Wed Mar 5
"A NIGHT OF SAX" is an explosive show featuring some of the best saxophonist in the country! Come out to celebrate the birthday of social music artist Marcus Mitchell.
MARCUS MITCHELL is not only an established saxophonist and pianist, also a CEO and President of 24th Music a division of MHM Entertainment Group - a multi- faceted entertainment company. Marcus’ music embodies a vast number of eclectic nuances allowing him to explore his musicianship with no restrictions.
CRAIG ALSTON, Baltimore born and based multi-instrumentalist and composer specializing in woodwind, brass wind, keyboard and bass guitar in genres such as jazz, rhythm and blues, soul, hip hop and gospel. He is best known for his complex yet soulful sound on the saxophone. He was the saxophonist for Fertile Ground, lead the Eubie Blake Legacy Band for over 7 years, and received the 2013 Jazz Journalists Jazz Heroes Award and was the winner of the 2011 Chick Webb Jazz Combo Competition.
WAKE CAMPBELL is an accomplished saxophonist and composer out of the Washington DC area. Wake is a Smooth Jazz musician who’s aiming straight for your heart with some of the sexiest melodies and solos you’ll hear anywhere.
The soulful sound of MELINDA FORD's saxophone playing is a mixture of Jazz, Gospel, Rhythm/Blues and Southern Soul. Graduating from high school she was awarded a music scholarship to attend Virginia Union University in Richmond, Virginia to major in Music Education.
Eugene Chapman began playing saxophone at the age of nine, but he didn’t take it seriously until he entered his teens. Once he focused on his craft, he knew that he’d found his passion. He has performed with musicians and opened for musicians including Denise Williams, Fertile Ground, Eryka Badu and Robin Thicke. This dynamic saxophonist, composer and arranger rounds out Yonnet’s horn section adding power and punch to Reed My Lips.
Elijah Jamal Balbed is native of the DMV area and one of the premiere Jazz Artists in Washington, DC. Winner of the 2020 DC Jazz Prix Competition, Elijah has also been named Best Tenor Saxophonist (2013) and Best New Jazz Musician (2009) by the Washington City Paper and has been featured in various publications such as WBGO, The Washington Post, Capital Bop, and Smithsonian Magazine. Elijah has performed, recorded, and/or toured with Fantasia, The Blackbyrds, Winard Harper & Jeli Posse, Patti Austin, Angelique Kidjo, Dr. John (RIP), George Duke (RIP), and Sugar Bear. Elijah performed with The Godfather of Go-Go Chuck Brown from 2011 until Mr. Brown’s passing in 2012. During his participation in the Artist-in-Residence program at Strathmore in 2014, Elijah founded The JoGo Project - a Jazz / Go-Go fusion band dedicated to promoting and preserving the legacy of DC’s unique art form.
Over the last decade, Elijah has also established himself as an International Artist; having performed in Japan, the United Kingdom, Jazz at Lincoln Center Doha (Qatar), and on the Capital Jazz Cruise which has taken Elijah all around the Caribbean Islands. In 2018 and 2019, Elijah led cultural diplomacy tours in Russia on behalf of the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Consulate in Yekaterinburg, sponsored by the Forum for Cultural Exchange (FCE). In 2021, Elijah performed at the Port-au-Prince International Jazz Festival (#PAPJAZZ) in Port-au-Prince, Haiti with Trinidadian Steel Pan player Josanne Francis. Elijah currently performs and tours with Saxophonist Mike Phillips, The Chuck Brown Band, & Doug E Fresh.