2022-2023 Music Series Archive
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Chamber Music America Presenters Consortium for Jazz Program 
CHAMBER MUSIC AMERICA funded AMHERST GLEBE ARTS RESPONSE * with VCU Health and University of Michigan’s Michigan Medicine
“Gifts of Art” THROUGH ITS PRESENTERS CONSORTIUM FOR JAZZ PROGRAM. Two major virtual jazz concerts will be streamed from New York studios and made available for the purpose of reducing stress, decreasing isolation and building resilience in individuals particularly affected by COVID-19. These include medical and non-medical staff, patients, families and volunteersd in hospitals and nursing facilities, “learners” (medical and nursing students). The concerts will also be streamed to individuals with disabilities or illnesses who are receiving home-delivered meals and home health services, as well as to their caregivers. |
AGAR AMHERST JAVA & JAZZ 2022-2023 Series Second Stage | Amherst 194 2nd Street, Amherst VA 24521 434-941-0997 FIRST J&J CONCERT
Gus Miller. with Vince Lewis on Guitar, John Jenson on Trombone and Bob Peckman on Drums
Saturday, August 27, 2022 6-8 pm Live at Second Stage | Amherst 194 2nd Street, Amherst, VA 24521 Beloved Lynchburg crooner Gus Miller invites you to help him welcome virtuoso guitarist Vince Lewis back to Virginia. Gus and Vince will be joined on stage by John Jensen on trombone and Bob Peckman on drums. The group will perform selections from the Great American Songbook. 
MCGUSTAVUS (GUS) MILLER is a native of Lynchburg, Va. His linear sequence of rich melodic, timeless, and refined music is a poet’s voice as he sings the music we have come to know as, “The American Song Book.” Though it may be his favorite genre, it does not preclude him form singing others. A local favorite in the tri state area, Gus has performed at numerous venues for a variety of occasions with a many talented musicians including Royce Campbell, Flip Shoemaker, Hod O’Brien, Charlie Perkinson, Lew Taylor, Larry Scott, Karl Kimmel, Tom Artwick, Bob Bowen, Glenn Buck, and Dwight Spencer, to name a few. VINCE LEWIS is a veteran jazz performer, composer and recording artist. He has been a headliner on Jazz Festivals with Dave Brubeck, B.B King, Ellis Marsalis, Lou Rawls, Mundell Lowe, John Pizzarelli and Melissa Manchester. Vince has been a featured performer in concert at The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, as well as two performances at the Smithsonian Institute Jazz Bar. He also has served as Staff Guitarist at the Ritz-Carlton Resort Palm Beach, FL, and at The Greenbrier Resort in WV. According to Jim Carlton, in Conversations with Great Jazz and Studio Guitarists, “His playing is indicative of the rarified air of true mastery. He routinely creates engaging and excellent music.” Vince was the cover picture and feature interview in the Feb 2014 issue of Just Jazz Guitar Magazine and has been noted as One of the leading active Jazz Artists in the Jazz Guitar category each year since 2002 by Jazz Improv Magazine. He is also currently “In the Wings” category and has been notified of his future induction into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Vince is included in the 2014 Scott Yanow book “The Great Jazz Guitarists…The Ultimate Guide.” He has recorded 20 CDs as a leader and sideman, and each has received excellent critical acclaim in virtually every major jazz publication. In addition, he is a Heritage Guitar Inc, Benedetto Guitar, Eastman Guitar, Breedlove Guitar, SIT Strings and Redstone Audio performing Artist, and has a Vince Lewis signature archtop guitar available built by Richard Ralston, a noted New Zealand luthier. Vince also developed and directed the Classical and Jazz Guitar programs at University of Charleston, Marshall University, Palm Beach University, Liberty University and Bluefield College. He has taught at the post-secondary level for 48 years, conducted jazz Guitar workshops, and created courses in improvisation and other jazz related subjects at the University level. His chord melody arrangements for solo guitar appeared regularly in Just Jazz Guitar Magazine. Vince currently serves as Adjunct Professor of Music and Guitar at Bluefield College in Bluefield, VA, and is a regular educational contributor to Jazz Guitar Today online magazine. JOHN JENSEN was lead trombonist and a featured soloist with the United States Navy band, Commodores, until he retired in 1996. Since then, he has stayed active as a player and teacher in and around the Washington, DC, area. He has been a featured performer at the White House, the Corcoran