|
|
Straight
Ahead, the band
In
our 12 years together, we have played a hundreds of events for a
wide range of clients, providing great music for dancing and listening.
Our band members have worked for superstars such as Sting,
Gloria Estefan, Jewel, Joey McIntyre, Maynard Ferguson, Bruce Springsteen,
Rod Stewart, Southside Johnny, Tommy Tune, The Lounge Lizards,
and Tina Turner as well as playing for numerous
Broadway shows.
Lead vocalist Donna Harris has worked with giants like Garth
Brooks and Enya, has appeared on Late
Night with David Letterman, The Rosie O’Donnell Show, The
Grammy Awards, as well as having TV commercials and voiceovers
to her credit.
Emmy
Award winning composer, pianist, and vocalist John Bauers
has several charted pop and dance records to his credit; an Emmy
Award for his theme for the Los Angeles Marathon broadcast; and
themes for ABC, Lifetime TV, New York Mets, LA Clippers,
WNBA, Court TV, WWOR TV, and KCOP TV.
|
|
Donna
Harris, vocalist, co-bandleader
Donna
grew up in Greenwich Village in a musical family, her mother a singer,
her father a singer, tap dancer, drummer and personal friend and singing
partner of Frank Sinatra, her brother Michael a drummer, and her brother
John Bianculli, a well-known jazz pianst in N.J. She studied acting
and received her BFA at the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers
University. After working in television, film and theatre, she settled
on her first love, singing. She has performed with numerous artists
such as Enya and Garth Brooks, appearing on the Grammy telecast, Late
Night with David Letterman and Rosie O'Donnell, as well as commericials
and numerous voiceovers.
After her recent marriage to the very international guitarist-singer
and painter, Ken Richards, Donna received her Master of Social Work
degree from RIC. When she can slip away (which is not that often),
Donna and her husband love to ride motorbikes and perform in nightclubs
on the island of Mykynos in Greece where they own a home and art studio. |
|
|
|
John
Bauers, Keyboards, vocals, musical director
John, besides being a busy father of two boys, stays active in many
aspects of the music business. He hails originally from Kansas City,
Missouri and came to New York after earning his degree in music composition
at Berklee College of Music in Boston. He studied arranging with Don
Sebesky and received a National Endowment of the Arts grant to study
jazz piano and composition with Joanne Brackeen. He has led blues
bands, jazz trios, and performed in Europe, the Midwest and West Coast.
He performs in clubs and restaurants throught the New York area. “I
love to play, and performing in the clubs keeps it all alive and happening
for me.”
John is a sought after composer of music for TV, documentaries, and
audiobooks. Recent projects include commercials for AOL, Target, Sax
Fifth Ave, and Plavix. Audiobooks he has recently scored include bestsellers
by Patricia Cornwel, Neil Stephenson, Maeve Binchy, Jan Karon, and
Dean Smith. John is also active in the community, having served on
several non profit boards, including that of his children’s
Charter School. He also does volunteer work at the school, running
the locally famous Doo Wop Shop elementary school vocal group, as
well as working with kids on their own music recording projects. |
|
Jim
Cifelli, Trumpet, vocals, arranger
Jim Cifelli has been active as a trumpeter, composer and jazz educator
in New York City for the past 15 years. Born and raised in Yorktown
Heights NY, Jim holds degrees from New York University and the Manhattan
School of Music. His compositions and arrangements have been performed
by numerous ensembles including the Stuttgart Radio Orchestra, The
Composers Big Band, The Navy Commodores and others. Jim also leads
his own nine piece band, The New York Nonet, which has just released
it’s third CD: Tunnel Vision. He has also been active as an
adjudicator and clinician and is the Director of Jazz Ensembles at
the Trinity School in New York City. |
 |
|
 |
David Phelps, Guitar Extraordinaire, vocals
Dave hails from Denton, Texas where he and his bass playing twin brother
grew up steeped in Southern blues and rock. Dave began to get interested
in jazz in college and studied at North Texas State. He also did independent
studies with Dave Liebman and Ben Monder. Dave has his own group,
the Eclectic Troubadours, which plays and sings his original mix of
jazz and singer-songwriter compositions. |
|
