Tag: shannon gunn

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New Single: Cancer Free! Feat. Justin Taylor and Allen Jones

Cancer Free is now available on all streaming outlets, including YouTube. This song features Justin Taylor on organ and Allen Jones on drums was recorded live in 2017 at Upfront Audio in Fairfax. The song is about my experience getting tested for cancer and then finding out about negative results. Its designed to be the type of swing you can dance to and is written based off the chords to Bye Bye Blackbird. This was recorded by my Firebird Organ Trio, I hope you enjoy! Mixed and mastered by yours truly.

Click here to listen on all streaming outlets: https://found.ee/8YgJ3

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New Single – What it Takes – Out Now!

This is the title track from my 2017 album release, which, believe it or not, was never released on streaming services. (I actually tried to release it on all the streaming services, but due to an error, it was never released. Probably an error on my part. Human error. 🙂 Please check out this song and add it to your playlists!

Use the link below to choose your service. Thanks for listening!

Featuring Shannon Gunn (tb), Sarah Hughes (as), Miki Yamanaka (p), Karine Chapdelaine (b), Savannah Harris (dr)

Click here for a link to pick your streaming service of choice: https://found.ee/s6sI 

Check out my Music page for the full album stream, available on BANDCAMP only.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/02Utwjzl3UwafsKhPNCqt6
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The Stories Behind the Songs: Gunn’s Ablazin’ (August 2019 Release)

Shannon Gunn will release her sixth album as a leader, and second album as a solo artist on Sunday, August 4th. The album, which tells a story and celebrates her writing, will feature two ensembles, recorded on two separate dates at BIAS studios by Brian Rivera (mixed, mastered, and produced by Shannon Gunn):

  1. Firebird Organ Trio featuring Hope Udobi on Keys and Kelton Norris on Drums
  2. Shannon Gunn Quintet featuring Chris Barrick on vibes, Garret Gleason on guitar, Mikel Combs on bass, and Kelton Norris on drums.

If you listen to the album in track order, each song tells a story. Read below for the stories behind the songs!

  1. Orange Noise: This is the second song in my two song presidential suite. Dedicated to all the lies on Twitter. So orange! [SG Quintet]
  2. Missing Perspective: This song was inspired Kara Walker’s “Harper’s Pictorial History of the Civil War (Annotated)” exhibit. It aims to bring to light the missing perspectives in the history books, especially in the United States. [SG Quintet]
  3. Babes in Cages are NOT OK. This is my protest song. It is absolutely unacceptable that kids are being separated from their parents at the border. It’s still happening, through smoke and mirrors, at the behest of the US government tax dollars. https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-five-year-old-who-was-detained-at-the-border-and-convinced-to-sign-away-her-rights [SG Quintet]
  4. Ellen: This is my jazz hugs song, designed to be listened to after you hear Babes in Cages. Written as a gift for (and inspired by) my friend Ellen, isn’t she wonderful? [Firebird Organ Trio]
  5. Ms. Cheverly: I was listening back to one of my live shows, and heard this very overt group of cat-callers and whistlers in the back of the room. I realized this was the mother of my good friend, Amy K. Bormet, with all her comrades, and she deserved a song for all her support of Women in Jazz. This one is for Alice in Cheverly! (Maryland) [Firebird Organ Trio]
  6. #canigetpaid: Yes, the song title is a hashtag, and yes, it’s dedicated to Adams Morgan. Sweet, then angry. [Firebird Organ Trio]
  7. Cruash: When you crash into a crush, or crush into a crash. (They don’t teach you that in school!) [SG Quintet]
  8. Dinah: Seattle Grunge meets DC Go Go in this 1926 classic, Dinah – performed as you’ve never heard it before. [SG Quintet]
  9. Carried Away: In the effort to make jazz relevant again, this is a cover of a popular tune by the artist H.E.R. Gotta get those streams up! [Firebird Organ Trio]
  10. Gymnopedie #1: This is a cover of a classical song from 1888 by Erik Satie. Often played by beginning pianists, I love the overlapping phrases, odd harmonic structure, and potential for synergy within the harmony. A Firebird classic. [Firebird Organ Trio]
  11. Cycal: This is a tune I wrote as a gift for my Father in 2012. His name is Calvin, and he is an avid cyclist, thus the nickname Cycal. He has biked across the country twice! Ocean to ocean! This tune flips between a double time swing feel and funk, and depicts the ups and downs of the hills while biking. [Firebird Organ Trio]
  12. Rainbow Connection: I wrote this arrangement of the tune, made popular by Kermit the Frog in the early 1980s, directly after Aretha Franklin’s passing. Her music inspired so many, and she was absolutely amazing! [Firebird Organ Trio]

I hope you enjoy each tune! Coming soon! I’ll add audio clips once I get them up.

