode of the JazzCast which includes an interview with saxophonist Billy Wolfe.

Billy plays saxophone(s) in the Bohemian Caverns Jazz Orchestra as well as teaches private lessons and puts concerts together for his band, “Billy Wolfe and the Composer’s TetraDectet.” He pulls people from all over the midwest, east coast, and west coast to play new music by himself and guitarist Aaron Quinn. I was really happy to hear his bootleg recording; I had never heard any of his band’s music before. We listened to a recording of a piece by Aaron Quinn titled “The Thing About Tomorrow…” as well as a piece by Billy titled “Amethyst.” At the end we had a mini-curated-listening-session with a piece called Understandable by Fields and Planes, an indie rock band from Columbus. It’s always fun to hear new music and I hope you enjoy this episode! Thanks for stopping by!

 

The JazzCast – Episode 1 – My vision and introduction

 

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Welcome to the JazzCast, a new podcast devoted to the appreciation and listening of the great genre labeled as jazz.

Transcription below:

Usually, I’m going to be doing interviews, but for the first episode, I’d like to lay out my vision of this show.  Basically, this podcast idea was born as I was driving to work and wanted to hear new jazz but was unable to find a radio station out where I live. My hope is to give this genre a positive push, to focus on the music and the tremendous talent pool behind the genre.Welcome to the JazzCast, a new podcast devoted to the appreciation and listening of the great genre labeled as jazz.

My goal is interview new jazz musicians and to post their original music on the podcast app in iTunes and Stitcher radio. I’d like to start out with local musicians in the DC area, and then branch out across the US and the world. If you or anyone you know has original music and would like to be interviewed, please let me know. You can contact me at jazztothebone [@] gmail.com.

Before we get started, I would love for you to visit my website, http://jazztothebone.com . You’re welcome to subscribe to my email list to know each new artist as I post the podcasts each week.

With that said, I’d like to give you a little of bit of information about myself. I’m a high school music technology and finance teacher, as well as an active trombone in the DC area. I play every Monday night with the Bohemian Caverns Jazz Orchestra, and you’ll hear me talk about that a lot because a lot of the musicians I know are from that particular ensemble. I also run my own all-female big band called Shannon Gunn and the Bullettes.  We’re made up of professional musicians from the DC area. You can find out more at bullettesjazz.com.  I also play in several pick up combos, do a jazz combo of my own on the side called Jazz to the Bone, and I play in a salsa band called Timba Street.

I’m really looking forward to bringing new talent into this podcast and getting to know some musicians in this area. If you’d like, you can follow me on twitter. Everything is jazz to the bone.  So I’m on twitter at jazztothebone, facebook at jazztothebone2, Instagram at jazztothebone, and I even have a very low active g plus at jazztothebone as well.

Once again, thank you so much for joining me today. I hope to see you back again for the very first interview, episode 2, of the JazzCast. Many thanks to Brent Birkhead for letting me use his song “Ivory Antidote” as the bumper music. This is a recording I made of him playing with Karine Chapdelaine on bass, Josh Walker on guitar, and CV Dashiell the 3rd on drums at Caton Castle restaurant in Baltimore. You can hear more of his music at http://brentbirkheadjazz.com. I hope to get everyone in this recording on here some day.

Thanks again for stopping by!

New project to launch November 25!

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Hi everyone! I’m super excited to be working on a new secret project that I will be releasing on November 25th. I hope you all will join me and check out this site on that date. T’will be fun!

Tribute to the collaborations between Wayne Shorter and Curtis Fuller – Oct 10 at Twins

Hi everyone! I have been busy engraving arrangements for an upcoming show in DC that will be a tribute to the collaboration between Wayne Shorter and Curtis Fuller. I’m really looking forward to getting to play with some amazing local talent: Elijah Jamal Balbed, Joe Herrera, Dan Roberts, Ele Rubenstein, and Eliot Seppa. This is going to be good, folks, can’t wait! We’ll be doing tunes off the Schizophrenia album as well as tunes written and arranged by Wayne Shorter and Curtis Fuller. Please join us on October 10th at 8 pm and 10 pm sets at Twins Jazz. $10 cover, and I think there is also a $10 minimum.

W

Bullettes Small Group- Thurs. Sept 5 – Bethesda Jazz and Blues!

Shannon Gunn and the Bullettes Small Group will play on Thursday, September 5th, at 7:30 – 9:30 pm at the Bethesda Jazz and Blues Club! Shannon Gunn and the Bullets Small GroupI’m really looking forward to playing with some really awesome players in a smaller group setting. There will be a $10 cover and $10 minimum. Bethesda Blues and Jazz is located at 7719 Wisconsin Avenue in Bethesda.

We’ll have:
Leigh Pilzer on reeds, Amy Shook on bass, Isabel DeLeon on drums, Lianna Gekker on piano, and we’ll be featuring Jessica Boykin-Settles for the first time on vocals with the Bullettes. We’ll be doing mostly standards with a few originals, arrangements, and one tune to commemorate the late great Marian McPartland. Please come out and join us for a fun time!