Chuck Redd
Chuck Redd, the jazz vibes great who is a frequent performer at The Mainstay will bring a trio of rising stars on the DC jazz scene to the Rock Hall, Maryland venue for a concert on Friday September 30 at 8:00 p.m. Admission is $20. For information and reservations call 410-639-9133. Information is also available at the Mainstay’s website https://www.mainstayrockhall.org/.
Chuck Redd is an internationally known vibraphonist and drummer who travels the world playing with the jazz great but he is also a firm believer in finding and nurturing new talent. For this show he is bringing Joshua Espinoza on the piano, Savannah Harris on drums and Eliot Seppa on bass to The Mainstay, a venue renowned for its high quality jazz performances. When asked about the concert, Redd said, “This should be a fun night- they’re all very talented young players!”
Joshua Espinoza
Pianist Joshua Espinoza has shared the stage with many jazz names including Rob Dixon, Jacob Duncan, Danny Gottlieb, Ryan McGillicudy, Pat Harbison, Joel Spencer, Eugene Goss, and Gail Wynters. With a style rooted in the jazz tradition yet tastefully modern, his music reaches audiences of any age.
Each summer, Espinoza serves on the piano faculty at the Interlochen Arts Camp in Interlochen, MI and was previously on the faculties of the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, Franklin College (IN), and Morehead State University (KY). He holds a Bachelors in Piano Performance from Furman University (SC) and an Masters in Jazz Studies (minor in Classical Piano) from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Espinoza currently freelances in the Washington, D.C. area.
Eliot Seppa is an upright and electric bassist who always been influenced by a variety of different musical styles. As a child, he studied classical bass and heard his dad’s favorite rock and folk music at home while also becoming more and more influenced by the hip-hop, R&B, go-go, and Latin American music that he would hear at school, friend’s houses, and elsewhere. He attended Howard University, where he graduated in with a Bachelor of Music – Jazz Studies.
Eliot Seppa
In 2013, Seppa accompanied Howard University’s premier vocal jazz ensemble, Afro Blue, for a performance at the White House, complete with a personal concert for President Obama and the First Lady. In 2014, he went on tour with the Malian griot Cheick Hamala Diabate. He has been the regular bassist for the Bohemian Caverns Jazz Orchestra since 2011 and with the Donvonte McCoy Sextet at Eighteenth Street Lounge since 2013. He has also made a name for himself as a bandleader and composer, presenting duo, trio, and quartet performances, notably at the DC Jazz fest and Capital Bop’s Jazz Loft as well as co-leading, playing upright, electric, and synth bass and composing in the experimental music group EDS.
Drummer Savannah Harris is a recent graduate of Howard University where she was a journalism major and a member of their acclaimed Jazz Ensemble. She has performed at the Kennedy Center as part of the Mary Lou Williams Jazz Festival and had a featured turn in the Revive Music’s Sarah Vaughan with Clifford Brown concert at the Kennedy Center Crossroads Club. Hailing from Oakland, CA, she played with Geri Allen at the All-Female Jazz Residency at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center and Montclair State University. In choosing her as one of the 3 best drummers on the DC Jazz Scene in 2015, the DC City Paper said “Harris is the incisive, penetrating young blood who couldn’t lose the beat if her life depended on it.”
Savannah Harris
The Mainstay (Home of Musical Magic) is the friendly informal storefront performing arts center on Rock Hall’s old time Main Street. It is a 501(c)(3), nonprofit dedicated to the arts, serving Rock Hall, MD and the surrounding region. It is committed to presenting local, regional and national level talent, at a reasonable price, in an almost perfect acoustic setting. Wine, beer, sodas and snacks are available at the bar.
The Mainstay is supported by ticket sales, fundraising including donations from friends and audience members and an operating grant from the Maryland State Arts Council.
For information and reservations call the Mainstay at 410-639-9133. More information is also available at the Mainstay’s website https://www.mainstayrockhall.org.
Upcoming Mainstay performances include:
Oct. 1 Brazil Project: Rogerio Souza and Edinho Gerber
Oct. 3 Mainstay Monday with guests Vaughn Brathcer and Ray Anthony
Oct. 8 The Daryl Davis Band
Oct. 10 Mainstay Monday with guest Henning Hoehne, reeds
Oct. 15 Rossano, Nicki and Chuck
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