Jazz Alive, a charitable foundation based in Talbot County, kicks off its Friday Night Jazz Club series on March 25 with guitarist E. Shawn Qaissaunee and the Q Factor. A Berklee College of Music alumnus, E. Shawn Qaissaunee (kay-saw’-nee) was born in Kabul, Afghanistan. Shawn, also known as “Q”, has released numerous recordings of his original music including Painting Pictures (2001), Tell A Story (2003), Passing Through (2005), Afghan Jazz Project (2007), and Comfort Me (2012). An accomplished guitarist and bassist, Shawn is in high demand as a performer and performs on two indigenous Afghan instruments, the 20-string rubab (roo-bob) and the dutar (doo-tar).
Shawn was awarded a Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation artist fellowship to the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA) in January of 2005, an artist residency at Caldera in Oregon in November 2005, and two more artist fellowships at VCCA in 2006 and 2013. A sampling of his performance credentials includes the Clifford Brown Jazz Festival, Jazz in the Valley Festival, True Blue Jazz Festival, Morning Dew Jazz Festival, and the Center City Jazz Festival. Joining the Q Factor are bassist Jason Fraticelli and drummer Adam Shumski.
The Friday Night Jazz Club, with an intimate setting of candlelit tables and a cash bar, takes place at Easton’s historic Waterfowl Building located at 40 S. Harrison St. Tickets are $28 and available at jazz-alive.org or at the door the day of the event. Students attend free with a Student ID.
Proceeds from ticket and concession sales support Jazz Alive’s mission of providing educational support in developing future artists and preserving this great art form through school and community programs.
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