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Molly:
I grew up in a musical family in Houston, Texas, playing
with my three older brothers who would entertain family friends with a
mixture of folk and bluegrass. I play piano and guitar, but with my band
I stick to singing. My band brings together some outstanding jazz musicians;
playing with them is such an honor and it transports me. In my day job,
I'm a practitioner of acupuncture and herbal medicine in Boulder, Colorado.
Since I'm a healer, music is obviously an extension of that.
For
me, jazz is like life - the vital, sexual energy of life. I think Brazilian
music is the most beautiful music around. For the past three years, I've
exclusively been singing Brazilian jazz. It is poly-rhythmic global music.
Brazil is a melting pot, and the songwriters there are poets. The music
is free to go wherever it wants to go, not bounded by any set rules. It's
this beautiful groove thing, the most harmonious music I have found, and
is always uplifting to the human spirit.
A
song can express one's deepest sentiments about the experience of being
alive - the highs and lows, the bittersweet, and the ecstacy. There's
no better medium than jazz for a singer, because you can interpret and
create the music any way you want. The goal is reached when your soul
touches those in the audience. Sometimes I feel tingling and ecstatic
flows of energy in my body. It's about expressing freedom, beauty, and
sensuality. It's joyful when it's in that groove. It makes me feel like
I am flying. I love singing in Portuguese. The way the words sound is
delicious to me. Even if I don't know what a song means when I first hear
it, I FEEL it. I hope the listener enjoys this music as much as I do.
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Paul:
Paul earned a masters degree in Jazz Studies from Indiana
University in 1990. Paul has served as Music Director for Caribbean Cruise
Lines, has toured with the Artie Shaw Orchestra, and has played in Japan
and throughout the South Pacific. He currently teaches in his home studio,
and is an active composer, arranger, and performer in the Denver area.
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Andrew:
Andrew Bunin has played electric bass guitar since 15
years of age. Growing up in the music mecca of Los Angeles, he was exposed
to and influenced by an eclectic variety of music. Over his years of playing,
he's performed with a variety of groups, spanning a wide range of music
genres, including funk, soul, rhythm and blues, Latin, jazz, rock, and
country. Notably, Andrew has performed with legendary artist Bo Diddley,
Danny Wheetman (of John Denver's band), Denver artist Lannie Garrett,
and worked in the pit orchestra for the Denver Center Theater. In addition
to his strong interest in music, Andrew maintains a mental health counseling
practice, teaches, and is actively involved in martial arts.
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Kem:
Jazz drummer and multi-percussionist, educator, composer
and rhythm specialist Kem Stralka has performed extensively and has shared
the stage and studio with jazz and pop legends, including Carol Kay (Beach
Boys), Joe Sample, J.J. Cale, John McEuen, and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band,
Tom Rush, The Coasters and the Drifters. A New York native, Kem moved to
Boulder, Colorado, where he attended the University of Colorado and received
a bachelors degree in Music and the Recording Arts. He started the Colorado
Drummers Collective where he taught jazz drum set and world rhythm percussion
ensembles. As a co-founder of the highly acclaimed Colorado percussion ensemble,
Kandombe, Kem became immersed in the rhythm culture of South America, Africa
and the Caribbean. In 1996, he moved to Boston to pursue a masters degree
at the New England Conservatory of Music where he studied with Boston Pops
drummer Fred Budda. He has attended drum intensives with Mickey Hart, Glen
Velez and Arthur Hull. He's currently busy recording and producing a CD
with Celtic Harpist Christine Tulis and writing a book on drum set improvisation,
teaching, and facilitating rhythm and drum workshops.
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Ken:
Ken Aikin has been a freelance trumpet player in the Boulder
area since moving to Colorado in 1986. He currently plays in the Boulder
Philharmonic and plays extra with the Boulder Brass. He has performed with
the Colorado Ballet, the Colorado Music Festival and the Longmont Symphony.
He also enjoys playing brass quintets and jazz.
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Zander:
Alexander (Zander) Renault studied jazz
saxophone at CU Boulder from 1991 to 1995, during which time he received
numerous musical awards and scholarships. Later, he went on to study at
the Art Institute of Colorado, and he now works full time as a freelance
graphic designer. He and his wife, Tania, live in Westminster, Colorado,
and have two little girls. In his spare time, Zander likes to do triathlons
and study Church History. Zander also happens to be a superhero, and can
turn invisible - but only when no one is watching.
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