Saxophonist, Flutist, and Educator Sharel Cassity is prominent on the New York and Chicago jazz scenes. Voted the 2023 "Rising Star Alto Saxophone" and having a cover feature in Downbeat Magazine, Sharel has appeared on the Today Show, Good Morning America, and The Colbert Show; she is in the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame and is a recipient of the ASCAP Young Jazz Composers Award. Sharel has worked with Multi-Grammy Award-winning artist Jennifer Hudson, Top 40 hit singer-songwriter Natalie Merchant, Aretha Franklin, Vanessa Williams, Trisha Yearwood, Ruben Blades, & DJ Logic, among others. An avid jazz artist, Sharel has performed with NEA Jazz Masters Herbie Hancock, Wynton Marsalis, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Jimmy Heath, and Gary Bartz; she has also appeared as a featured soloist with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra.
As a bandleader, Sharel's five albums as a leader have received top-rated reviews in publications like the Chicago Tribune, New York Times, JazzTimes, Jazziz, American Indian News, & earned cover stories in Saxophone Journal and Downbeat Magazine. Cassity's collaborations have led her to co-lead recent releases by groups Altoizm, Precarious Towers, and her upcoming 2024 female collaboration, Alliance.
An advocate for Jazz Education, Cassity established the non-profit educational program "Jazz Up!" and is director of Jazz Studies at the Unversity of Virginia. Born in Pittsburgh – home to jazz greats Art Blakey, Ray Brown, Jeff “Tain” Watts, and Ahmad Jamal – Richard D. Johnson has strong territorial jazz roots.
He was first introduced to the piano at the age of 5 by his father, a gospel pianist from Baltimore. Since then, he has cultivated a rich and pedigreed musical background, being schooled by some of the most legendary jazz musicians and studying at the most esteemed institutions of music.
After receiving a scholarship and graduating from the Berklee School of Music in just two years, Johnson earned a master’s degree in jazz pedagogy from the Boston Conservatory. He then went on to receive an Artist Performance Diploma at the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance at the New England Conservatory under the direction of the influential Ron Carter. Johnson was invited to become a member of Wynton Marsalis’ Septet and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, which he did from 2000 to 2003. He also played as part of the Russell Malone Quartet, Delfeayo Marsalis Quintet, and the Bobby Watson Quartet.
After completing his tenure with those groups, Johnson started the Reach Afar program for young people ages 7 to 17, educating them about elements of jazz in hip-hop.
Tickets on sale now at: thejazzfoundationofwesttennessee.org or call the Foundation at: 731.803.5818.