Shelley Carrol - Tenor Saxophone/flute
Saxophonist, Shelley Carrol hails from family of gospel singers and musicians in Houston, Texas. It was there that the music bug bit him at an early age and landed him in the famed Boys Choir of Houston. After picking up the saxophone, he was able to study with the legendary Texas Tenor greats Arnett Cobb and Don Wilkerson. At the time he didn’t know how revered these gentlemen were around the globe. They simply lived in his neighborhood. Shelley attended the city’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and was a standout in the city’s Summer Jazz Workshop Program. This is where he developed a true flair for the stage.
While attending the University of North Texas, Shelley earned a spot in the Grammy Nominated One O’clock Lab Band. There he recorded two critically acclaimed CD’s in 1990 and 91. During the same period, Mr. Carrol was invited to join the Duke Ellington Orchestra by trumpeter Barry Lee Hall. This would prove to be an enormous musical opportunity with worldwide exposure. Since joining the band, he has toured the U.S. and over 30 foreign countries. He has also recorded and or performed with Maureen McGovern, Tony Bennet, Nancy Wilson, Joe Williams and a host of others.
Shelley evolved to record as a leader in 1997. He was able to feature members of the Duke Ellington Orchestra on his debut CD for Leaning House Records. His second CD, A Distant Star was released in the fall of 2001. The disc features pianist Bernard Wright, bassist Curtis Lundy, and drummer Sebastian Whittaker. This sophomore effort is sure to get the critics and fans excited. Carrol’s latest release is Gentle Friend and features Scott Bucklin (pa), Jonathan Fisher (bs) and Garry Granger (dr). Shelley has received numerous awards including the 2007 Sammons Center for the Arts Jazz Artist of the Year.
Shelley also feels a need to share his musical gift with today’s youth. He currently teaches part-time at the South Dallas Cultural Center and gives clinics and master classes. He even has plans to develop a Summer Jazz Workshop in Dallas. He says"...music has to be shared to truly be enjoyed." Anyone who listens to his Tenor saxophone would have to agree.
Bobby LaVell - Tenor Saxophone/arr.
Bobby grew up in the blues city of Memphis under the musical tutledge of his father Robert "Honeymoon" Garner and other great mainstays of the region. After attending the Univ of Memphis, he set off to New York City to pursue his dreams. He has been a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra for over ten years and continues to be a top call sideman in many recording and touring acts. Bobby has been featured with Jimmy Heath, Dizzy Gillespie All Star Big Band, Slide Hampton and a host of others. His Hudson River Jazz orchestra is in constant demand and now Bobby introduces his latest ensemble, The Ten Twenty Band with Shelley Carrol. Whether it's smooth ensemble section playing or stretching out on a creative solo, LaVell has proved worthy of the part. Take a listen and enjoy this new and exciting music.
Carlton Holmes - Piano
CARLTON HOLMES arrived in New York in 1986 where he completed his graduate studies in Music at the Manhattan School of Music. Since that time, Carlton has become one of New Yorks’ premiere piano players, having performed and/or recorded with artist like Max Roach, Michael Carvin, Branford Marsalis, Donald Byrd, Diane Reeves and many others. Currently Carlton is writing and performing with drummer great Cindy Blackman and Blue Note guitarist Ronny Jordan. Carlton is also writing and performing regularly with Grammy award MCA recording artist Regina Belle.
Andy McCloud - Bass
Born in Newark, New Jersey in 1948, Andy grew up in nearby East Orange. The first song he ever learned, “Moody’s Mood for Love;” he was all of four years old. At seven he picked up the clarinet; by junior high he’d switched to baritone sax. When he entered high school, he started singing with a doo-wop group. They needed a backup band, but the bass player wasn’t cutting it. So Andy, who’d been fooling with his uncle’s bass, stepped into the breach. He made such rapid progress that his uncle gave him the bass when he turned 16. Listening a lot to Art Blakey and Horace Silver, he and some high school pals formed a jazz quartet, the Cosmopolitans. They started picking up gigs and winning competitions, then grew to an octet using Andy’s first arrangements.
In college in Minnesota, Andy formed another band. Minnesota back then was a little short on jazz gigs, so Andy played a lot of polkas for three years.
On Andy’s return to New Jersey for graduate work at Rutgers, one of the Cosmopolitans hooked him up with Ocho, one of the best salsa bands across the river from New York. Andy wrote his first tunes for Ocho and played with them for three years, until he left for New York. In New York, he joined the burgeoning loft scene and got serious about a career in jazz. He worked with loft scene stalwarts like Bobby Battle, Carter Jefferson, Greg Bandy and Donald Smith. Jimmy Garrison became Andy’s mentor and he continued his studies with the Jazzmobile crowd, playing with Lee Morgan, Curtis Fuller, Jimmy Heath and Sonny Redd.
Hanging out at Ali’s Alley, Frank Foster liked his playing so much he took him into his band, the Loud Minority, for the next couple of years. At the same time he was playing with Pharaoh Sanders, Hannibal and Sonny Fortune—and, notably, with Mary Lou Williams who proved to be a great teacher. In 1977 Frank recommended Andy to Elvin Jones; they hit it off so well that Andy played with Elvin for five years, making eight records with him.
In the early ‘80s, Andy started picking up gigs with Clifford Jordan, Arthur Blythe and Don Pullen (who became his mentor in the avant garde). Since then, Andy has freelanced with people like McCoy Tyner and Dizzy Gillespie. He put in three years with Jon Hendricks and then nine years (up through 1998) with Hilton Ruiz. Andy’s also toured with shows like Black and Blue and Dinah. He’s played on 44 records and CDs.
Ron Vincent - Drums
Ron Vincent (drums)
Since settling in New York in 1982, Ron has become a veteran of the New York City jazz scene. Working often as a sideman, Ron has been on labels such as GRP, Concord and Palmetto records, the latter where he has been producer as well as co-producer for a number of projects. Ron was a member of the Gerry Mulligan Quartet and the Re-Birth of the Cool Tentet from 1989 until Mr. Mulligan’s passing in 1996. He recorded four CD’s with Mr. Mulligan and has also recorded with such notables as Phil Woods, Lee Konitz, Randy Brecker, Bill Charlap and John Lewis to name a few. As a leader, his own trio and quartet are active in the New York City area and his quartet has toured the U.S. and Europe. As a jazz artist/educator for Sabian Cymbals, Ron presented workshops at over 100 Colleges and Universities and has been on the faculty of the Jamie Aebersold Jazz Camps and the Stanford Jazz Camp (CA). In 1996 Ron received a National Endowment for the Arts grant for jazz performance. Additionally, Ron has co-written, produced and performed in two educational videos for the Masterjazz series and is on the faculty at Manhattanville College.
