DFW Jazz Artist Directory
Search for DFW Jazz Artists by keyword and/or instrument below.
DFW Jazz Artist Directory
Search for DFW Jazz Artists by keyword and/or instrument below.
A local jazz singer who has performed locally for the past 25 years, Simone is a native Dallasite, and 1991 graduate of Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. In addition, she received both her bachelors and masters degree from Texas Woman’s University in Denton, TX. Simone has performed as a jazz vocalist locally for the past 25 years, and has been afforded the opportunity and pleasure to work with some of the metroplex’s mosty gifted, and nationally renowned musicians including: Arlington Jones, Bobby Sparks, Monya Logan, Gregory Slavin, Kelley Durbin, Shelley Carrol, Quamon Fowler, Keith Loftis, Andrew Griffith, Ephraim Owens, and the late Claude Johnson, Jr., and Marchel Ivery. Some of Simone’s most celebrated jazz vocal icons include: Sarah Vaughn, Ella Fitzgerald, Carmen McRae, Nancy Wilson, Dianne Reeves, Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, and so many others. Saxophonist Shelley Carrol hails from a family of gospel singers and musicians in Houston, TX. While attending the University of North Texas (UNT), Carrol earned a spot in the Grammy-nominated One O’clock Lab Band. During the same period, Carrol was invited to join the Duke Ellington Orchestra, an enormous musical opportunity with worldwide exposure. A protégé of the great tenor saxophonist, Marchel Ivery, Carroll shares his musical gift with today’s youth; he currently teaches part-time at West Mesquite High School, gives clinics whenever he can, plans to develop a summer jazz workshop, and introduces young people to jazz at the South Dallas Cultural Center. He says” …music has to be shared to truly be enjoyed.” Carrol, honored in 2007 as the Sammons Jazz Artist of the Year, also plays with the Duke Ellington Orchestra, Sheryl Crow, and others, and takes his own quartet to Japan and Europe. Shaun Martin has performed, created, and collaborated for most of his life, but his own description of his latest release, Seven Summers, is perhaps the best description of his fresh and innovative style: “As I grew over the last seven years, I experienced so much and I wanted to translate that through the music and lyrics.” His natural gift became evident when he started playing drums at the age of four, followed shortly by piano lessons. Despite winning several Grammys® from work with gospel powerhouse Kirk Franklin and jazz fusion phenomenon Snarky Puppy and performing with Yolanda Adams, Timberland, and other well-known artists, Shaun is humble and committed to giving back. He says, “If you give talented people a chance, there’s no stopping them.” Sandra Kaye honed her act in a dark, little bar in Dallas called the Hideaway, but she’s not hidden now – her talent us known around the world. Whether performing live, on radio and television, or in the recording studio, Sandra has earned applause for her delivery of jazz, R&B, and other musical styles. She has opened for artists ranging from Monty Alexander and Dionne Warwick to Patti Austin and The Platters. For five years, she was the resident vocalist at the famed Long Bar in the Waldorf Astoria Shanghai. Locally, Sandra has performed at venues ranging from the Dallas Museum of Art to Globe Life Park and with a who’s who of local performers. With an international presence as a masterful vocalist, deep improviser, versatile songwriter, and a tasteful arranger, Rosana Eckert has often been called a musical force. Her shows are an effortless blend of tradition and originality, sincerity and virtuosity, humor and heart. Her jazz roots are strong and ever-present as she bounces from genre to genre, creating special featured moments for her band mates and taking listeners on a musical adventure such that they feel included, entertained, and inspired. A regular performer throughout the U.S. and abroad, she has sung with such jazz greats as Lyle Mays, Christian McBride, Bobby McFerrin, Kenny Wheeler, George Duke, Jon Faddis, Tamir Hendelman, Marvin Stamm, and the New York Voices. She has also been recorded as a featured improviser with renowned vocal group Groove for Thought. Her highly anticipated third solo album titled Sailing Home, produced by renowned singer/pianist/arranger Peter Eldridge, features all original