Tuesday, April 25
at 6 p.m.
Millennium Stage
View the Archived Performance

Angela Hagenbach, vocalist and percussionist, returns to the Jazz Ambassadors Program after a 1998 tour in Africa. Her contralto voice has been described as possessing “an extraordinary range, excellent phrasing and a singular style” by Patricia Meyers of Jazz Times. Since beginning her career in Kansas City in 1990, Hagenbach founded her own record label, Amazon Records, through which she has released three recordings. As a performer, clinician, and educator, she has graced the stage at many venues including Jazz in Marciac, France; the Kennedy Center, Washington, DC; Jazz Aspen at Snowmass, Colorado; as well as festivals and colleges throughout the United States.

Joe Cartwright, pianist, makes his home in Kansas City, Missouri, where he has performed and taught jazz for the last 20 years. A graduate of the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music, he has composed film scores, produced albums, and performed on numerous recordings. During his 30-year career he has worked with such internationally recognized jazz artists as John Clayton, Eddie Harris, Sheila Jordan, Kevin Mahogany, Max Roach, Clark Terry, Mel Torme, and Jimmy Witherspoon. Cartwright toured Africa in 1998 as a Department of State Jazz Ambassador and has performed throughout the world at such diverse locations as Seville, Spain and Hong Kong, China.

Steve Rigazzi, a self-taught bassist, began his formal musical training under the tutelage of New York jazz bassist Cecil McBee in 1990. In 1996 he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in music from Southeastern Oklahoma State University. Prior to this formal education, Rigazzi performed and traveled with the United States Air Force Band and the NATO Band backing such internationally known musicians as Chet Baker, Enrico Rava, Ed Shaughnessy and Chris Vadala.

Department of State Tour Dates: April 26 - June 4 to Jordan, Jerusalem, Israel, Oman, Ethiopia, Uganda, India

Wednesday, May 3
at 6 p.m.
Millennium Stage
View the Archived Performance

Vinny Valentino, guitarist/composer/arranger, has been described by jazz musician George Benson as a “young genius with brilliant tone and fresh ideas.” A jazz studies graduate of Howard University, he has recorded five solo albums, including The Distance Between Two Lines and Now and Again, two acclaimed international releases. He has performed with such jazz greats as Gary Bartz, George Benson, Keter Betts, Charlie Byrd, Steve Gadd, Richie Morales, Bob Moses, John Pattitucci, Patrice Rushen, and Tom Scott. Valentino has been a grant recipient of the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts for a series of works entitled "New Music for Three Guitars."

Gilad Dobrecky, percussionist and composer, has been recognized by JAZZIZ magazine as one of the world’s top 12 percussionists. A native of Israel, Dobrecky’s performance and compositional styles draw on a diverse range of musical traditions-Middle Eastern, North African, West African, Brazilian and Indian. Since moving to New York in 1990, he has performed and recorded with Jeff Andrews, Randy Brecker, Ornette Coleman, Dave Kikoski, Joe Lock, and Joshua Redman. He has also composed and recorded music for the Discovery Channel and Warner Brothers. Dobrecky recently appeared on releases by the Sam Newsome & Global Unity band, the Freddie Bryant Brazilian Jazz band, the Hernan Romero Flamenco Jazz quintet, and the world-famous clarinetist and klezmer musician, Giora Faigman.

John Benitez, bassist/composer/arranger, was a widely acclaimed musician in the jazz, R&B, and Latin scenes in his native Puerto Rico by the age of 19. He studied at the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music with master bassist Federico Silva. He also studied with legendary acoustic bassist Ron Carter and with electric bass guitarist Anthony Jackson in New York. A Grammy award-winning musician, Benitez has performed with many well-known American and Latin artists including Lucecita Benitez, Batacumbele, Justo Betancourt, Joe Madrid, Wynton Marsalis, Cuco Peña, Tito Puente, Lalo Rodriguez, Hilton Ruiz, Dave Samuels, Chucho Valdez and Bobby Watson. Benitez has also recorded with numerous performers such as David Sanchez, Eddie Palmieri and Roy Hargrove’s Grammy award-winning Crisol Band.

Department of State Tour Dates: May 4 - June 13 to Uruguay, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, Trinidad, Colombia, Brazil

Thursday, May 4 at
6 p.m.
Millennium Stage
View the Archived Performance

Matt Ray, pianist/composer/arranger, has recently been honored as a semi-finalist in the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition. The 27-year-old musician earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music and has performed with jazz greats like Joe Henderson, Bobby Hutcherson, and Joe Lovano. He produced, performed, and co-wrote the music for the CD Ja-HFU Tactics, which was released in 1995.

Mike Hawkins, bassist and music educator, graduated from Virginia State University in 1997 with a Bachelor’s degree in music education. In addition to his work teaching in the Virginia public schools, he has performed with many jazz greats including Antonio Hart, John Hicks, Buck Hill, Marlon Jordan, Mulgrew Miller and Cecil Payne. Hawkins is currently working on a master’s degree in music from Queens College.