Art Gallery, and the Kennedy Center. John has performed at Blues Alley with the McCoy Tyner Big Band, and he has been featured alongside Urbie Green, Milt Hinton, Stephanie Nakasian, Hod O’Brien and Danny Gatton. BOB PECKMAN grew up near New York City, listening to Art Blakey Shelley Manne and Max Roach and played at Les Paul’s House with son Russ. By age 17 Bob was imitating the great jazz drummers and booking gigs with professionals in the area. He played jazz while earning a BS, MS, and PhD in Physics. For some years he was a jazz playing physics professor. Eventually his love of jazz led him to give up his “day job” for Music, specializing in Latin Jazz. He has performed in the mid-Atlantic states with bands including Lenny Marcus. Lou Morrison joins the band on bass. Presented by AGAR with Second Stage | Amherst and Baine’s Books & Coffee Series Curated by Ernest Deane |
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SEPTEMBER
J&J CONCERT 
Isaac Williams Ensemble
Saturday, Sept. 24, 2022 6-8 pm Live at Second Stage | Amherst 194 2nd Street, Amherst, VA 24521 Isaac Williams and Senobia Smith are two of the exciting young jazz musicians in Greater Lynchburg and the Shenandoah Valley. With Isaac’s ensemble they will bring an evening of originals and standards from the 1960s to the present. AGAR and Second Stage | Amherst are happy to welcome them back to Amherst Java & Jazz. Isaac Williams, a native of Lynchburg, VA, got his start in music at the age of 8 when his parents purchased him a toy keyboard. By 11, Isaac was playing for his church and at local venues. In 2019 Isaac debuted his Trinity Jazz Trio to a packed house at the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Lynchburg. Since then, Isaac’s trio has played at venues such as The Flat 9 Club, Stonebridge Fall Festival, and District Winery in Washington D.C. Last season his instrumental trio, along with featured vocalist Senobia Smith, played for Amherst Java and Jazz. Isaac also played in the season as a sideman to saxophonist Joseph Henson.
Senobia Smith is a renowned jazz singer who has performed in venues as far east as Italy, south as the Caribbean, north as Alaska, and west as California. Senobia’s voice transcends her listeners out of space and time to bask in the ambiance of her enchanting sound. Born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, Senobia studied music since age nine and attended prestigious music programs including Shenandoah University’s Music Conservatory. Senobia has her own trio, Senobia & Friends. She has also performed as a solo artist with jazz orchestras, big bands, jazz combos, concert bands, and international ensembles as a U.S. Army musician and as a civilian. Isaac, Senobia, and the ensemble also will perform on February 3, 2023, for AGAR’s Louis Moreau Gottschalk Project at the University of Lynchburg’s Snidow Chapel. Gottschalk was a 19th-century American pianist who hailed from New Orleans and had a strong influence on early jazz. Presented by AGAR in collaboration with Second Stage | Amherst and Baine’s Books & Coffee Series Curated by Ernest Deane |
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OCTOBER
J&J CONCERT 
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Joseph Henson Jazz
and CD Release Party Saturday, Oct. 29, 2022 6-8 pm Live at Second Stage | Amherst 194 2nd Street, Amherst, VA 24521 
Saxophonist Joseph Henson and his jazz quartet invite you to a “release party” of Henson’s latest CD for October’s Java & Jazz concert. Come and hear Henson’s newest works.
Joseph Henson, saxophone, formerly a member of the US Army Blues Jazz Ensemble from Washington, D.C., retired in December 2018 to become Associate Professor of Commercial Music and Jazz Studies at the Liberty University School of Music. He has played saxophone and written music for the Blues for 21 years and has also been the band’s Musical Director for the past few years. Henson hold degrees in music from the University of South Carolina and the University of North Texas, and performs regularly in the D.C. area with a wide variety of groups, including his own quintet. He and his wife Mary live in Forest, VA with four of their five kids. "During the pandemic, Joseph Henson has supported Amherst Java and Jazz by continuing to write and perform a series of new works, aimed at cheering and supporting the audience," said Lynn Kable, Director of Amherst Glebe Arts Response, Inc. last week in Amherst. "Now he has put his latest jazz works together in a new CD. He has chosen our concert on October 29, 2022 for his release party. Come and bring friends!" 