music and was released on June 21, 2019 on Origin OA2 Records. Formerly an accomplished French horn player, Rosana began singing jazz while studying music theory and French horn performance in college. After switching course and pursuing a Master's degree in jazz studies as a vocalist, she kicked off her jazz career as a member of the IAJE 1999 Sisters in Jazz Collegiate Sextet which performed at the Monterey Jazz Festival and the Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Festival. She was also selected to participate in the 2000 Thelonious Monk Aspen Jazz Colony led by musical director Christian McBride, with several of her performances appearing on the BET Jazz channel. Her debut solo CD, At the End of the Day, was praised as a “superior debut” by Cadence Magazine and was a finalist for Best New Jazz Album in the 2006 Independent Music Awards. Since then, she has recorded two more solo albums, two duo projects, and recorded debut albums of original music with two new bands: the Mike Steinel Quintet featuring Rosana Eckert (Origin OA2 Records June 2018), and Brasuka, a percussion-heavy Brazilian-inspired jazz ensemble co-founded by Rosana. Brasuka's album will release in spring 2021 on the Origin World label. A renowned educator, Rosana is Principal Lecturer of jazz voice at the University of North Texas. She has helped build the thriving UNT vocal jazz department since 1999, teaching private jazz voice lessons and performance techniques, and creating new courses in songwriting and vocal pedagogy. Her students have gone on to win Grammy Awards and prestigious competitions, tour the world as solo artists and back-up vocalists, establish music schools and private lesson studios, publish choral arrangements, and work as studio singers on movie soundtracks and commercials. Rosana also serves on the faculty of the UNT Vocal Jazz Summer Workshop and the New York Voices Summer Vocal Jazz Camp, and she is in demand as a clinician, festival adjudicator, guest conductor, and choral composer/arranger. Her many vocal ensemble arrangements, published by Sound Music Publications, Hal Leonard Corp., and Rosana Eckert Music, have been performed worldwide. Passionate about sharing jazz with children, she co-wrote a jazz musical for young voices with author/educator Sharon Burch titled Freddie the Frog and the Jungle Jazz (published by Hal Leonard). The two also collaborated on a recently released elementary music collection called Jazz And Kids: Song and Activities for a Swingin' Classroom. A highly respected improviser, Rosana is a featured artist on the vocal improvisation app Scatability by Michele Weir, and she is the female vocalist on the demo CD for Darmon Meader’s book titled, “Vocal Jazz Improvisation: An Instrumental Approach,” available at DarmonMeader.com. She also co-hosts the monthly Vocal Jazz Improvisation Boot Camp online with Darmon Meader. Rosana's book, Singing with Expression: A Guide to Authentic and Adventurous Song Interpetation has been called ground-breaking, encyclopedic, and an unparalleled resource for contemporary singers. It was released in June 2018, published by Hal Leonard. In addition to her extensive live performing, writing, and teaching, Rosana works regularly as a studio vocalist, producer, and voice-over actor in Dallas, TX. As a voice-over actor, she is represented by the Kim Dawson Agency, she is the in-house announcer for Dallas' award-winning PBS TV Station, KERA, and has spoken on many commercials and industrial spots for clients such as AT&T, Petsmart, Direct Energy, Comcast, and EA Games. She has served as a producer on a wide array of musical projects, from solo vocal albums to children’s musical theater, and as a studio vocalist, Rosana has sung on hundreds of commercials, album projects, publishing demos, and radio IDs heard around the world. A multi-talented musical artist, producer, educator, arranger, composer, radio broadcaster, and author, Roger Boykin began his musical career in 1955, playing guitar in a blues band while still in high school. He has worked in just about every area of music including: blues, jazz, gospel, and rhythm & blues. He started his own record label, Soultex Records, in 1967 and has produced numerous singles and albums. He currently works as an educator and radio DJ. He is a sought after jazz musician and plays multiple instruments including