The Kelley Johnson Quartet

Kelley Johnson, vocalist, won first place in the 2002 International Jazzconnect Vocal Jazz Competition with her version of "Tea for Two," from her recently completed album Music is the Magic (2003). Music is the Magic features musicians Brian Lynch, John Hansen, Geoffrey Keezer, Essiet Essiet, Jon Wikan and Steve Wilson and arrangements written largely by Kelley. The CD Make Someone Happy (Chartmaker Records, 1998) was produced by and features pianist Fred Hersch, among others. Johnson studied jazz music at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. While in Seattle on vacation in the late 1980s, she was hired to work with Seattle legends Buddy Catlett and Clarence Acox and the Roadside Attraction Big Band, and made the city her home. In 1988, jazz vocal legend Mark Murphy became Johnson’s mentor and friend, and later recommended her first album to the jazz world. Johnson has performed at Birdland in New York, Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley and New Orleans in Seattle, Pops for Champagne in Chicago, Brasserie in Portland, Jazz Estate in Milwaukee, and the China Hotel in Guangzhou, China. Festival performances include the Seattle Jazz Festival, Jazz Port Townsend Festival, Bellevue Jazz festival, Bumbershoot Festival in Seattle, and the Victoria International Jazz Festival in British Colombia. In 1997, she created an independent record label, Sapphire Records. She has been awarded "Best Northwest Jazz Vocalist" by Earshot Jazz and the Northwest jazz community. She is currently an instructor at both Cornish College of the Arts and Musicworks Northwest.

John Hansen, pianist, has performed with the Woody Herman Orchestra, Bud Shank, Bobby Shew, Pete Christlieb, Ernestine Anderson, the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Bob Moses, Ernie Andrews, Jay Thomas, Rick Margitza, Monica Mancini, Jon Fedchock, and more. Club engagements include Birdland in New York; Pops for Champagne in Chicago; The Cotton Club and The Glass Slipper in Vancouver, British Columbia; Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley and Tula’s in Seattle; and Jazz de Opus in Portland, Oregon. He has peformed at numerous jazz festivals, including Les Rendez-Vous de l’Erdre in Nantes, France; the Victoria International Jazz Festival on Vancouver Island and the DuMaurier International Jazz Festival in Vancouver, British Columbia; the Port Townsend Jazz festival in Washington; and the B.C. Sandpoint Idaho Music Festival. Concerts include a jazz trombone series with Julian Priester in Berkeley, California and the 10+1 Tour with Juhan Lee in Seoul, South Korea. Hansen can be heard on Live at Tula’s, Vol. II with Jay Thomas (McVouty Records, 2001), The Forgotten with Richard Cole (Origin Records, 2001), Cause and Effect with Chuck Bergeron (Double Time Records, 2001), and many other recordings.

Nathan Peck, bassist, was a mainstay in the Pittsburgh music scene from 1995 to 2002, performing with such musicians as Joe Harris, Roger Humphries, and Jimmy Ponder. In addition to working as a sideman, Peck led his own ensembles, such as Jazz Satellite who released its debut recording Moon Shine in 2001. In 2002, Peck moved to New York City where he continues to work as a fulltime musician and leads two groups, the Nathan Peck Trio and Mass Distraction. He has performed with such artists as Maynard Ferguson, Wynton Marsalis, Paquito D’Riverra, David Lahm, Maureen Budway, Liz Berlin, Etta Cox, and others. Since 1992, he has performed and recorded with his family jazz group, the Skip Peck Trio, made up of his father Skip Peck, his mother Donna, and his brother Alex. Peck has appeared on the recordings Trance Formation (2004), A-List (2003), New Fire (2003), Lost in a Summer Night (2002), Life Goes On (2002), and more.

Jon Wikan, drummer currently based in New York, has accompanied a cross-section of leaders, ranging from singers Ernestine Anderson, Mark Murphy and Freddy Cole to horn players such as Bud Shank, Ingrid Jensen, and Pete Cristlieb. Born in Petersburg, Alaska, Wikan was transplanted to Seattle Washington at age 5. He was turned on to the drums in high school where he began playing in the school jazz band. From 1988-95 Wikan attended Central Washington University, taking a year off to tour with the Mills Brothers and Ellington alumni Herb Jefferies. He was soon called to work with vocalist Ernestine Anderson. During his travels he studied with drum masters such as Chico Hamilton, Carl Allen, and Jeff Hamilton. In 1996 Wikan immersed himself in the Seattle jazz scene and was taken under the wings of multi-horn man Jay Thomas, Bill Ramsay, and composer James Knapp. As a sideman in the northwest area, he backed artists including Pat Labarbra, Herb Ellis, John Fedchock, Rick Margitza, Buddy Collette, Roswell Rudd, Mark Murphy, Kurt Elling, Bobby Shew, Brad Turner, Jessica Williams and Dan Faehnle. Wikans' recent move to New York City immediately landed him a record date with pianist Geoff Keezer, a tour of Japan with Mark Murphy and a week at the Blue Note with the New York Voices. He has also appeared at the Detroit Jazz Festival, the Mary Lou Williams Jazz Festival, the Savannah Jazz Festival, and a live CBC radio concert in Montreal. Other artists with whom he has played include Karrin Allyson, Sam Yahel, Ron Affif, Seamus Blake, Marcus Strickland, Jay Collins, David Budway, Mark Elf, David Berkman, Jeffery Smith, Antonia Bennett, and Aaron Parks. Wikan is an active clinician/ teacher, teaching privately at The New School University. In 2001, he participated in the BMI jazz composer's workshop, working with composers Jim McNeely and Mike Abene. His new band, Project O, performed at the 2002 Earshot International Jazz Festival, and recently released their new record, Now As Then (Justin-Time, 2003).

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6/8/04: The Kelley Johnson Quartet

The Kelley Johnson Quartet (vocalist Kelley Johnson, pianist John Hansen, bassist Nathan Peck, drummer Jon Wikan), highlighting vocal jazz, kicks off its Kennedy Center / Department of State Jazz Ambassadors tour to Eurasia.

The Kelley Johnson Quartet

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