RHONDA ROBINSON QUARTET
SUMMER LOVE
Rhonda Robinson, vocals/flute
Charlie Sigler, guitar
Steve Synk, bass
Robert Shahid, drums
The Summer Solstice has ushered in warm breezes, lazy afternoons – the perfect backdrop for romance and intrigue. Summer Love requires the soundtrack of the Rhonda Robinson Quartet to complete the spell. A regional favorite with a "beautiful" voice, Rhonda will sing and play songs that call to her summer heart: jazz standards, Bossa Novas, “Summer Samba” and originals that are ideally suited for the intimate An die Musik listening room. The “Hot Winter Nights” of our Carnival show have melted into early summer warmth.
Tickets $10
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Baltimore-based jazz vocalist/flutist Rhonda Robinson grew up in Indian Head, MD singing in church choirs and in school musicals. She also studied piano and played flute in school band. After studying acting, voice, and dance at theAmerican Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City, she was drawn to jazz while studying with Grammy®-nominated jazz vocalist, Janet Lawson. Appearing all over the Baltimore-Washington region, the Rhonda Robinson Quartet has opened for poet/activist Amiri Baraka and Blue Ark Ensemble at Univ. of Baltimore and performed at clubs, restaurants, festivals & private events including: An die Musik concert venue, Federal Hill Jazz & Blues Festival, Tremont Hotels’ Jazz Nights, Enoch Pratt Free Library, Charles Village Festival, Mt. Vernon Lazy Sundays Concert Series, The Walters Art Museum, The Johns Hopkins University, Lexington Market Concert Series, Mark Cottman Art Gallery, Laurel Mall, Renaissance Harbor Hotel, Downtown Southern Blues Restaurant, Old Town Bowie Saturday Concert Series, and many others.
Rhonda gives educational concerts, workshops and artist residencies in area schools.
She is a member of the Baltimore Jazz Alliance and performs at schools and museums with their “Jazz for Kids” Quintet. Rhonda also sings with the Peabody-Hopkins Chorus, recently appearing at New York's prestigious Carnegie Hall and with JOYOUS VOICES a cappella holiday carolers. For 2 ½ years, Rhonda performed Sunday mornings playing piano, flute, and singing at the Spiritual Empowerment Center with the MUSICAL MIND TREATMENT band. Since 2010, she had been the featured vocalist every 4th Wednesday of the month for Holy Comforter Church's JAZZ VESPERS services in Baltimore. She is known for her “beautiful” voice, singing in 8 different languages in a classic jazz style with a progressive edge.
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Guitarist Charlie Sigler has been teaching and performing in the Baltimore/ Washington since he was in high school. While at Towson High School, Charlie was chosen for the Baltimore All-County Jazz Ensemble three consecutive years and participated in the Maryland All-State Jazz Ensemble. After graduating, Charlie decided to move to New Jersey to attend William Paterson University where he has had the opportunity to work with musicians such as Mulgrew Miller, Harold Mabern, Vincent Herring, Gene Bertoncini and Cecil Bridgewater. Throughout his career he has performed with many excellent musicians such as Eric Alexander, Harold Mabern, Dave Stryker, Joshua Breakstone, Warren Wolf, Jeff Reed, Tim Murphy, Michael Raitzyk, Craig Alston, Greg Thompkins and Dave Ballou among others. In addition he has performed at the Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival, the Litchfield Jazz Festival, Berks Jazz Festival, the Station North Arts Festival, the Eubie Blake Center with the Eubie Blake Big Band, Twins Jazz, Caton Castle, Cecil's Jazz Club and at many other clubs and venues throughout the region.
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Steve Synk is a Jazz Bassist in the Baltimore/D.C. area. A native of Howard County, Steve was a Maryland All-State bassist and was awarded the Louis Armstrong award for excellence in Jazz upon his graduation from River Hill High School. In the Spring of 2009, he accepted the Richard and Elizabeth Case Jazz Scholarship to attend the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, MD, where he pursued his musical studies under the guidance of Michael Formanek. A current student of Tom Baldwin, Steve will complete his undergraduate studies in jazz at the University of Maryland. So far, over the course of his brief tenure on the Baltimore/Washington scene, Steve has had the good fortune to perform with such notable artists as Peter Erskine, Johnny O’Neal, Lafayette Gilchrist, Jay Clayton, Eric Allen, Bob Butta, and Eric Kennedy.