Isaac Williams, piano, a native of Lynchburg, VA, got his start in music at the age of 8 when his parents purchased him a toy keyboard. By 11, Isaac was playing for his church and at local venues. In 2019 Isaac debuted his Trinity Jazz Trio to a packed house at the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Lynchburg. Since then, Isaac’s trio has played at venues such as The Flat 9 Club, Stonebridge Fall Festival, and District Winery in Washington D.C. Last season his instrumental trio, along with featured vocalist Senobia Smith, played for Amherst Java and Jazz.
Daniel Kelly II “D.K.”, drums, has been sharing his talent since the young age of two. His playing styles include Gospel, Jazz, R&B, Rock, Latin, and Classical and has been showcased on both the east and west coasts, as well as around the world. D.K. has performed with the Shenandoah Conservatory Jazz Band in the John Moawad Jazz Festival at Central Washington University and Vancouver, BC, and the Christopher K. Morgan and Artists Showcase at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center in College Park, MD. He is currently enlisted and performing with the Virginia Army National Guard band.
Jonah Horton, bass, Jonah Horton is a 20 year-old mandolinist and bassist from Wilkesboro, North Carolina. He began playing the mandolin at the age of seven, and spent his teenage years traveling across the eastern United States with his progressive bluegrass band The Trailblazers. During his time with The Trailblazers, they were presented with the International Bluegrass Music Association‘s (IBMA) Momentum Award for band of the year in 2018 and also released two albums. The most recent of those projects, “Space and Time”, was produced and arranged by Jonah in late 2020. Most recently, he joined a star studded lineup of Grammy Award winning Bluegrass musicians to be the featured mandolinist on Scott Vestal‘s “Bluegrass 2022” album that will be released in the Spring. In addition to The Trailblazers, he also plays electric mandolin with the soul/RnB group “The Eli Yacinthe Band” based out of Charlotte, NC. Jonah graduated from Appalachian State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing/Sales in the Spring of 2021 and currently attends Liberty University where he plans to pursue a master’s degree in the Fall. He began playing electric bass when he arrived at Liberty in the Fall of 2021, and since then has been studying jazz bass and mandolin under professor Joseph Henson.
Presented by AGAR in collaboration with Second Stage | Amherst and Baine’s Books & Coffee Series Curated by Ernest Deane |
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Joseph Henson Jazz
and CD Release Party Saturday, Oct. 29, 2022 6-8 pm Live at Second Stage | Amherst 194 2nd Street, Amherst, VA 24521 
Saxophonist Joseph Henson and his jazz quartet invite you to a “release party” of Henson’s latest CD for October’s Java & Jazz concert. Come and hear Henson’s newest works.
Joseph Henson, saxophone, formerly a member of the US Army Blues Jazz Ensemble from Washington, D.C., retired in December 2018 to become Associate Professor of Commercial Music and Jazz Studies at the Liberty University School of Music. He has played saxophone and written music for the Blues for 21 years and has also been the band’s Musical Director for the past few years. Henson hold degrees in music from the University of South Carolina and the University of North Texas, and performs regularly in the D.C. area with a wide variety of groups, including his own quintet. He and his wife Mary live in Forest, VA with four of their five kids. "During the pandemic, Joseph Henson has supported Amherst Java and Jazz by continuing to write and perform a series of new works, aimed at cheering and supporting the audience," said Lynn Kable, Director of Amherst Glebe Arts Response, Inc. last week in Amherst. "Now he has put his latest jazz works together in a new CD. He has chosen our concert on October 29, 2022 for his release party. Come and bring friends!" 
Isaac Williams, piano, a native of Lynchburg, VA, got his start in music at the age of 8 when his parents purchased him a toy keyboard. By 11, Isaac was playing for his church and at local venues. In 2019 Isaac debuted his Trinity Jazz Trio to a packed house at the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Lynchburg. Since then, Isaac’s trio has played at venues such as The Flat 9 Club, Stonebridge Fall Festival, and District Winery in Washington D.C. Last season his instrumental trio, along with featured vocalist Senobia Smith, played for Amherst Java and Jazz.
