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Group Bios
RUSTY SABELLA
The Kansas City Star calls Rusty Sabella " a fleet-figured guitarist with a creative ear for improvisation". A professional musician since age fifteen, he has shared the stage with such diverse artists as Bonnie Rait, The Beach Boys, The Kinks, Michael Hedges and the Philadelphia String Quartet. In addition to producing, arranging and performing on five internationally acclaimed albums, Rusty was also commissioned by the State of Alaska to produce a video album featuring his original compositions scored to scenic Alaskan filmed imagery. His formal music education included studies at the University of California at Santa Cruz. Rusty is best known for his improvisational jazz guitar, mandolin and mandocello, performing with a virtuosity that Frets magazine describes as "cooking!". His high-energy compositions and ability to create richly-textured arrangements - melding traditional and contemporary styles into a unique "Renaissance Jazz" sound - show that he is equally at home with diverse musical genres: He "takes the idiom and spins it around every point of the compass" (Frets)
CHRISTINA SHINKLE
Performing on synthesizer, digital piano and grand piano, keyboardist Christina Shinkle brings an astonishing list of musical achievements to the Consort. In addition to numerous performance and recording collaborations with notable jazz and gospel artists, Christina has also written, scored and directed musical theater, created original scored for independent film makers, and has recently received excellent reviews as an actor in several Seattle theatrical productions. A graduate of Interlochen Arts Academy where she majored in Jazz Performance, she went on to graduate with honors from the University of Miami Jazz Performance program. Christina combines impeccable technique with a dramatic improvisational style, drawing from genres as diverse as funk and hip hop, to jazz.
NATE BROWN
Saxophonist, flutist, and composer Nate Brown was born and raised in Alaska, where he began studying jazz with local night club musicians at the age of ten. His formal studies of both classical and jazz continued at the National Endowment for the Arts High School, the University of Alaska and Cornish College of the Arts, where he received a full Kreielsheimer Scholarship. Nate has studied and performed with such notables as John Sampen, Eric Kloss, Julian Priester and Don Lamphere. His extensive performance experience covers a spectrum from big bands and small jazz combos to classical music. Nate's hard driving saxophones, expressive flutes and haunting wind synthesizer add a broad spectrum of musical colors to the group's unique sound.