2022-2023 AGAR AMHERST JAVA & JAZZ ARCHIVES
AGAR AMHERST JAVA & JAZZ
2022-2023 Series
Second Stage | Amherst
194 2nd Street, Amherst VA 24521 434-941-0997
2022-2023 Series
Second Stage | Amherst
194 2nd Street, Amherst VA 24521 434-941-0997
FIRST 2022-2023
J&J CONCERT
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.
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
and Baine’s Books & Coffee
Series Curated by Ernest Deane
SEPTEMBER
J&J CONCERT
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.
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.
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
in collaboration with
Second Stage | Amherst
and Baine’s Books & Coffee
Series Curated by Ernest Deane
OCTOBER
J&J CONCERT
J&J CONCERT
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
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
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
"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!
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!
- “Brothers of the Bean” – Ed Mikenas
- Steppe Theory – Ed Mikenas
- Every Day “Except Today” – [Adapted by Ed Mikenas]
- “Off the Top” - Nu-Bop by Ed Mikenas
- A Round of Turkish Coffee - a.k.a. Rondo alla Turca – Mozart-Adapted by Ed Mikenas] 1782 Café Frauenhuber
- Ain’t It Great! – Ed Mikenas – a tribute to Ed’s Espresso blend
- Bemsha Swing -Thelonius Monk
- Panhandle Rag – a nod to Cowboy Coffee – Leon McAuliffe
- Black Coffee – Paul Francis Weber and Sonny Burke
- Alpha-G - Ed Mikenas - Guatemala’s #1 Roast
- Take the “A” Train – Ellington/Strayhorn –“Jazzed Up” mentioned for the first time as a phrase in the New York Times-circa 1920.
- Ed’s Head – Ed Mikenas – Gotta have an espresso 1st thing in the a.m.
- Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most - Wolf and Landesman
- Afro-Blue – Mongo Santamaria – Some coffee beans are blue!
- *Quick-Steppin’ Qahwah – Ed Mikenas – taking a little break
- Broadway – Woode, Bird, McCrae – Coffee Houses along the way
- A Cube For Rubrick – Ed Mikenas – Sugar for my Turkish
- “Solace of the Heart” – Ed Mikenas “Coffee is the Solace of the Heart and of the Spirit” - Giuseppe Verdi
- Mood Indigo – Duke Ellington
- Bach’s Coffee Cantata Blues - 1732 Café Zimmermann – [Adapted by Ed Mikenas]
- A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square – Maschwitz/Sherman
- Cherokee – Ray Noble
- Trager Brothers Coffee – Ed Mikenas – first consumed at Rapunzels’
- Smoothie – Ed Mikenas – Ed’s famous “God shot.”
- Well You Needn’t – Thelonius Monk
- Truck Driving Man – Buck Owens – “Pour me another cup of coffee “
- The Nearness of You – Hoagy Carmichael
- FREE – Ed Mikenas – Energy, Light, and Love to all
Presented by AGAR
in collaboration with
Second Stage | Amherst
and Baine’s Books & Coffee
Series Curated by Ernest Deane
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
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.
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
in collaboration with
Second Stage | Amherst
and Baine’s Books & Coffee
Series Curated by Ernest Deane
JANUARY
J&J CONCERT
J&J CONCERT
“Quintana
All-Stars Jazz Band: Celebrating One of Our Own”
Edward Mikenas, composer & bassist; Al Mallet, saxophonist; Ernest Deane, trumpet and flugelhorn; Glenn Buck, winds;
Worth Proffitt, drums; and
Gary Meisner, piano.
Saturday, Jan. 28, 2023
6-8 pm
Live at Second Stage | Amherst
194 2nd Street, Amherst, VA 24521
All-Stars Jazz Band: Celebrating One of Our Own”
Edward Mikenas, composer & bassist; Al Mallet, saxophonist; Ernest Deane, trumpet and flugelhorn; Glenn Buck, winds;
Worth Proffitt, drums; and
Gary Meisner, piano.
