Band Profile
Kevin Edmonds (saxes
and light vocals)-the leader of Brown Street, Kevin
currently teaches music part-time at
Mountain
State University. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree
from the prestigious Berklee College of Music (majoring in Jazz
Composition & Arranging and studied saxophone under George Garzone and Andy
McGhee). He also holds a Master of Music degree from the University of
South Carolina (majoring in "Classical" Composition). Kevin has played or composed for virtually every style of music
over his 20 plus years as a professional musician (variety Dance Bands, Marching Bands, Jazz Big Bands, Concert Orchestras,
Dixieland Bands, even an A Capella Vocal Quartet). He also wrote a
specialty jazz and classical column for the Frederick News-Post for a period of
time. Kevin relocated to the
DC metro area from Pittsburgh in 2000 and recognized there was a new opportunity to perform
jazz fusion. "As
soon as I relocated, I realized there was a realistic possibility to do the type of music I had always most wanted to do.
I'm absolutely thrilled we were able to put this fine group together and make it
a REALITY!" Here's an intense excerpt of Kevin's playing on the
sax solo to "Black Market".
Arshak Sirunyan
(keyboards)-Arshak
attended the A. Spendiarov School of Music in Yerevan, Armenia where he studied
10 years and performed a number of solo concerts and participated in a number of
musical competitions. He was awarded the third prize at the '94 National
J. S. Bach Concerto Competition in Armenia. In 1998 Arshak was accepted
into Komitas State Conservatory where he majored in composing and minored in
piano performance (studying under Stephan Rostomian in composition and Giorgy
Kasabian in piano). Throughout his university years Arshak composed classical
and contemporary compositions for vocal, piano, clarinet, string quartet and
symphonic orchestra. He first came to the attention of a jazz audience
when he joined a jazz quintet in Armenia performing at many national jazz
festivals. Arshak currently works with the Maryland Youth Ballet in Silver
Spring as their principal pianist in addition to his Brown Street activities. Here's
Arshak demonstrating his synthesizer skills on
"Cold Duck Time".
Chris
Rhodes (electric
bass)-Chris was
born in Jamaica-Queens, New York but originally hails from Youngstown, Ohio. He
stated playing bass in 1970s in the "Old-School" Funk style. After leaving
Ohio in 1984 he has played all around the world including, Japan, Spain, Hawaii
and Korea to name a few countries. Chris now resides in suburban Maryland
area and performs on a weekly basis. His experiences has been varied but
mainly in the Jazz/R&B/Gospel vein. Chris currently plays with
a variety of other local jazz groups including Evolution, Ronnie Smith, Wake
Campbell, Standard Procedure, and Pizzaz. Since joining Brown Street he's
been working on his fretless electric bass skills (pictured at left). Here's
Chris getting down on the funk classic "Chameleon".
Steve
Perkins
(percussion)-Steve is based in DC and has been playing in the
local jazz scene for 10 years now. He has an extensive rhythm vocabulary
and play many types of percussive instruments,
including the talking drum and the clave to name a few. Steve also plays with Phaze II,
another local jazz group that happened to win the '05 Capital Jazz Festival
competition. In addition, he has also recorded with Toney Wood and Rudy
Turner locally. If you like the congas check this
percussion interlude with Steve playing the lead here.
Paul "Dirty"
Dudley (drums)-Paul hails from Washington, DC...more info about him soon!
In the meantime check out his great sense of touch on his
solo here during a "Spain" percussion break.
Only the BEST
in Contemporary Jazz!
Kevin Edmonds (saxes
and light vocals)-the leader of Brown Street, Kevin
currently teaches music part-time at
Mountain
State University. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree
from the prestigious Berklee College of Music (majoring in Jazz
Composition & Arranging and studied saxophone under George Garzone and Andy
McGhee). He also holds a Master of Music degree from the University of
South Carolina (majoring in "Classical" Composition). Kevin has played or composed for virtually every style of music
over his 20 plus years as a professional musician (variety Dance Bands, Marching Bands, Jazz Big Bands, Concert Orchestras,
Dixieland Bands, even an A Capella Vocal Quartet). He also wrote a
specialty jazz and classical column for the Frederick News-Post for a period of
time. Kevin relocated to the
DC metro area from Pittsburgh in 2000 and recognized there was a new opportunity to perform
jazz fusion. "As
soon as I relocated, I realized there was a realistic possibility to do the type of music I had always most wanted to do.
I'm absolutely thrilled we were able to put this fine group together and make it
a REALITY!" Here's an intense excerpt of Kevin's playing on the
sax solo to "Black Market".