Daniel Kelly II “D.K.”, drums, has been sharing his talent since the young age of two. His playing styles include Gospel, Jazz, R&B, Rock, Latin, and Classical and has been showcased on both the east and west coasts, as well as around the world. D.K. has performed with the Shenandoah Conservatory Jazz Band in the John Moawad Jazz Festival at Central Washington University and Vancouver, BC, and the Christopher K. Morgan and Artists Showcase at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center in College Park, MD. He is currently enlisted and performing with the Virginia Army National Guard band.
Jonah Horton, bass, Jonah Horton is a 20 year-old mandolinist and bassist from Wilkesboro, North Carolina. He began playing the mandolin at the age of seven, and spent his teenage years traveling across the eastern United States with his progressive bluegrass band The Trailblazers. During his time with The Trailblazers, they were presented with the International Bluegrass Music Association‘s (IBMA) Momentum Award for band of the year in 2018 and also released two albums. The most recent of those projects, “Space and Time”, was produced and arranged by Jonah in late 2020. Most recently, he joined a star studded lineup of Grammy Award winning Bluegrass musicians to be the featured mandolinist on Scott Vestal‘s “Bluegrass 2022” album that will be released in the Spring. In addition to The Trailblazers, he also plays electric mandolin with the soul/RnB group “The Eli Yacinthe Band” based out of Charlotte, NC. Jonah graduated from Appalachian State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing/Sales in the Spring of 2021 and currently attends Liberty University where he plans to pursue a master’s degree in the Fall. He began playing electric bass when he arrived at Liberty in the Fall of 2021, and since then has been studying jazz bass and mandolin under professor Joseph Henson.
Presented by AGAR in collaboration with Second Stage | Amherst and Baine’s Books & Coffee Series Curated by Ernest Deane NOVEMBER J&J CONCERT 
THE QUANTUM MECHANICS
"Brothers of the Bean" Saturday, Nov. 26, 2022 6-8 pm Live at Second Stage | Amherst 194 2nd Street, Amherst, VA 24521 
l-r Worth Proffitt on Drums, Ed Mikenas on Steel Guitar, and Andy Aeschbacher on Bass.
From the very beginning of their relationship, coffee and humans have done much to inspire and nourish the creative aspect of life…and Coffee houses became one of the first community-oriented spaces for people to meet, experience a variety of intellectual pursuits, and listen to the newest music of the time.
The Quantum Mechanics have played a similar role with the advent of the “Java and Jazz” venue at Second Stage. Each of their offerings have focused on various aspects of coffee and its relation to Jazz. For this performance, they will be brewing up a cup of deep musical goodness, with roots in the “Great Depression”, inserting double helpings of Blues and BeBop, and adding dollops of original tunes all along the way. They will primarily select from the following menu. Enjoy!
Presented by AGAR in collaboration with Second Stage | Amherst and Baine’s Books & Coffee Series Curated by Ernest Deane DECEMBER J&J CONCERT 
“BellaDonna”
Featuring Donna Kay on vocals, Laurabella Owens on piano, Worth Proffitt on drums, andAndy Aeschbacher on bass. Saturday, Dec. 17, 2022 6-8 pm Live at Second Stage | Amherst 194 2nd Street, Amherst, VA 24521 
l-r Donna Kay and Laurabella Owens
BellaDonna is a preservationist band of jazz music of the 1940s and 1950s. Their Amherst Java and Jazz performance on December 17, 2022 from 6 to 8 pm will present
Christmas and standard songs by such luminaries of the period as Harold Arlen, Cole Porter, Duke Ellington, and Irving Berlin. Java and Jazz is presented monthly my Amherst Glebe Arts Response and Second Stage Amherst. Featured in BellaDonna are Donna Kay on vocals, Laurabella Owens on piano, Worth Proffitt on drums, and Andy Aeschbacher on bass. Donna Kay (vocals) was born in Lynchburg and attended Amherst County Schools, graduating from ACHS. She began her career as a prize-winning pianist at Phelps Road Elementary in 1973. Donna Kay still speaks about Mary Hartman at ACHS as “a wonderful vocal and theory teacher,” At ACHS Donna Kay sang, played and guest-conducted for the Amherechos. Donna moved to Atlanta in 1984 where she wrote for music magazines and promoted concerts. In1990, she started playing bass and singing in Atlanta post-punk bands that