Saturday, Jan. 28, 2023
6-8 pm
Live at Second Stage | Amherst
194 2nd Street, Amherst, VA 24521
Edward Mikenas
The Quintana All-Stars Jazz Band will salute the work of Edward Mikenas, composer, vocalist and bassist for the group, whose original compositions will form the core of the concert. “We play a lot of tunes by other people,” said Ernest Deane, artistic director of the group; “I thought we should play some really good songs by one of our own.”
Al Mallet
Glenn Buck
Gary Meisner
|
Ernest Deane
Worth Proffitt
|
The Quintana All-Stars Jazz Band was formed late in their careers by Al Mallet, saxophonist, and Ernest Deane, who plays trumpet and flugelhorn for the group. These two have been playing together since the 1950s, when they attended Dunbar High School in Lynchburg. Mikenas said he has been playing with Ernest Deane since 1989 when he first moved to Lynchburg, and that he met and heard Worth Proffitt, youngest current band member, before then when he lived in Augusta County. “I like to say that we are the oldest living jazz group in Greater Lynchburg,” says Mikenas, who has played bass with the group since 2016. The other current band members are Glenn Buck on winds, Worth Proffitt on drums, and Gary Meisner on piano.
Mikenas was brought up in rural Northern New York State and graduated from SUNY Potsdam with a BS in music education. He also has a Master’s degree in Music Performance from the Manhattan School of Music, NYC. As a studio musician based in NYC, he toured with Skitch Henderson, Larry Elgart, Jay and the Americans, Scarlet Rivera, Esther Phillips, and the Alive Company. And he played venues that include Saturday Night Live, Carnegie Hall, Madison Square Garden, the Apollo, the Felt Forum, the Spectrum, and the Troubadour. Mikenas played in the orchestra pit for “Grease,” “Pippin,” “Godspell,” and “The Magic Show” on Broadway and was a musician and actor off Broadway with the La Mama Experimental Theatre. He taught bass at Radford University for 19 years and now, when not composing or playing his own work, serves as adjunct Bass Professor at the University of Lynchburg, coaches a jazz ensemble at the Virginia Episcopal School, and is Organist and Choir Master of Amherst Presbyterian Church.
Among the songs featured at the Amherst Java and Jazz performance will be “Too Much,” which was written in 1999 and dedicated to the memory of the late Henry Powell, a member of Piedmont Jazz and a teacher in Lynchburg. Mikenas says that Powell’s favorite expression of appreciation was “That’s Too Much;” so he wrote this song as a memorial for Powell for Ernest Deane to play on Flugelhorn.
Several pieces by Mikenas reference cooking and food. He says, “Early jazz parallels the kitchen. We say the band ‘cooks’ or that a group is ‘hot’ or ‘smoking,’ My tune ‘Smoothie’ refers to an old-fashioned candy bar, and I wrote ‘Light and Crispy’ as a salute to my wife Lu Ann, one day after she made some killer waffles for breakfast!” Opening the show will be “Terry’s Groove,” composed by another Quintana All-Star, Gary Meisner, a pianist, and arranger who arranged for the Hal Leonard Music Publishers in New York for about 40 years. Rounding out the concert are works of Charles Mingus, Tommy Wolf, A. Dubin, and Harry Warren.
Among the songs featured at the Amherst Java and Jazz performance will be “Too Much,” which was written in 1999 and dedicated to the memory of the late Henry Powell, a member of Piedmont Jazz and a teacher in Lynchburg. Mikenas says that Powell’s favorite expression of appreciation was “That’s Too Much;” so he wrote this song as a memorial for Powell for Ernest Deane to play on Flugelhorn.
