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Amy Shook
Amy Shook is one of the most in-demand acoustic bassists in the mid-Atlantic, coveted for her huge sound and infectious, driving groove. In addition to being a premier performing and recording artist, a multi-instrumentalist (acoustic bass, electric bass, violin, viola, and cello), she is an accomplished composer, and her personality truly comes through in her writing. Amy co-leads the Shook/Russo 4tet, a band she started in 2004 with her husband, tenor saxophonist Pat Shook, and drummer Frank Russo. Along with their guitarist Jonathan Epley, the SR4tet’s focus has always been to compose and perform their own original music within the jazz idiom, honoring the masters by carrying on the tradition. The result is an incredible and unique sound, and a whirlwind of grooves, melodies, and diverse textures that are a true delight to hear. The SR4tet currently has two CDs on Summit Records featuring Greg Gisbert. Stay tuned for info on their newest release.
Amy also co-leads the all-women powerhouse trio the 3D Jazz Trio (3Divas), with drummer Sherrie Maricle and pianist Jackie Warren. 3D is the super-swingin’ trio that sparked the fire that ignited the award-winning show Maurice Hines is Tappin’ Thru Life, described by the New York Times as “blistering hot.” In 2017, 3D’s eagerly awaited debut CD, simply titled 3Divas, was met with widespread critical acclaim, and their most recent 2020 release, I Love To See You Smile, garnered immediate praise, including a four-star review in Downbeat magazine. Their third release, Christmas in 3D, was just released on October 16th, 2020, and has been steadily receiving rave reviews. 3D is also featured on baritone saxophonist Leigh Pilzer’s debut CD Strunkin’, recorded live at the Washington Women in Jazz Festival in March 2016, and released in October 2016. For more info about the 3D Jazz Trio, please visit www.3djazztrio.com.
Additionally, Amy also performs regularly with the Fred Hughes Trio, and has recorded three critically acclaimed albums with the trio (Love Letters, I’ll Be Home For Christmas, and Matrix). In addition to her jazz bass discography, Amy can be heard on various recordings playing auxiliary string parts, many that she both wrote and arranged, for various indie rock and blues artists, such as Mary Prankster and the Kelly Bell Band. Amy holds two bachelor's degrees (performance and composition) and a master's degree (performance) from the University of Idaho in Moscow, ID.
Amy has performed with Maurice Hines in Maurice Hines’ Tappin Thru Life, Sherrie Maricle and the DIVA Jazz Orchestra, Lionel Hampton, Larry Willis, Greg Gisbert, George Mesterhazy, Wessell Anderson, Ali Ryerson, Walt Weiskopf, Tim Warfield, Wycliffe Gordon, the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, Hubert Laws, Kurt Elling, Steve Nelson and Lewis Nash, to name a few.
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Leigh Pilzer: Beatin' the Odds
by Jack Bowers
Beatin' the Odds. To baritone saxophonist Leigh Pilzer, that is far more than a catchphrase: it is a grim yet ultimately happy reality. In 2017, Pilzer was diagnosed with cancer. After extensive treatments, her odds of surviving more than five years were reckoned as around thirty percent. But six years have gone by, and not only has Pilzer beaten the odds, she is cancer-free, back in the saddle and performing again. And not only performing but writing ...
Continue Reading3D Jazz Trio: 9 to 5
by Dan Bilawsky
One can't help but learn about the meaning of style and sophistication from the 3D Jazz Trio. Since the release of its debut--3Divas (Self-Produced, 2017)--pianist Jackie Warren, bassist Amy Shook and drummer Sherrie Maricle have proven to be a collective paragon of taste. Whether swinging for the fences, setting scenes ablaze in Latin quarters, captivating with balladic charms or taking playfulness to new peaks, this band is always a model for musicality. On this, the group's third ...
Continue ReadingIan Wardenski: Trust
by Geannine Reid
Ian Wardenski's Quintet returns with a follow-up to Collective Thoughts (IW, 2019). The innovative bandleader and guitarist continues to create a sound that combines the aesthetics of a chamber group with the freedom, spontaneity and improvisation of a small jazz combo. Trust features Mercedes Beckman on alto saxophone, Jerry Ascione, piano, Amy Shook, bass, Frank Russo, drums, and Tamara Tucker, voice. Wardenski furthers his collective sound by combining Tucker's agile wordless vocals with his guitar for a distinctive ...
Continue ReadingThe Scott Silbert Big Band: Jump Children
by Jack Bowers
The best music, in jazz or any other genre, is and should be timeless. To prove the point, the Scott Silbert Big Band celebrates the songs of a bygone era on its debut album, Jump Children, refreshing a number of memorable themes from the '30s, '40s and '50s and underscoring their relevance in an ultra-modern twenty-first century environment. His goal, Silbert writes, was to represent the fantastic musicianship of the artists [who] originally performed these works," venerated masters such as ...
Continue Reading3D Jazz Trio: Christmas in 3D
by Dan Bilawsky
Still riding high on the release of I Love To See You Smile (Diva Jazz, 2020), the 3D Jazz Trio drops in again to ring in the holiday season. And while it's true that 2020 hasn't left us with much to celebrate, a chance to sit back and reflect while basking in the glow of some joyful jazz is one thing worth raising a glass of eggnog to. Leaning on familiar favorites with personalized twists, 3D immediately ...
Continue Reading3D Jazz Trio: I Love To See You Smile
by Dan Bilawsky
The spirit of sisterhood isn't based on size, but, rather, built on the power of kinship. If anybody in the jazz world truly understands that fact, it's drummer Sherrie Maricle. Way ahead of the curve when it comes to spotlighting the need for female empowerment and equality in the music, she's helmed the Diva Jazz Orchestra for more than a quarter of a century. And while that ensemble remains her flagship, some smaller spin-off combos that have followed it also ...
Continue ReadingBassist Amy Shook Named to Jazz Band Masterclass Faculty
Source:
The Phillips Agency
Annapolis, Maryland... Bassist Amy Shook has been named to the faculty of Jazz Band Masterclass. Based in Annapolis, with bands meeting in that city and in Washington, DC, these adult level jazz workshops meet twice monthly with the intent of getting participants out of the basement and onto the bandstand." Each group has seven members much like the jazz combos one hears in clubs and concerts. Initially, Shook will direct two of ten bands, which are made up of students ...
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“Amy Shook builds tension in her blues march groove to climax with the inclusion of the rhythm section and the harmonious horns that float, swirl, roll and boil to a gentle simmer, giving way to graceful poise.” “So Far From Home should be in every straight-ahead, jazz lover's house.” ~Paul J. Youngman, www.jazzreview.com