Marcus Williams and Lisa Grant Duguid (Marcus and Lisa) have been performing music together in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area for over ten years.
They are the front for an exciting group that performs jazz, popular standards and contemporary music. Their music stylings cover a lot of sonic territory that has its roots in the jazz vocal standards of yesteryear and extends to the pulse of today's contemporary jazz scene. Even the R&B and Brazilian selections that they play have a jazz-like sensibility.
They have played for audiences at Washington, D.C.'s first Fete de la Musique, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Bangkok Blues Club, Coyote Grille and Cantina, the Ft. Ward Park Amphitheater, Borders Books and Music stores and cafes throughout the metropolitan Washington area, the Courtyard Concert Cafe, the Bahamas Embassy for the Prime Minister of the Bahamas, the Organization of American States, Barnes and Noble, the Fairfax Fair, as well as corporate and private receptions and parties.
Over the years they have performed with various groups at such venues as the U.S.Capitol, the Bethesda Naval Hospital Officer's Club, the Hyatt Regency at Fair Lakes, the Chesapeake Jazz Society, and the America Restaurant at Union Station, among other engagements. They have appeared on their own television special and their CDs have been heard on selected radio stations in the Washington, D.C. and New York City metropolitan areas, and as far away as on KRAJ Radio in the Ukraine.
Personnel on Retro Blue
*Marcus Williams -electric and acoustic guitars(Gibson Howard Roberts Fusion, Ibanez Artstar, Gibson Les Paul, Steinberger GU , and Takamine acoustic), keyboards (Kawai baby grand, Kurzweil ep, Korg synth), electric bass(Fender Jazz Bass), allto saxophone (Night Cats), background vocals (Baby, Come to Me, Night Cats, I Can See Clearly Now).
On Retro Blue, Marcus performs on a number of instruments: electric and acoustic guitars, electric bass, piano, keyboards, and saxophone. As a bassist, he played jazz, rhythm and blues, and other styles of music with a number of musical talents including Quincy Jones, Duke Ellington, Billy Taylor, Bobby Hebb, and Grady Tate, as a member of the Orchestrated Crowd, a jazz orchestra in Nashville, Tennessee.
Over the years he has performed on a number of television and radio programs with various musicians and vocalists. He has composed, arranged, and performed for documentary videos and radio commercials.
* Lisa Grant Duguid vocals, background vocals, percussion.
Lisa's musical talents were recognized at an early age when she performed for her mother's tea parties. She is a graduate of the prestigious High School of Music and Art in New York City and attended Hunter College where she was lead vocalist for the Hunter College Jazz Ensemble. She has performed
twice at the Apollo Theater in New York City.
Lisa has worked in the recording studio and has performed with a number of bands and musicians in the New York City and Washington, D.C. metropolitan areas. She possesses a tremendous vocal range and stage presence.
* Russell Lyles, alto saxophone (Dindi, Baby Come to Me, Retro Blue, Ain't Misbehavin', Mysterious, Sugar, Come Sunday).
Russell Lyles has been a long time collaborator and band member with Marcus & Lisa. He is one of those musicians who strives for excellence yet makes his music accessible without compromising his art. Whether it be jazz, pop, fusion,r&b, hip hop, or african rhythm, he brings his unique style to the music and makes it a memorable experience for his audience. He has played on numerous albums of various artists and adapts his style to fit each project with sincerity and a practiced knowledge.
* David Allen electric piano, keyboards (solos on Blue Bossa, Mysterious, Sugar)
David is a gifted performer, arranger, and composer. Marcus and David performed together in the Glory Band, a contemporary praise group that enjoyed David's contributions as both keyboardist and arranger. It was inevitable that David would bring his unique stylings to the Retro Blue project.
David spent most of his musical career in his native England. He was conductor of the BBC Radio Orchestra, music director at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, as well as personal music director for many British stars. He met his American wife, Susan, when he was conducting the European tour of Oklahoma!. She played the lead role of Laurey.
They both perform and teach together in the Washington, D.C. area, as well as happily raising three young children.
* Wesley Biles acoustic bass (Dindi, Ain't Misbehavin')
Marcus met Wesley during college in Nashville, Tennessee. They played together in a number of groups as well as in the newly formed Orchestrated Crowd, a jazz orchestra affiliated with Fisk University under the direction of the late Robert Holmes, a well regarded Nashville studio arranger, composer, producer, educator, and musician. While in graduate school in Boston he played bass for several R&B bands in the early '70s. Wes has toured with Curtis Mayfield, Ike and Tina Turner, King Floyd, and the Natural Four.
Wes has made Washington, D.C. his home and has contributed his considerable talents to many area jazz singers and musicians including Ronnie Wells, the Capital Jazz All Stars, and Ron Ellison. Wes is a bassist with an impeccable sense of taste and style.
Website:
http://marcuswilliams.tripod.com
email: marcar@erols.com
Read more...