The Establishment - Members
Reeds Trumpets Trombones Rhythm Alumni
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Director
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The band is led by Billy Adair. |
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Vocals - Vocals are handled by the talented Liz Johnson and Eric Stein with arrangements skillfully crafted by Mr. Adair.
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Eric Stein is the groups male vocalist. During gigs fans of The
Establishment frequently request a Frank Sinatra chart and Eric's
voice immediately brings back all of the great memories.
Listen to Eric's both powerful and extremely smooth voice
by clicking on one of the links below.
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Sarah Edmonds joined The Establishment in
February 2011. Beegie Adair has said that
Sarah's "not afraid to test the outer limits of
the American Songbook, moving easily from Johnny Mandel to
Paul Simon, with a side trip or two to Harold Arlen, and a
short stop in Brazil. June Christy's cheeky modulations in
"Taking a Chance On Love" might have daunted someone who
didn't understand what was happening, but Sarah took them
and ran with them. June would be proud, and so am I." You can learn more about Sarah from her website: http://www.sarahedmondsjazz.com/ |
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Cole
Burgess is one of the lead soloists for the band.
With his powerful, yet smooth tenor sound, thoughtful
improvisations, and his always present sense of humor, Cole is
certainly a guiding force in the band. Click on one of the links
below to hear Cole soloing with the band.
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Josh Dunlap | ||||
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Chris Genovese | ||||
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Ed Grooms, started playing with The Establishment in 1993. Ed studied saxophone under Dr. John Duke while attending MTSU and is a regular performer with other area bands such as The Moonlighters and The Usual Suspects. Ed has also had the privilege to perform with the Nashville Symphony as well as with Helen Ready and the Tennessee Philharmonic Orchestra. | ||||
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Robbie Shankle, started
playing with The Establishment in May, 2010.
Robbie is a Nashville studio musician with a broad
range of musical credits, including performances with Aretha
Franklin, Branford Marsalis, Natalie Cole, Diana Krall, The
Nashville Symphony, The Four Tops, Barry Manilow, Rod
Steward, Ray Charles, Ann Hampton Callaway, Patti Austin,
Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, Harry Connick Jr., Rosemary Clooney,
Oliva Newton John and others
Robbie has recorded with the Nashville Symphony, Matchbox 20, The Temptations and Lorrie Morgan, and has done TV and radio work with the Nashville Saxophone Quartet, the Nashville Chamber Players, Alan Jackson, and Three Dog Night. He also plays baritone saxophone in the Nashville Jazz Orchestra. His teaching credits include Trevecca Nazarene University, Cumberland University & Arts Academy and Lipscomb University. |
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Brent Baker |
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Stuart Naylor. Click on the link below to listen to Stu solo on Sammy Nestico's Broadway. Broadway |
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Courtenay Shipley, a member of The Establishment since 2004, is a native of Pittsburgh, PA. In 2001 Courtenay graduated from Vanderbilt University's Blair School of Music with a bachelors of music in Trumpet Performance and stayed in Nashville to pursue musical interests. Outside of playing, she works for Principal Financial Group as a retirement plan education specialist. In addition to The Establishment, she enjoys playing in Secret Gossip, an original funk band, the Ceremonial Brass Quintet, and has played in the past with the Nashville Philharmonic Orchestra as well as performing as a soloist. You can find articles written by her about Nashville and jazz on the Tennessee Jazz and Blues Society webpage at www.tjbs.org. |
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Alan Suska
rejoined The Establishment in July 2010. Alan
is currently the Music Director at Pope John Paul II High
School in Hendersonville, TN and has worked in the past as a
musician at Opryland Productions. Alan has both a BSME
and MM from Duquesne University. |
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Dr. Greg Weaver started playing trumpet in The Establishment in 1996 and serves as the organizations President. He is a radiologist and grows chestnuts on his farm near Nashville. |
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Joe Awad
is a Vanderbilt MD specializing in
GI and Liver disease but whose passion is big band jazz.
Leaving Ohio to attend Vandy in 1977, he played lead bone in
the VU/Peabody Jazz Ensemble. During the 1980's Joe
played lead bone and later led the Washington University
Medical School big band the "Hot Docs".
Returning to Nashville in 1989 Joe spent most of his time career building until the mid-2000's when he decided to become an "every day" player again. He started the community trombone choir Bone Therapy (www.bonetherapy.org). In addition to playing in "The Establishment", he is lead trombonist in the "Moonlighters" big band and will co-host the 40th anniversary International Trombone Festival at VU's Blair School of Music June 2011. |
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Greg Cox is another one of the bands lead soloists. His solid trombone lead, creative improvisation and smiling spirit sets an example for others to follow. |
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Jon Lawson, bass trombonist, reunited with the band in 2003. Jon had previously been the lead trombonist with "The Establishment" from 1988-1995. He received both his BA and MM degrees in trombone performance. Jon came to Nashville in 1985 to play in the house band aboard the General Jackson Showboat. For the last 18 years, he has been a financial representative with the Northwestern Mutual Financial Network (http://www.nmfn.com/jonlawson). Jon earned his CFP designation in 2001 and primarily works in the areas of personal planning. He is married and has one child. Jon has had the privilege to perform with Wynton Marsalis, Bobby Shew, Clark Terry, McCoy Tyner, Danny Davis, Lou Rawls and Sammy Nestico, just to name a few. |
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Daniel Thompson, bass trombonist with the Establishment since 2007, started studying classical piano at the age of 4 and later in life learned to play the bass trombone. Daniel spent three years as a choir director for a Methodist church in Hartsville, TN, and then another year as the music minister for Immanuel Church of the Nazarene in Nashville. He returned to San Diego and completed his bachelor's degree in Church Music at Point Loma Nazarene University and now, with his wife, Tara, lives in Nashville, TN. Check out Daniel's other passion, Southwest of Chicago. |
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Loy Hardcastle has played with greats like Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, Buddy Rich, Count Basie. Unfortunately it was playing along with their records! Loy started playing in a rock and roll band at age 11 in a club in Nashville every Saturday night from 8:00 until 11:00. So it goes from there with various rock bands and big bands and so on. |
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Tisha Simeral, is known for her musical versatility. She has played double bass or electric bass with the Orchestra Nashville String Quintet, the Columbus Symphony Orchestra Pops, Rolando Matias' Afro-Rican Ensemble, jazz artists Denny Jiosa and Linda Dauwalder-Dachtyl, bluegrass artists Louisa Branscomb, Corinne West and Roland White, country artists Eric Heatherly and Thom Shepherd, singer-songwriters Jon Vezner, Darrell Scott and Sara Hickman, veteran rockers Ron Keel and Charlie Wayne Morrill and jam band superstar Trey Anastasio. |
Click here to see a list of Establishment Alumni