About This Event

Clinton M. Dadian Clint Dadian is a professional guitarist who specializes in jazz and is fluent in a variety of styles. He holds a BA in jazz performance from Long Island University in Brooklyn, NY. He has studied guitar with Rodney Jones, Peter Bernstein, Randy Johnston, Mark Elf and Chris Rosenberg as well as piano with Bruce Barth and David Berkman. He has served on faculty at Long Island University, Greenwich House Music School and the Village Community School in New York City. In 2009 Mr. Dadian received a Masters Degree in Jazz Composition with an emphasis on Big Band arranging from the Lamont School of Music at the University of Denver. His compositions for big bands have been performed in Europe and the U.S. by bands such as the Air Force Academy big band, The Falconaires. Mr. Dadian is comfortable in settings ranging from solo guitar to big band. He has a warm, rich sound and a flowing improvisational style. While in New York City, he led a six-piece ensemble playing original arrangements of jazz standards. He currently leads a quintet featuring all original compositions. Mr. Dadian has performed throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Japan with artists such as Houston Person, Etta Jones and Bobby Watson. He currently makes his home near Denver, Colorado where he has taught guitar at the Community College of Aurora and directed band and choir at Academy Charter School in Castle Rock. He performs frequently in the many venues throughout Colorado. Vlad Girshevich Like many other amazing musicians, Vlad Girshevich , showed musical aptitude at an early age. At 4 years old, he started playing piano, and by age 7 he had already taught himself to play pop songs with both hands! His mother recognized his gift and took him to audition at The Uspenski School of Music. He was accepted to this prestigious school which has turned out many famous musicians including Aleksey Sultanov. Fortunately, the school was in his home town of Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan. Vlad spent 11 blistering years there, studying classical music. When he started experimenting with jazz in the 11th grade, his instructors gave him a hard time for being too creative with “free” interpretation! After Uspenski, Vlad spent 2 years at the Tashkent State Conservatory, and then his family emigrated to the United States in the mid-90’s. His first gigs were in Boulder with the Nina Storey Band. Then he moved to Aspen and had a regular gig at The Little Nell Hotel for 5 years. While in Aspen, Herbie Hancock heard Vlad playing at an event and subsequently invited him to participate in the Thelonious Monk Institute at Jazz Aspen/Snowmass. Vlad has lived in Denver since, where he has been involved in numerous projects, in town with AOA, 5 Points Jazz Festival and out of town with The Santa Fe Jazz Festival, Vail Jazz Festival,Windham Chamber Festival, and Rostov-on- Don Jazz Festival…to name just a few. He has performed with Bob Berg, Stanley Jordan, Ernie Watts, Karen Briggs, and while at the Thelonious Monk Institute, Vlad played with Jerry Gonzales, Arturo Sandoval, and legendary drummer Horacio “El Negro” Hernandez. Vlad’s composition “Tomorrow” has been named a Top 5 finalist in the 2012 Great American Song Contest (instrumental category) and also received Honorable Mention in The International Songwriting Competition (instrumental category). He and his son, Aleks Girshevich, the drummer, recorded this last year in an album of the same name, when Aleks was just 10 years old!! It has been said that The Aleks Girshevich Piano Trio “evokes an atmosphere reminiscent of classical chamber music; there is colorful intimacy, artful phrasing and careful attention to texture and nuance….Vlad’s phenomenal piano artistry is in constant conversation with David Arend’s innovative double bass work, and Aleks ties it together with prodigious skill and a multi-layered rhythmic concept”. Bass Players United called Vlad a “thrilling and adventurous talent”. Vlad is much sought-after as a soloist, as well as for his work with jazz trios and quartets.