Aaron Thurston, percussionist, recently completed a Kennedy Center-Department of State Jazz Ambassadors tour of South Asia and the Middle East. A graduate of Berklee College of Music in drums and percussion, he has shared the stage with many of today’s jazz masters including Wessell Anderson, Roy Hargrove, Christian McBride, and Danilo Perez. He was invited to participate in the highly selective Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz at Snowmass, Colorado in 1998.

Department of State Tour Dates: May 5 - June 11 to Haiti, Jamaica, Panama, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala

Friday, May 5 at
6 p.m.
Millennium Stage
View the Archived Performance

Gene Rush, pianist, is professor emeritus of jazz and studio music at the University of Memphis where he has coordinated the graduate and undergraduate jazz studies programs for 20 years. In a music career that spans nearly four decades, he has appeared on 23 albums and has performed with many international recording artists, from John Abercrombie to Attila Zoller. He has also arranged and conducted recording sessions for Roberta Flack, Cybill Shepherd, and other artists. A former governor of the Memphis chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS), Rush served as chairman of the chapter’s arranging/composing craft committee for ten years. He is also former president of the Tennessee unit of the International Association of Jazz Educators (IAJE). Since 1981, Rush has directed instructional programs at the Attila Zoller Vermont Jazz Center.

Tim Goodwin, bassist, has been active in the recording industry in both South Florida and Memphis since 1980 and has performance credits on numerous albums. He has performed with Randy Brecker, Frank Foster, Jimmy Heath, Jon Hendricks, Clifford Jordan, Michele LeGrand, Mulgrew Miller, Diane Schuur, Clark Terry, James Williams, and a number of other jazz greats. Goodwin holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree from the University of Miami and is coordinator of jazz and studio music at the University of Memphis where he has been teaching since 1984. He is a member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) and is a former governor of the Memphis chapter.

Renardo Ward, percussionist, is a first-call musician for performances in the Memphis area. He has performed with such jazz masters as Donald Brown, George Coleman, Frank Foster, Milt Jackson, Bill Mobley, Roseanna Vitro, and James Williams. He has also been a featured artist with the Memphis Symphony. Since completing the curriculum for a bachelor’s degree in music from the University of Memphis, Ward has pursued state certification as an educator in Tennessee. He is a member of the national Percussive Arts Society (PAS).

Department of State Tour Dates: May 9 - June 16 to Nigeria, Benin, Ghana, Cote-d’Ivoire, Niger, Senegal, Guatemala

Joyce Diamond, Steve Homan, Joe Gilman

Saturday, May 6
at 6 p.m.
Millennium Stage
View the Archived Performance

Joyce Diamond, vocalist, has performed extensively at jazz venues in northern California for the last 20 years. During her career as a vocalist and entertainer, she has performed with such world-class musicians as Joe Gilman, Steve Homan, the Mark Little Quartet, Tony Savage, and Jessica Williams. She has also shared the stage with Sammy Davis Jr., Al Plank, Shorty Rogers, Grady Tate, Kenny Rankin and Jimmy Smith. Diamond is a former member of the hit-selling group The Chiffons and toured Asia, Canada, and Hawaii with the popular dance band Firelite in the early seventies.

Steve Homan, self-taught guitarist and composer, has performed with a variety of top name jazz artists including Howard Alden, Herb Ellis, Anita O’Day, Diane Schuur, Jimmy Smith, and Joe Williams. He has appeared on recordings with Anita O’Day, Pete Jolly, and Gene Estes and performed at the 1998 International Jazz Festival in Scotland with the Jimmy Smith Quartet. In 1997 he recorded an album with vibraphonist Gene Estes titled In a Sentimental Mood on Arbor Records. He also composed and arranged music on the 1998 album Organization, featuring the Delbert Bump Organ Trio. As a 1998 Kennedy Center-Department of State Jazz Ambassador, Homan toured West Africa. He currently teaches music at summer jazz programs and at American River College.

Joe Gilman, pianist, holds a doctoral degree in education from the University of Sarasota and currently heads the jazz studies program at American River College in Sacramento. He has performed with George Duke, Slide Hampton, Eddie Harris, Bobby Hutcherson, Bob Mintzer, and Woody Shaw and has recorded with Joe Henderson, Tom Peron, Henry Robinett, and Jeff Watts. In addition to being selected as a 1998 Kennedy Center-Department of State Jazz Ambassador to West Africa, Gilman received a 1998 Emerging Artist fellowship from the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission and earned first runner-up at the 1997 Great American Jazz Piano Competition in Jacksonville, Florida. He earned his degrees in jazz studies from Indiana University and the Eastman School of Music.

Department of State Tour Dates: May 8 - June 21 to Mozambique, Swaziland, Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Eritrea