Ben Williams

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When it comes to black music, Washington, D.C. produces its share of game-changers. That long list includes Duke Ellington, Chuck Brown, Marvin Gaye, Shirley Horn, Roberta Flack, Bad Brains, Meshell Ndegeocello, Wale, and Oddisee. You can add Ben Williams to that venerated roster.

For more than a decade, Williams has steadily become one of the most acclaimed and versatile bassists in modern jazz. In 2009, he won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition. He has performed/recorded with such giants as Pat Metheny, George Benson, Stefon Harris, David Sanborn, Lauryn Hill, Wynton Marsalis, Robert Glasper, Maxwell, and Nicholas Payton. In 2013 and 2015 Williams received the DownBeat Magazine Critics Poll Rising Star Award for Bass. Williams became a “Rising Star” when he won the 2009 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Bass Competition Award that landed him his first record-deal with Concord Records. Thereafter, he recorded and released State of Art in 2011 with his band, Sound Effect. The Album received an impressive 4.5 Star Review in DownBeat Magazine and reached #1 on the charts of iTunes and the National BillBoard. He was named the 2011 iTtunes Breakthrough Artist of the Year in the category of jazz.

As a leader, Williams revealed his talents as a keen composer and bandleader on his first two Concord Records albums – State of Art (2011) and Coming of Age (2015). As gripping as those albums are, they don’t prepare you for Williams’ newest album, I AM A MAN, released Rainbow Blonde, a new imprint co-owned by singer, songwriter, and kindred spirit, José James. Sonically, the new album departs grandly from the mostly acoustic instrumental settings of his previous albums. Williams imbued his love for modern R&B and hip-hop and his socio-political awareness subtly on State of Art and Coming of Age. But on I AM A MAN, he brings them to the fore with mesmerizing vocal-centric songs that will surely raise his profile higher in modern soul and rap circles.

With the help from sound engineer Brian Bender, I AM A MAN boasts a humid and hazy sound that recalls Soulaquarian albums released by The Roots, Erykah Badu, Bilal, D’Angelo, Common, and Roy Hargrove’s RH Factor. “I wanted to make this not just a musical statement, but sonically, I wanted to dig into a different sound. We had the opportunity to work in the studio to craft some sounds. What you hear is Brian’s brilliance with engineering. I wanted this record to deal with the past, present, and future,” Williams says.

Kristen Strom

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Kristen Strom has been an integral part of the Stanford Jazz Workshop family for nearly 20 years. As part of the Giant Steps Big Band and Miles Ahead Big Band programs, she’s been an extremely popular and effective director. She’s led her own ensembles and performed as a side player for many Stanford Jazz Festival concerts. She co-directs the Giant Steps Day Camp summer program for middle schoolers, as well as the Mentor Fellowship program. Kristen is also a core member of the Jazz Camp faculty, teaching saxophone, clarinet, and flute, and directing combos.  

In a recent article in the San Jose Mercury, noted Bay Area jazz writer Andy Gilbert said of Kristen’s music and playing, “With a tone that’s lithe and lustrous, Kristen Strom embodies her musical philosophy in every note she plays.”

Also a fantastic vocalist, Kristen has been a mainstay on the Bay Area music scene for nearly two decades, acclaimed for beautifully rendered melodies, exceptional tonality, and accomplished musicianship. She has played alongside many well-known artists, including Manhattan Transfer, Gladys Knight, Natalie Cole, Roberta Flack, Johnny Mathis, Jimmy Heath, Steve Turre, Barbara Morrison, Marcus Shelby Jazz Orchestra, Tammy L. Hall, Maria Muldaur and Ruthie Foster.

Bay Area performance venues for the Kristen Strom ensembles include the Monterey Jazz Festival, SFJAZZ Center, Stanford Jazz Festival, Healdsburg Jazz, and several appearances at San Jose Jazz’s Summer Fest. She is in the touring cast of Blues is a Woman, a show celebrating the history of women in the blues. She also performs in a celebrated duo with husband, guitarist Scott Sorkin.

In addition to her albums, Intention, Sojourn and Moving Day: The Music of John Shifflett, she has recorded more than 50 albums with various jazz and pop artists, including the international jazz group Crossing Borders, Taj Mahal, Pamela Rose, Ed Johnson and Novo Tempo, Tammy L. Hall, The Jim Norton Collective and poet Paul Zarzyski.

Moving Day: The Music of John Shifflett was included in the Best Jazz Albums of 2018 by the Mercury News.

Her touring schedule has included performances across the U.S., Canada, Europe and Asia.

Kristen is committed to music education and is on the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and Santa Clara University, as well as the Stanford Jazz Workshop. She is an endorsing artist and clinician for Selmer saxophones.

www.kristenstrom.com

Mike Galisatus

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Michael Galisatus has been directing the Miles Ahead Big Band since its creation in 2015, leading the elite group to honors and awards at the Next Generation Jazz Festival and wiht the DownBeat magazine Student Music Awards for multiple years. He has also been an integral member of the dynamic faculty at Jazz Camp.

Michael is former Professor of Music and Director of Bands at the College of San Mateo, and is currently the director of the Stanford University Jazz Orchestra. He has been the recipient of various teaching honors including the CMEA Bay Section Outstanding Jazz Educator Award 2015-2016, The Peninsula Arts Council Arts Educator of the Year for 2007, the Otter Distributors 2004 Jazz Educator Award for the state of California, the California PTA Honorary Service Award, and the CMEA Bay Section Gil Freitas Memorial Award for music education. Prior to his appointment at the College of San Mateo, Michael was the band director at South San Francisco, El Camino, and Aragon High Schools. He currently holds the office of Jazz Representative for the California Music Educator’s Association, and is on the board of the California Alliance for Jazz. He is also a past president of the California Music Educator’s Association Bay Section.

Michael is in demand as an adjudicator throughout California, and has appeared as guest conductor for the CMEA Bay Section Conference Band, Hayward Unified School District High School Honor Band, The Elk Grove Unified School District High School Honor Band, The Stanislaus County Music Educators Association High School Honor Jazz Band, The San Mateo Union High School District Honor Jazz Band and Concert Bands, the Contra Cost County Honor Junior High School Honor Jazz Band, and the West Contra Costa County Honor High School Band.

As a freelance trumpeter in the San Francisco Bay Area, Michael has recorded with Pete Escovedo and Queen Ida, and has performed with a variety of artists, including Louis Bellson, Natalie Cole, Frank Sinatra Jr., Mary Wilson, Kenny Washington, Jamie Davis, Frankie Valli, Kenny Loggins, Gladys Knight, Johnny Mathis, Mel Torme, The Temptations, Michael Feinstein and a host of others.