Nico Sarbanes & Friends
Nico Sarbanes, trumpet/vocals
Eli Aleinikoff, tenor saxophone
Jake Silverman, piano
Blake Meister, bass
Aaron Seeber, drums
Tickets: $10/$8 students
ABOUT THE ARTISTS:
An 18-year old Baltimore native, Nico Sarbanes is currently enrolled in the Schulich School of Music at McGill University in Montreal, where he is a Jazz Trumpet Performance major. In high school, he was selected multiple times to the Baltimore County Honors Jazz Ensemble, and was selected to be the lead trumpet in both the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 Maryland All-State Jazz Bands. In his senior year he was one of five trumpeters selected to participate in the All-Eastern Honors Jazz Ensemble, a group representing more than eleven states in the northeastern U.S. In addition to his experience on the horn, Nico is a talented jazz vocalist, performing standards out of the Great American Songbook around the Baltimore/DC area.
__________________________________
Aaron Seeber is an 19-year old drummer from Bethesda, Maryland. He is currently attending SUNY Purchase, where he is pursuing a Jazz Studies major on a scholarship. Aaron attended Walt Whitman High School, where he played in the school's award winning Jazz Ensemble. He is a member of The Jazz Project Quintet and 3JAzzTrio. He was a member of the 2008-2010 Montgomery County Honors Jazz Ensemble and Paul Carr's Jazz Academy Big Band and Combo, which won the Silver Spring Mingus Big Band Festival. Aaron was selected into the 2008/2009 Maryland All State Jazz Band, was awarded a full scholarship to the 2009 and 2010 Berklee 5-week Summer Programs, and was selected as a finalist for the 2010 Grammy Jazz Ensemble. Aaron has had the incredible opportunity to share the stage with Randy Brecker, Branford Marsalis, Paul Carr, Tim Warfield, Pepe Gonzalez, Jon Ozment, Robert Redd, and many others. He has played at many of the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Area jazz venues including Blues Alley, Twins Jazz, The Kennedy Center, Atlas Theater, Roundhouse Theater and many others.
____________________________________
Eli Aleinikoff is a recent graduate of the International School of Geneva in Founex, Switzerland. He has studied tenor saxophone with Paul Carr for the past five years and participated in Carr’s Jazz Academy Orchestra and Jazz Academy of Music Camp. He has performed at Twins Jazz, Blues Alley, the Monterey Jazz Festival and the Montreal Jazz Festival. He performs regularly throughout the DC area with Aaron Seeber, Charlie Sigler, Blake Meister and others. Eli is currently studying at Columbia University and trying to find his way in New York City.
____________________________________
Blake Meister performs and records locally, nationally and internationally. He has performed and/or recorded with a diverse group of world renowned musicians that includes Marc Copland, Larry Willis, Sid Simmons, Benito Gonzalez, Warren Wolf, Buddy Wachter, Paul Bollenback, Yotam Silberstein, Marin Alsop, Jamie Laredo, Alex Norris, Byron Landham, Ralph Peterson, and Gary Thomas. He has received several awards and grants, most recently the 2012 Individual Artist Award for non-classical composition from the Maryland State Arts Council for his upcoming debut album, Septagon. The album, which features Gary Thomas, Paul Bollenback, Marc Copland, and Ralph Peterson, consists of eight original compositions and is slated for release in 2012. Meister is currently a bassist for the American Studio Orchestra, a multi-media, cross-genre ensemble, and has been a member of several traditional orchestras in the Mid-Atlantic corridor.
Born and raised in Philadelphia, Meister began on electric bass, later honing his skills on the double bass (and piano) in college. A member of the first full class to matriculate in Peabody's jazz studies department, Meister attracted attention as a student, receiving both the Alice and Leary Taylor and Richard Franko Goldman awards in performance, as well as multiple career development grants. He went on to earn a master's degree in orchestral studies at Catholic University's Benjamin T. Rome School of Music, under a full-tuition scholarship. Meister currently serves on the faculty of the Peabody Conservatory, teaching lessons and an improvisation class. Before joining the Peabody conservatory faculty, Meister served on the faculty of the preparatory division at Peabody, helping to develop a more comprehensive and cohesive jazz studies program as co-coordinator.
Known for his uncanny facility and distinct approach to improvisation, Meister is quickly garnering recognition among musicians and critics alike. In addition to Septagon, Meister can be heard as a sideman on several other releases, most recently including Andrea Wood's Dhyana and Todd Simon's Simon Sez.
__________________________________________
Jake Silverman is a young jazz pianist/organist from the Baltimore, Maryland area. Jake started playing piano at the age of 6. He studied classical and jazz piano under Scott Knight for 12 years before departing for college.
Jake has studied jazz performance with Benny Russell, Blake Meister, Greg Hatza and others. Under Benny Russell's direction, Jake played piano in Maryland Conservatory of Music's Youth Jazz Ensemble from 2005-2007, and in Harford Community College's Jazz Ensembles and Jazz Combos from 2007-2010. Jake has had the extraordinary opportunity to study jazz piano and B3 organ with Greg Hatza, a true master of both instruments.
Jake has attended jazz programs at two of the world's most distinguished music schools, the Eastman School of Music of Rochester University and the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University. Jake participated in the Eastman School of Music's Summer Jazz program in 2008 and 2009 and played piano in their jazz ensembles and combos under the direction of Harold Danko, John Nyerges, Bob Sneider, Dariusz Terefenko, Bill Tiberio, and Howard Potter. In 2008-2009, Jake also attended the Preparatory Program of The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University, where he participated in the Preparatory's Jazz Ensemble under the direction of Ian Sims and Blake Meister and studied jazz piano with Blake Meister.
Jake was selected and played as the pianist in Maryland's High School All State Jazz Ensemble in 2009 and 2010 under the direction John D'earth and Jim McFalls (2009) and Jeff Jarvis (2010). In 2009, the Maryland Higher Education Commission honored Jake with a Distinguished Scholar in the Arts Award, a selective award that provides a $12,000 merit-based scholarship to attend a Maryland college or university. Through his ensemble performances, Jake has performed at Kilbourn Hall at the Eastman School of Music, the Miriam A Friedberg Hall at the Peabody Institute, and Towson University's Center for the Arts. Jake has performed in ensembles and combos at a number of jazz clubs in the Baltimore-Washington area including An Die Musik, Club 347, and Twins Jazz Club. Jake now attends the Oberlin Conservatory of Music where he continues his piano studies under the instruction of Sanford Margolis and Dan wall."
