èßäAV

In 1988, Charlie Young was recruited as a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra where he presently serves as band leader and lead saxophonist. Young joined the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra in 1995 serving as the ensemble’s principal woodwind specialist for over 15 years. In 2013, he was appointed artistic director and conductor. In addition to working with legendary ensembles, Young and his jazz quintet performed at the 1988 San Remo Jazz and Blues Festival as musical ambassadors. In 2008, he was invited to present an inaugural concert and lecture at the opening of the New American University in Cairo, Egypt. Mr. Young is published on over 30 CD recordings, including his solo release “So Long Ago.” Young is a recognized clinician in the field of jazz education as well as in classical and jazz saxophone performance, including 30 years as a professor of saxophone at Howard University and coordinator of instrumental jazz studies. Clinic presentations in Brazil, Venezuela, Chile, Egypt, Kenya, South Africa, Singapore, and throughout the United States, Europe, and Japan have earned Charlie Young a stellar reputation among the most respected in saxophone performance and education.

Whether she’s stretching out in an intimate duo with jazz piano maestro Taylor Eigsti, raising the roof with the spiritually charged Gullah funk combo Ranky Tanky, creating luminous soundscapes onstage with the dancers of Alonzo King LINES Ballet, or following her uninhibited muse with her trio Grand Baton and their organic fusion of Caribbean psychedelic soul and jazzy progressive rock, Fischer has taken her rightful place among America’s greatest vocalists. “A talent that comes once in a lifeHme,” declares Roberta Flack. “Like Haley’s Comet, her brilliance is dazzling and brings light into the world.” At first glance Fischer might seem like a paradox. She spent much of her career exulting in the role of the ultimate team player as an elite backup singer for artists such as Luther Vandross, the Rolling Stones, Sting, Tina Turner or Nine Inch Nails. Even after the Brooklyn native scored a chart-topping R&B hit, “How Can I Ease the Pain,” and a 1992 Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, she decided to focus on her already thriving career supporting the world’s biggest acts. But when her story was featured in the Oscar-winning 2013 documentary 20 Feet From Stardom, Fischer experienced a course-changing epiphany. “I was always looking at the next tour, the next gig,” she said. “The film gave me a chance to take stock and realize I could start defining my own path.” Seizing the moment to rediscover herself, Fischer embarked on her ongoing musical journey with string wizard and arranger JC Maillard’s Grand Baton, a group capable of following (and leading) her in just about any musical direction. Together they’ve gathered a far-ranging repertoire of songs, including many tunes she’d made her own during his backup years. “Grand Baton gave me my wings,” Fischer says. “They give me permission to do whatever I want.” While Ms. Lisa Fischer retains creative molecules from every artist she’s ever encountered, she transmutes via the alchemy of an artist blessed with a voice that is unbound by genre and stylistic convention. With her infinite textures, shades and hues, combined with the bountiful soul, affectionate humor and exquisite taste that defines her music, Lisa Fischer leads listeners to whole new universes of her own design.

Musicians like tenor saxophonist Shelley Paul honor their place in the Orchestra’s legacy: “All the people that have come through the orchestra and all the music,” said Paul. “It is constantly revealing to me over time that I am part of something bigger than I can understand. The way the band has affected not only American society but the world, it just makes me want to be better.” Today’s Duke Ellington Orchestra stands on the shoulders of all the great and beloved musicians who came before them, lifting for all to hear the indelibly, powerfully American sound that is the music of Duke Ellington.