Several pieces by Mikenas reference cooking and food. He says, “Early jazz parallels the kitchen. We say the band ‘cooks’ or that a group is ‘hot’ or ‘smoking,’ My tune ‘Smoothie’ refers to an old-fashioned candy bar, and I wrote ‘Light and Crispy’ as a salute to my wife Lu Ann, one day after she made some killer waffles for breakfast!” Opening the show will be “Terry’s Groove,” composed by another Quintana All-Star, Gary Meisner, a pianist, and arranger who arranged for the Hal Leonard Music Publishers in New York for about 40 years. Rounding out the concert are works of Charles Mingus, Tommy Wolf, A. Dubin, and Harry Warren.
Presented by AGAR
in collaboration with
Second Stage | Amherst
and Baine’s Books & Coffee
Series Curated by Ernest Deane
in collaboration with
Second Stage | Amherst
and Baine’s Books & Coffee
Series Curated by Ernest Deane
FEBRUARY
J&J CONCERT
Laissez Foure
Saturday, Feb. 25, 2023
6-8 pm
Live at Second Stage | Amherst
194 2nd Street, Amherst, VA 24521
Laissez Foure brings you the spirit of New Orleans with tunes from the 1920s through 1950. Hear tunes from the Big Easy by greats such as Armstrong, Bechet and Prima. Lynchburg native, Ken Matthews, has assembled a powerhouse quartet to bring you an energetic show!
Ken Matthews
saxophone, clarinet
Greg Thomas
trumpet, valve trombone
Peter Matthews
upright bass
Tom Harbeck
guitar
saxophone, clarinet
Greg Thomas
trumpet, valve trombone
Peter Matthews
upright bass
Tom Harbeck
guitar
Ken Matthews
Click on the arrow below
to sample their music.
to sample their music.
Presented by AGAR
in collaboration with
Second Stage | Amherst
and Baine’s Books & Coffee
Series Curated by Ernest Deane
MARCH
J&J CONCERT
Joseph Henson Jazz
Saturday, March 25, 2023
6-8 pm
Live at Second Stage | Amherst
194 2nd Street, Amherst, VA 24521
Joseph Henson, saxophone
Isaac Williams, piano
Jonah Horton, bass
Nate Gilmore, drums
Isaac Williams, piano
Jonah Horton, bass
Nate Gilmore, drums
The band is back with a concert of new and original music. We'll also feature some music from the great jazz saxophonist and composer, Wayne Shorter, who passed away on March 2. "If we had a Mount Rushmore of jazz legends, Wayne Shorter would most certainly be there. His timeless compositions, deeply emotional solo style, and keen musical leadership have always been highly revered in the jazz world. He left behind an indelible mark on the greatness of the music he loved — jazz."
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.
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
APRIL
J&J CONCERT
The
Matthew Howard Trio
Saturday, April 29, 2023
6-8 pm
Live at Second Stage | Amherst
194 2nd Street, Amherst, VA 24521
Matthew Howard, vocals & guitar
Daniel Kepel, violin
Kaelin Howard, percussion
Daniel Kepel, violin
Kaelin Howard, percussion
Longtime Lynchburg area vocalist and guitar player Matthew Howard is known primarily for his Indie acoustic and folk sound. He makes a foray into the world of blues and jazz with Daniel Kepel, violinist, and Kaelin Howard, percussion, playing 1950s and ‘60s blues and jazz standards. Titles includes “Fly Me to the Moon” and “My Way,” recorded by Frank Sinatra; “Sweet Home Chicago,” a blues standard made famous in a1936 recording by Robert Johnson; and “People Get Ready” and “Fields of Gold,” arranged and performed by Eva Cassidy. Originals by Matthew Howard will also be performed.
Matthew Howard has made himself a hero to Amherst Glebe Arts Response and Second Stage | Amherst by serving as the sound designer and sound engineer for Amherst Java & Jazz.
Often assisting his father as an apprentice sound designer and sound engineer is percussionist Kaelin Howard. He and his father will take turns as headliners for the April 29 Amherst Java & Jazz concert.