supported touring bands in larger venues and headlined in smaller clubs. In 1994, Donna Kay moved to Austin. She says “I took a five-year hiatus from performing in public: “I wrote some music then, but spent more time studying forms from Latin America, as I was married to a Latin salsa and jazz bassist during this period.” Kay continues: “In 2001 I returned to Virginia and wrote for the Amherst New Era Progress for a year before moving to Charlottesville and working with Live Arts! Theater as a box office and crew member (building sets, running lights and sound, etc.). By 2004, sick of snow, I went where my best friend was, in Naples, Florida. I met Nashville-based singer/songwriter Tim McGeary and joined his band, “Wonderful Johnson” on keyboards and backing vocals. We played up and down both Florida coasts for four years, and I recorded on his second CD, Twelve. She continued, “In 2008, during the crash, I bought a house in Greenville, South Carolina, where I lived for 10 years. It was in Greenville I met Shannon Hoover (Greenville Jazz Collective, Univ. of SC Upstate), who mentored me and encouraged me to sing jazz. He introduced me to Daniel Zongrone in 2010. Daniel was a prog-rock percussionist who also played jazz, and a four-year partnership was born. Daniel and I formed the experimental jazz duet “Vibe Vox” in 2012. In 2014, we spent a month in Berlin, Germany as artists in residence. In Berlin, I saw amazing gypsy jazz musicians and it was then that I decided to form Donna Kay & The Carousers. I had the band's music director lined up before I got back to the states. The Carousers spent the next seven years playing all over South Carolina, at Fall for Greenville, the TD Amphitheatre, Greenville Craft Beer Festival, and many more events. We have one CD, one EP and one Single out on all the major music platforms. Kay said, “I moved back to Lynchburg in 2021, where I met and played a few shows with Matthew Billings. Then I met Laurabella Owens, who agreed to accompany me while I try to find my own dedicated combo. It is wonderful to play with women, I must say! I enjoy playing with Laurabella, and I also play with Lew Taylor when I can. And I am looking forwarding to playing with Andy and Worth at Amherst Java and Jazz…Going forward I want to return to composing, recording and publishing more of my own songs. “ Laurabella Owens (piano) is a music educator and performer working in the genres of blues, jazz and classical music. She is a member of the Lynchburg Symphony Orchestra on violin. Laura co-founded and wrote music for the band “Feng Sway” and played with local reggae artists. Her unique approach to the piano and her depth of repertoire make her a versatile performer. Laura has lived in Central Virginia for many years and has taught piano and violin both in the Lynchburg school system and privately. She comes from a musical family. Lynchburg singer and guitarist David Owens is her brother. Worth Proffitt (drums) is a multi-instrumentalist, well-known in the area for playing blues with Dennis Johnson in Jump Street and currently as part of Proffitt & Sandige, both powerful acoustic blues duos. Worth studied blues with Mississippi blues heavyweight Lonnie Pitchford and North Carolina jazz legend, Brother Jusef Salim. Worth’s blues projects have received numerous awards, including: 1997 International Blues Challenge, Charlotte, NC (Jump Street) and 2004 International Blues Challenge, Sedalia, VA (Proffitt & Sandidge). Worth branches out into electric guitar territory as well, playing rock 'n' roll and electric blues with Bill Hudson, Jack Sutherland, Malcolm Dentler, Roy Slaughter. Larry Scott and others. He has been playing gospel guitar for two Lynchburg area churches since 1996: Saint Mark in Amherst and Saint Mary in Lowesville. Andy Aeschbacher (bass) is a native of Buffalo, New York, and a lifelong musician proficient on electric upright bass. Andy is well-known on the local music scene as a solid, reliable player able to handle many different musical situations. He plays in several local music groups such as The Quantum Mechanics, Quintana, Feng Sway, The MP3 Trio, Code Blue, Hill City Jazz, Laurabella Trio, The Introverts, Deanie Blues Band, The Dog Boys, and Jimmy Rushing & the Prematures. He is also a full-time piano tuner/technician offering quality piano tuning to owners of fine pianos. Presented by AGAR in collaboration with Second Stage | Amherst and Baine’s Books & Coffee Series Curated by Ernest Deane |
