The jazz studies program announces the spring 2020 Jazz Seminar Series. These sessions are held at 3 p.m. on Fridays in Armstrong Hall, Room 39. These events are free and open to the public; however, seating is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis with preference given to current Shenandoah Conservatory students.
February 21 | Mark Saltman, bass & Williams Knowles, piano
Mark Saltman, born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and now residing in Washington, D.C., holds a Bachelor of Arts in music from Western Connecticut State University and a Master of Arts in composition from University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where he studied with musical pioneer and mentor Dr. Yusef Lateef. Over the past couple of decades, he has scored independent films, played numerous jobs on the double bass and also taught music in public and charter school systems. Saltman has done scores for the award-winning feature length film “Dante,” a remake of the original “Inferno,” as well as for short films including “The Hard Sale,” “Perchance To Dream,” “Bells For Her,” “Jedis From Dallas.” He is currently working on sci-fi trilogy episodes of “Paradox.” In addition, Saltman has also written articles for the online site No Treble in the “Bottoms Up” column as well as a few semi-scholarly thoughts about the relationship between music and color, more commonly known as synaesthesia. He is interested in Oliver Sacks, martial arts, yoga and all things creative, including the television program “Mr. Robot.”
William Knowles is originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He received a Bachelor of Arts from Howard University (emphasis jazz studies) and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Massachusetts. During the past 20 years, Knowles has amassed credits as a composer, arranger, musical director and pianist for many shows at regional theaters around the country, including Dallas Theater Center, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Arena Stage, Northlight (Chicago), CenterStage (Baltimore), Indiana Repertory Theater, and the Milwaukee Repertory Theater, where he has performed in eight different productions. Other notable productions include “Tambourines to Glory,” directed by Kenny Leon at the True Colors Theatre Company, and the 2001 regional theater tour of “Dinah Was.” Knowles has collaborated with playwright, lyricist, and director Thomas W. Jones II on a number of projects. Their original works include: “Slam,” “Pearl Bailey…By Request,” “Cool Papa’s Party,” “Fool In Love,” “Ladies Swing The Blues,” “Billie’s Song,” “Blackberry Daze,” and “Shake Loose.” “At this point we’ve created a number of worlds together. We can think and solve problems in the language of our own body of work. We understand each other’s rhythms,” Knowles recently commented in an interview. The Knowles/Jones collaboration has yielded a Helen Hayes Award for musical direction 2010 for Knowles (MetroStage), and Helen Hayes musical direction nominations for “Gee’s Bend” (MetroStage, 2014) and for “Slam” (Studio Theatre, 2000). When not traveling the country, Knowles can be seen at one of the many jazz clubs in Washington, D.C., where he is a sought-after musician and has played hundreds, if not thousands, of one-nighters. Russ Bickerstaff of Milwaukee’s Shepherd Express described him as “that quiet, charismatic guy at the piano….there’s a subtle flourish to Knowles’ technique that’s a lot of fun to watch.”
March 20 | Charlie Young, saxophone
Charlie Young is a native of Norfolk, Virginia. Presently residing in Washington, D.C., he has served as professor of saxophone at Howard University for more than 20 years and was recently appointed to the position of coordinator of instrumental jazz studies. Young has had a rich career of performing and recording with various bands and orchestras such as the National Symphony Orchestra, the U.S. Navy Band, the Count Basie Orchestra and the Seattle Symphony Orchestra. Likewise, Young has shared the concert stage with many of the music industry’s leading icons ranging from Clark Terry and Ella Fitzgerald to Stevie Wonder and Quincy Jones, and has performed at venues ranging from London’s Royal Albert Hall to New York’s Carnegie Hall. In 1988, Young was recruited as a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra where he has served as conductor; presently he holds the position of lead saxophonist. Young joined the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra in 1995, and has served as the ensemble’s principal saxophonist for over 15 years. In 2013, he was appointed artistic director and conductor. In addition to working with legendary groups, Young has accomplished a great deal with his own jazz quintet, such as performing at the first San Remo Jazz Festival as musical ambassador for Washington, D.C. In 2008, Young was invited to present the inaugural concert and lecture at the opening of the New American University in Cairo, Egypt. He is also published on more than 30 CD recordings, including his own release, “So Long Ago.” Young is a recognized clinician in the field of jazz education as well as in classical and jazz saxophone performance. Clinic presentations in Brazil, Venezuela, Chile, Egypt, and South Africa and throughout the United States, Europe and Japan have earned Young a stellar reputation among the most respected in music and education.
April 17 | Carroll “CV” V. Dashiell, III, drums
Carroll “CV” V. Dashiell, III is a drummer/percussionist living in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Dashiell was born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Greenville, North Carolina. Displaying an interest for the drums at an early age, his performance history includes a premier performance at Carnegie Hall as the featured drummer and soloist with the East Carolina University Jazz Ensemble at the age of 14. Dashiell was the drummer for the 2006 and 2007 International Association of Jazz Educators annual conference vocal jam session. Jr. In 2008, Dashiell also appeared as the drummer/principal percussionist for the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority 100th Anniversary Celebration in Washington, D.C., with the Kelvin Washington Orchestra. He has also appeared as the drummer for the 2005 to 2012 Congressional Black Caucus Awards Television Show with the Clarence Knight Orchestra featuring artists Sheryl Lee Ralph, Isaiah Washington, Stephanie and Marlon Jordan, Alfre Woodard, Avery Brooks, Regina Bell, Phil Perry, Gabriel Union and Louis Gossett Jr. Some of the other artists Dashiell has worked with include Wallace Ronney, Geri Allen, Grady Tate, Benny Golson, The Yellowjackets, Bob Mintzer, Antone “Chooky“ Caldwell, the National Symphony Orchestra, the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra, Connaitre Miller, Alan Baylock Jazz Orchestra, Bohemian Caverns Jazz Orchestra, Ashford & Simpson, Terell Stafford, Bobby Watson & Horizon, Patti Labelle and Debbie Allen, just to name a few. During his time at Howard University, Dashiell was the drummer for the Howard University Jazz Ensemble under the direction of Fred Irby, III, where he was the 2006 and 2008 Zildjian Scholarship recipient. In addition to accompanying Afro Blue, the Downbeat award-winning Howard University Vocal Jazz Ensemble, Dashiell was the principal percussionist and timpanist for two years with the Howard University Wind Ensemble. During that time, Dashiell was co-principal percussionist in the first annual Historically Black College Wind Ensemble. In 2010, Dashiell was named Best Collegiate Drummer in Downbeat magazine’s Student Poll edition.
Questions? Contact Harrison Endowed Chair in Piano, Director of Jazz Studies and Associate Professor of Jazz Piano Robert Larson ’08, D.M.A.
Schedule is subject to change.