Daniel Kepel was born in Great Britain and classically trained in violin. He now resides in Virginia and plays with orchestras, string quartets, and with rock ‘n roll and country groups. Daniel has performed for 15 years with Matthew Howard and also plays as a soloist in Lynchburg calling himself “The Singing Violinist.”
Presented by AGAR
in collaboration with
Second Stage | Amherst
and Baine’s Books & Coffee
Series Curated by Ernest Deane
MAY
J&J CONCERT
Gus Miller and More Friends Bring You Selections From The Great American Songbook
Saturday, May 27, 2023
6-8 pm
Live at Second Stage | Amherst
194 2nd Street, Amherst, VA 24521
Gus Miller, featured vocalist
Instrumentalists:
Glenn Buck, saxophone
Gary Meisner, Keyboards
Ed Mikenas, bass
Worth Proffitt, drums
Instrumentalists:
Glenn Buck, saxophone
Gary Meisner, Keyboards
Ed Mikenas, bass
Worth Proffitt, drums
Lynchburg native Gus Miller specializes in singing vintage songs from what is known as The Great American Songbook, which consists of favorite popular songs from Tin Pan Alley, the Broadway Theatre and movie Musicals composed between 1920 and about 1960.
McGustivus “Gus” Miller started singing as a baritone “Crooner” at the age of fifty. He says that he never sang in school or in church as a young man. In fact, Gus says he set out to play piano, but, he said, “… I didn’t have the aptitude. My teacher said, 'Have you ever thought about singing?’ Gus says that his teacher had started out as a singer: “ “She took me around to hear people like Lew Taylor, and I started to sit in with him.” She’d say, ‘I have a guy I think you’ll really like!’… and I started to sit in!” Soon, Gus Miller was headlining performances at the Academy Center of the Arts, Jazz Street, Montana’s, and the Roanoke Hotel. Gus says he finds singing “therapeutic—it keeps me from being introverted..”
Lynn Kable of AGAR says, “We find Gus’s music to be therapeutic as well, and we look forward to seeing and hearing him again on Saturday, May 27, at Amherst Java & Jazz.”
Lynn Kable of AGAR says, “We find Gus’s music to be therapeutic as well, and we look forward to seeing and hearing him again on Saturday, May 27, at Amherst Java & Jazz.”
Presented by AGAR
in collaboration with
Second Stage | Amherst
and Baine’s Books & Coffee
Series Curated by Ernest Deane
in collaboration with
Second Stage | Amherst
and Baine’s Books & Coffee
Series Curated by Ernest Deane
JUNE
J&J CONCERT
The Paddy D Quartet
Friday, June 16, 2023
6-8 pm
Live at Second Stage | Amherst
194 2nd Street, Amherst, VA 24521
Paddy Dougherty, songwriter, vocalist, guitarist, & pianist
Glenn Buck, keyboards and saxophone
Eric Hollandsworth, bass
Larry Scott, drums
Glenn Buck, keyboards and saxophone
Eric Hollandsworth, bass
Larry Scott, drums
We’re excited to welcome the Paddy D Quartet back after their sold-out show last season.
The group will perform original songs by Paddy D, as well as standards by singer/songwriters who have influenced her -- including Bonnie Raitt and
Carole King.
The group will perform original songs by Paddy D, as well as standards by singer/songwriters who have influenced her -- including Bonnie Raitt and
Carole King.
Paddy graduated from Randolph Macon Woman’s College and taught school at James River Day School before taking leave to tour nationally as a back-up singer, teach songwriting at Sweet Briar College and write over 300 songs for Kid Pan Alley. She formed the Paddy D Quartet, and the group became popular in the Greater Lynchburg area. In 2012, Paddy returned to teaching (music, drama, and choral groups) at James River Day School.
Presented by AGAR
in collaboration with
Second Stage | Amherst
and Baine’s Books & Coffee
Series Curated by Ernest Deane