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Bullettes to Perform September 20th At Castleton

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This is a cross posting to my other blog for my all-woman big band, Shannon Gunn and the Bullettes.
The Bullettes are busy this month! 
 
We hope you can join us this coming Sunday, September 20th, to kick off the Castleton in Performance series at the Castleton Theatre! This is a very prestigious event and we are extremely excited to perform there. 
 
At Castleton, the theme is to encourage young people in jazz. We will feature Caeley Niess (recognize that name?) on trumpet playing “Portrait of Louis Armstrong.” Yup, you read it right. We also have Jazz Academy All Star Ingrid Winkler on Baritone Sax joining us for a rousing rendition of “Moanin’.” Finally, I am super excited to invite Catie Story, Sam Sandler, and Dan Lyster-Mensh from Fauquier High School to the stage to help fill out our band for Nestico’s arrangement of “Fly Me To The Moon.” It will be a swingin’ affair! I have really enjoyed working with all of these high school students. The concert will benefit the Fauquier High School band program and will feature a history of jazz in the concert, topped off with originals by band members. I am extremely happy and blessed to get to play with such amazing musicians! Not to mention we have Sarah Hughes flying in from Boston, Miki Yamanaka coming in from New York, the amazing Jessica Boykin-Settles on vocals – you get it, the list goes on and on! Please check out our roster below!
 
Here are the details:
Sunday, September 20th
4 – 6 pm
Castleton Theatre House
7 Castleton Meadows Lane, Castleton, VA, 22716
(Please note: there is no cell data service out there)
Tickets are $20 to $40 and can be purchased here:
 
We will also be on the Morning Show at CBS in Richmond, VA on Friday, September 18th, at 9 am, to promote this upcoming Castleton performance! I am excited to bring in Adi Meyerson and Miki Yamanaka from NY as well as Jessica Boykin-Settles, Lydia Lewis, Alex Flanagan, and Caeley Niess to perform on TV! Many thanks to my folks for putting up the band!
 
 
Additionally, we’ll be going into the studio on Wednesday to record some tunes for our upcoming album, “Bullettes and Friends.” We will be releasing this album on Saturday, October 10th, at the Durant Center in Alexandria, VA, presented by Nomadic Jazz. Tickets are $25 in advance and $33 at the door. Anyone who purchases an advance sale will get a complimentary copy of the CD. We will make a limited run! I am extremely proud and excited to present new original music to you all. Here is the link for ticket pre-sales: http://instnt.us/NomadicJazz .
We hope to see you soon! As always, please feel free to hit reply and let me know how you are doing!
 
Keep swingin’!
 
Shannon Gunn and the Bullettes
 
September 20th:
Jessica Boykin-Settles, Vocals
Sarah Hughes, Alto
Halley Shoenberg, Alto
Michelle Acton, Tenor
Megan Nortrup, Tenor
Alex Flanagan, Bari
Mike “Bags” Davis, Trumpet
Cheryl Terwilliger, Trumpet
Caeley Niess, Trumpet
Kirsten Warfield, Trombone
Shannon Gunn, Trombone
Miki Yamanaka, Piano
Cyndy Elliott, Bass
Savannah Harris, Drums
 
Ingrid Winkler, Bari sax, Rockville MD
Catie Story, Trumpet, Fauquier HS
Sam Sandler, Trombone, Fauquier HS
Dan Lyster-Mensh, Fauquier HS

 

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Bullettes Little Big Band to Perform March 13 at Westminster!

square_500Many thanks to Amy Bormet for having us back again for the Washington Women in Jazz Festival! I love this particular time of year because we get to see so many fantastic and talented women come out to perform. Amy has really built the WWJF into an amazing and high quality festival that everyone is still talking about throughout the year. I’m very thankful to get to play for the amazing audience at Westminster Church, one of the best venues in town. This year it will be the Bullettes Little Big Band with guests! I’m taking this opportunity to bring to light some of the amazing composition and arranging talent we have in this town. I’m also interested in promoting large ensemble music; too often, budget constraints keep people from putting large instrumental groups together. We’ll be premiering my arrangement of “Knives Out” (woo hoo Radiohead fans!) as well as the United States Premiere of “Wine Glass Perspective” by the great Australian composer Mace Francis. We’ll also be playing new original tunes by Todd Simon as well as Doug Pierce, and band members Anita Thomas,Leigh Pilzer, and Amy Bormet. We’ll be featuring Jessica Boykin-Settles on vocals as well. Rumor has it we may do something from her Abbey Lincoln library… stay tuned and see!

