Lauren
Scales (vocals), Mike Flanagan (sax) and Chris Grasso (piano) team up for an East Coast tour to
celebrate inspiring vocal-instrumental partnerships from different eras, from Nancy Wilson &
Cannonball Adderley to D’Angelo & Questlove. On Sunday, January 29, 7pm they’ll bring their
show to The Carlyle Room in Washington DC. They’re joined by Zack Pride (bass) and Richie
Barshay (drums). For tickets, visit
here.
To get a taste of the show, check out this
video
About the Artists
Lauren Scales been on stage from a young age. She earned her Bachelor Music Arts degree in Jazz
Studies from University Michigan and Master of Music in Music Theory & Composition
(Songwriting) from New York University. She was named the NYU Steinhardt Songwriting Scholar
2017, received national recognition as a composer/performer in the 2016 Betty Carter Jazz Ahead
program at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and claimed Second Runner Up in the 2016 Sarah
Vaughn International Jazz Vocal Competition hosted by NJPAC, judged by Christian McBride and
Dianne Reeves. She also was a participant in the first annual UNISA Jazz Vocal Competition,
hosted by the University of South Africa.
www.laurenjscales.com
Mike Flanagan is a saxophonist, pianist, songwriter, composer, music director with a Bachelor’s
in Jazz Saxophone from Berklee, as well as a Master’s in Music Theory, Composition from New York
University, where he served as an adjunct professor of composition. Mike has released four
albums independently under the artist-name MikeMRF and has topped iTunes and charted on
Billboard three times. As a songwriter, Mike has won two OUTmusic Awards and a Lennon
Award. His groundbreaking music video for his original song “Trying,” which he acted in
and directed, has over one million views on YouTube. Currently, Mike serves as Entertainment
Director for two Provincetown venues – Tin Pan Alley and the Post Office Cabaret – where he
leads his own groups. He also performs regularly at The Club Provincetown, Lea Delaria’s
music venue.
www.mikemrf.com.
Chris Grasso is a Washington, D.C.-based jazz pianist who specializes in working with vocalists.
Chris serves as Music Director for D.C.’s most in-demand jazz singer, the incomparable Sharón
Clark, and has performed with Gene Bertoncini, Keter Betts, Carmen Bradford, Lea DeLaria, Kenny
Garrett, Allan Harris, Nicole Henry, Buck Hill, Marlon and Stephanie Jordan, Lewis Nash, Nicki
Parrott, Ken Peplowski, Houston Person, Bucky Pizzarelli, Chuck Redd, Joshua Redman, Avery
Sharpe, Janis Siegel, Suede, Denise Thimes, Frank Vignola, Bobby Watson, Cassandra Wilson, Matt
Wilson and more.
www.chrisgrassomusic.com.
Zack Pride has served with the The U.S. Army Band “Pershing’s Own” since 2008. He has performed
with such greats as Mulgrew Miller, Lou Rawls, Dorothy Norwood, Robert Shaw, Louis Lane, Robin
Eubanks, Vanessa Rubin, Marcus Belgrave, Houston Persons, Frank Morgan, comedian Dave Chappelle,
Cyrus Chestnut, Freddy Cole, Wycliffe Gordon, Robert Glasper, Stefon Harris, Mark Whitfield,
Lizz Wright, Joshua Redman, Kenny Garrett, Mark Murphy, Sharón Clark, Cassandra Wilson, Tom
Browne, Ronnie Laws, Lonnie Liston Smith, Marcus Printup, Eric Reed, George Cables, Winard
Harper, Jimmie Ponder, Johnny O’Neil, and Earl Klugh.
www.zackpride.com.
Richie Barshay began drumming inside kitchen cabinets at an early age, and continues banging on
things worldwide to this day. Noted for his work with the Herbie Hancock Quartet in the 2000s,
he’s been dubbed “a major rhythm voice on the rise” by Downbeat magazine, and The Guardian (UK)
praises “the arrival of a major innovator who also knows how to have fun.” Find him on stage and
recordings with Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Esperanza Spalding, The Klezmatics, Fred Hersch,
Kenny Werner, Lee Konitz, Natalie Merchant, Bobby McFerrin, and Pete Seeger among others. Since
2004 he has led outreach projects across 5 continents as an American Musical Envoy with the U.S.
State Department. He can be heard on over 80 recordings as a sideman, and his two self-produced
albums: Homework featuring Herbie Hancock (2004), and Sanctuary featuring Chick Corea (2014).
www.richiebarshay.com.
