Festival Schedule
Saturday
8:30 PM	Women In Jazz Featuring: Sharon Clark, Sharel Cassity, Helen Sung, Amy Shook, Allison Miller	Performance	Ronnie Wells Main Stage

Bio

While most girls were interested in playing with dolls at the tender age of eight, Sharel Cassity (pronounced sha-REL) was begging for a saxophone. Thankfully, she received an old Conn alto for Christmas the following year, and as the saying goes, “the rest is history,” because clearly she is developing into one of the most vibrant jazz saxophonists to come along in quite sometime. Cassity traveled extensively as a child and eventually settled in the Oklahoma City area for the majority of her adolescent years. It was in that city’s diversity–it’s Jazz history, Native American culture, nature and environment that formed indelible influences on the young musician. Her parents also inspired the music within, as she recalls her father playing both jazz and classical repertoire on his Hammond B3 organ, piano, or trumpet; and her mother filling the house with the sounds of Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Tina Turner, Michael Jackson and other pop artists. Torn between jazz and classical music in high school, her decision was solidified when a friend gave her a mix tape of Count Basie’s “Freckle Face,” Miles’ “E.S.P,” and Cannonball Adderley’s–At the Lighthouse–and as Cassity states, “I knew I had to play this music.” After attending the University of Central Oklahoma’s Jazz program on full scholarship, she performed in the small but musically rich Oklahoma jazz scene before relocating to New York City in 1999. After living two years in New York, Cassity earned a Scholarship to the New School of Jazz and Contemporary Music to complete her BA, and it was there that she she studied with saxophonists Vincent Herring and Steve Wilson. In 2005 Cassity was awarded a full scholarship to the Juilliard Institute for Jazz Studies and completed her MA under the direction of saxophonist Victor Goines. It was there that she formed strong relationships with fellow classmates Michael Dease and Thomas Barber who also appeared on her first solo album. These contributions continue to materialize in a growing number of rewarding experiences: the DIVA Jazz Orchestra, Jimmy Heath’s Big Band, Roy Hargrove Big Band, Dizzy Gillespie All Star Sextet and All Star Big Band; small group group work with Harry Whitaker, Ingrid Jensen, Mark Whitfield, and Michael Dease; recordings which include Jason Hainsworth Jazz Orchestra, Kaleidoscope (DW Records), Adam Birnbaum, Travels (Smalls, 2008), Fat Cat Big Band, Angels Praying for Freedom (Smalls, 2009) and Snow Road, by Tom Barber’s Janus Block (DCleff Records, 2009). Cassity’s sophomore release, Relentless (Jazz Legacy Productions), is a testament to her abilities as a performer, writer, and leader, featuring rising jazz luminaries–Jeremy Pelt (trumpet), Michael Dease (trombone), Orrin Evans (piano), Dwayne Burno (bass), and E.J. Strickland (drums). It is a shining example of her poise, song-bird lyricism, and purpose. – Mark F. Turner

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