Shannon Gunn and the Bullettes
Little Big Band (LBB)
As part of Amy K. Bormet’s Washington Women in Jazz Festival
Westminster Church
400 I St SW, WDC
Friday, March 13, 2015
6 – 9 PM
$5 at the door
Personnel…
Michelle Acton, Bari
Savannah Harris, Drums
Angel Bethea, Congas and Percussion
Special Guest: Nicole Connelly, trombone
Possible additional special guests, possible additional originals from local composers
We will play some Ellington mixed in with our own original and new arrangements, including music from Australia and beyond! We will also feature local up-and-coming female jazz talent.
To jazz!
Shannon Gunn and the Bullettes

 

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Bullettes Septet at the Carlyle Club wsg Danielle Wertz May 20th!

septet_bullettesjazz.jpgSorry for the cross posting, but I wanted to update my website to include an upcoming Bullettes gig with my all-female jazz band. We are playing at the Carlyle Club on Tuesday, May 20th, with a special vocal guest on summer break  – Danielle Wertz! Two years ago, Danielle won the Washington Women in Jazz Festival Young Artist Competition and we are happy to have her back with us with our Septet. We’ll be singing old songs and playing a swing dance groove. This event is sponsored by Gotta Swing and will have advanced swing dancers there. Hope to see you there! The details:

  • Tuesday, May 20th
  • 9:00 – 10:30 PM
  • The Carlyle Club at 411 John Carlyle Street, Alexandria, VA
  • Swing Dance with Live Band
  • Our CD, Bullettes Play Basie, will be available

We have an all star lineup, with a couple of guys to help us out as well, and they are part of the all-stars!

and our friends

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Two shows this week!

jjI just wanted to let everyone know that we’ll be playing two times this week- Tuesday night, April 22nd, is at the Carlyle Club for a swing dance with the whole big band, and Thursday night, April 24th, we’ll be playing as a quintet at Twins for a tribute to JJ Johnson. 

So come on out, celebrate Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM), and join us for good jazz and swing!

Here are the details:

Tuesday – April 22nd – 2014

Carlyle Club Swing Dance with Gotta Swing
411 John Carlyle Street, Alexandria, VA
9:00 – 10:30
$10 cover
 

Thursday – April 24th – 2014

Twins Jazz
Tribute to JJ Johnson
Bullettes Quintet
Featuring Anita Thomas on tenor sax, Isabel DeLeon on drums, Lianna Gekker on piano, Nicole Saphos on bass, and Shannon Gunn on trombone
1344 U St NW, Washington, DC, accessible on the U Street metro stop
8pm and 10 pm sets
$10 cover
 
Take your pick – do you want big band or bebop? 
 
Hope to see you there!

Keep swingin’!
Shannon Gunn and the Bullettes

 

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JazzCast Ep2: Interview with Billy Wolfe

JazzCast_Ep2_BillyWolfe***UPDATED! I added new songs by Billy Wolfe and leveled out the volumes a bit.*** Finally got this up! A little late, unfortunately. But the music is good, so here it is. I hope you enjoy this second episode of the JazzCast which includes an interview with saxophonist Billy Wolfe.

Billy plays saxophone(s) in the Bohemian Caverns Jazz Orchestra as well as teaches private lessons and puts concerts together for his band, “Billy Wolfe and the Composer’s TetraDectet.” He pulls people from all over the midwest, east coast, and west coast to play new music by himself and guitarist Aaron Quinn. I was really happy to hear his bootleg recording; I had never heard any of his band’s music before. We listened to a recording of a piece by Aaron Quinn titled “The Thing About Tomorrow…” as well as a piece by Billy titled “Amethyst.” At the end we had a mini-curated-listening-session with a piece called Understandable by Fields and Planes, an indie rock band from Columbus. It’s always fun to hear new music and I hope you enjoy this episode! Thanks for stopping by!