Piano, Saxophone and Guitar. He served as the Artistic Director of the Sammons Jazz series from 1997 to 1999. He has been a driving force behind the jazz music industry in Dallas going back to the Woodman Auditorium and The Recovery Room and was part of the circle of musicians who popularized the “Texas Tenor” style made famous by players such as David “Fathead” Newman and Marchel Ivery. El Paso native Rodney Booth has been an active professional musician since he was 16 years old and playing trumpet in his father’s bands. A graduate of the University of North Texas (UNT), he was a member of the school’s renowned One O’Clock Lab Band. Rodney has performed with many major artists such as Woody Herman’s Thundering Herd Big Band, Lou Rawls, Nancy Wilson, and Ella Fitzgerald, to name a few. Long active in studio and commercial recordings, he has recorded with the popular artists Al Green and Janie Fricke as well as national commercials for companies like Texaco, McDonald’s, and Chevrolet plus sports teams, television programs, news channels, and even the US Postal Service. When not teaching at his alma mater, Rodney is busy performing at public, private, and corporate events throughout the area. Robin Hackett is a singer and songwriter. She is a transplant from New York City. Her song "Hard Left" appeared on the CBS Hit Comedy "How I Met Your Mother". She is a 1st round Grammy nominee with her song "More" which was the title track on jazz singer Bregette Rideau's Album. Ms. Hackett has recorded 6 cds. She has opened up for Woodstock Legend Richie Havens. She appeared in the Mondavi Wine Concert series in Napa Valley as the opening act for John Ondrasik and his band Five for Fighting. Ms. Hackett also appeared in the world renowned JVC Jazz Festival while living in New York City. She now resides here in Dallas, Texas where she performs locally as well as worldwide. Grammy-nominated composer Richard DeRosa is currently the Director of Jazz Composition and Arranging at the University of North Texas and the Artistic Director for American Jazz Venues (AJV). Since 2012 he has conducted and arranged for the prestigious WDR Big Band in Cologne, Germany, and served as the band’s chief conductor from 2014-2016. Since 2001 he was arranged and conducted projects for Wynton Marsalis and Jazz at Lincoln Center. Throughout his career, his compositions and arrangements have encompassed a vast variety of writing styles which have been heard on stages and in venues around the world, on television and in film, on and off Broadway, in videos, audio books and numerous CD recordings. “Neil”, his original work for big band garnered a 2015 Grammy nomination for “Best Instrumental Composition” and is featured on Lab 2015 recorded by the UNT One O’Clock Lab Band. In addition to his commissioned work writing and conducting and his teaching at University of North Texas, DeRosa is a published author and remains active as an adjudicator, clinician, and guest lecturer. World percussionist Ricardo Bozas was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, home of Tango and Candombe. His influences are vast, shaping his virtuosic playing on a wide variety of world instruments and styles, and he specializes in music from Uruguay, Brazil, Cuba, Spain, the Caribbean Islands, and numerous other Latin American countries. A sought-after live and studio percussionist, Ricardo has had opportunities to perform with many high-profile artists, including Aretha Franklin, Al DiMeola, Alex Acuña, Luis Conte, Horacio “El Negro” Hernandez, Steve Smith, and Dave Weckl. He also spent time touring Uruguay and Argentina with Vinicius de Moraes, the famous Brazilian composer and bossa nova pioneer most known as the lyricist for the eternal “Garota de Ipanema” (Girl from Ipanema). In addition to his many travels performing in Latin America, Ricardo spent four years in Spain touring with the “Samba Trio” and “The Peter Pan Band,” and he participated in the “500 years of Carnaval” in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2000, parading through the Sambodromo with “Boi da Ilha do Governador” escola de samba. He is a graduate of the University of North Texas College of Music where he played in many notable ensembles, including the Grammy nominated One O’Clock Lab Band as well as the 1987 World Champion PASIC Drumline.
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