BIRCKHEAD feat. Christie Dashiell
Saxophonist Brent Birckhead is an award-winning artist, whose aesthetic is an intersectional amalgam of traditional and popular styles, earning him a spot in Lauryn Hill’s touring band. Unbound by genre, Birckhead’s approach to woodwind artistry is driven by his compulsion for creative risk and deep respect for legacy. His place in the continuum of a storied lineage begins with his surname, Birckhead, and extends to his extensive musical education and work ethic as a visionary approach to life as a rising leader.
Educated at Howard University (BME, MM), Birckhead was named best blues/pop/rock soloist and outstanding instrumental jazz soloist by Downbeat Magazine as part of the annual Student Music Awards. In 2011 Brent was named “Best Alto Saxophonist” by the Washington City Paper.
The Baltimore native and current resident’s talent earned him the honor of performing and touring with legendary artists including Lauryn Hill, Nas, Wale, Eric Benet, Larry Graham, George Duke and many more. Birckhead is the professor of saxophone at Morgan State University. On February 22, Birckhead released his self-titled debut album on Revive Music.
Born in Washington, D.C. and raised in Greenville, NC, contemporary jazz vocalist Christie N. Dashiell honed her skills at Howard University and later at the Manhattan School of Music. Ms. Dashiell’s trajectory include Semperformances with Howard’s premiere vocal jazz ensemble, Afro Blue. She has also performed at the Kennedy Center as a participant in the 2010 Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead program; at the Lincoln Theater in Washington, D.C.; and, as a part of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Jazz for Young People program. She is the recipient of DownBeat magazine’s Best College Graduate Jazz Vocalist and Outstanding Soloist awards in the jazz vocal category. Most recently, Ms. Dashiell appeared on season three of NBC’s The Sing-Off, as a member of Afro Blue. She can be heard on several nationally released recordings including John Blake’s Motherless Child, The Jolley Brothers’ memoirs Between Brothers, and as a Kennedy Center Discovery Artist on NPR’s JazzSet hosted by Dee Dee Bridgewater. She has since performed in concert withemesperanza Spalding, Fred Hammond, Smokey Robinson, Geri Allen and Allan Harris.
