The Working Artist Project

Mariel Bildsten is a trombonist, based in New York City. Mariel currently works as a bandleader and side-woman, playing in jazz big bands and small groups, as well as Afro-Latin music, rock, funk, and R&B bands. She is the lead trombonist in Arturo O'Farrill's Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra and tours internationally with the rock band Brass Against. She has performed at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall, London’s O2 Arena, Birdland Jazz Club, the Apollo Theater, the Chicago Jazz Festival, Perth International Arts Festival, Caramoor Jazz Festival, Smalls Jazz Club, and Smoke Jazz Club, among other venues. Mariel has also performed alongside Dee Dee Bridgewater, Roy Hargrove, Wycliffe Gordon, Brian Lynch, Cyrus Chestnut, Lew Soloff, and Frank Lacy. Her own groups, ranging from duo to septet, have headlined jazz festivals, played around the country, and perform regularly in New York City. 

Jay Metcalf is a saxophonist from New York living in the French Riviera. For the last 20+ years he has been performing all around the world while being based in his adopted home town of Nice, France.

When not performing on the saxophone, he also loves to share what he has learned over the years with others. Jay has been a very active educator in New York and in France. His popular website www.bettersax.com allows students from all over the world to access his unique method of learning to improvise and play melodies by ear on any instrument.

Jay got his first saxophone at the age of 10 and played in the school band growing up on Long Island, NY. He pursued a career in music by continuing on to the Crane School of Music in Potsdam, NY where he earned his Bachelor’s degree in saxophone performance. Several years later he earned his Master’s Degree in Jazz Studies and Arranging at the Aaron Copland School of Music at CUNY Queens College in New York.

As the founder of BetterSax.com Jay’s mission is to help developing saxophone players break away from traditional music learning methods and discover a more efficient, practical and fun way to become a Better Sax player. The BetterSax YouTube channel’s videos have been watched by millions while thousands of saxophone students have made meaningful progress on their instrument thanks to BetterSax courses.

Connect with us at: SecondLineArts.org

A versatile jazz trumpeter based in New Orleans, Ashlin Parker is sought after for big band, small ensemble, and solo performances. He has played with various ensembles at jazz festivals and clubs in Australia, Barbados, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, England, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Italy, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, and Wales. Ashlin leads the Trumpet Mafia and plays regularly with ensembles in New Orleans, such as the Ellis Marsalis Quintet, The New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, and Bill Summers and Jazalsa. He has played with musicians such as Ellis Marsalis, Jason Marsalis, Delfeayo Marsalis, Herlin Riley, Roland Guerin, Leroy Jones, Derek Douget, Adonis Rose, Dr. John, Karl Denson, Igor Butman, and Nicholas Payton, as well as vocalists Rafael Saadiq, the O’Jays, Anthony Hamilton, PJ Morton, Aretha Franklin, Quiana Lynell, Tiffany Austin, and Dee Dee Bridgewater. Ashlin has played on more than 30 albums with other musicians and has featured solos on albums such as the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra’s Songs: The Music of Allen Toussaint (2019) and Live at Newport (2017), Tiffany Austin’s Unbroken (2018), Ellis Marsalis’ Ellis Marsalis Quintet plays Ellis Marsalis (2017), and Jason Marsalis’ Heirs of the Crescent City (2016).

In addition to teaching private lessons and leading master classes at many high schools, colleges, and universities throughout the U.S., Ashlin teaches children and teenagers at the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music (2015-present), teaches applied jazz trumpet lessons at the University of New Orleans (2011-present), and serves as a visiting assistant professor of jazz studies at Tulane University (2018-2020).  

Honors include sharing in the 2009 Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble for the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra’s debut album, entitled Book One. Trumpet Mafia won the OffBeat Magazine’s 2017 Best of the Beat Award: Emerging Artist of the Year. Ashlin won the French Quarter Fest, Inc. 2018 Spirit of Satchmo Award for his musical contributions to New Orleans. He holds the Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies from Shenandoah University Conservatory (2005) and the Master of Music in Jazz Studies from the University of New Orleans (2009).

Connect with Lessie Here: https://www.instagram.com/lessievtrumpet/

Support her causes here: upbeatnyc.org

Bio:

A Grand Prairie, Texas native, Lessie Vonner’s love of music began at a young age when she

picked up the trumpet at eleven. Lessie’s passion encouraged her to pursue a music education at

the renowned Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas,

and she eventually chose to attend the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New

York City. She currently performs in many venues throughout NYC and has performed in various

music scenes across the world. She also performs in numerous groups around the city and has

worked with artists such as Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Lizzo, Kathy Sledge, and many more. Lessie has

recently received Grammy recognition for her participation on Beyoncé's award-winning music

film “Homecoming”, as well as for her work on the CARTERS’ award-winning “Everything Is Love”

album.

Link with Patrick:

facebook.com/patbartmusic

twitter.com/patbartmusic (most active)

instagram.com/patbartmusic

Buy his music here: http://bit.ly/metagroove

Support Second Line Arts Collective Here: SecondLineArts.org

Patrick Bartley, Jr. is a Grammy-nominated and award-winning saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, and

composer/arranger from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, known mostly for his powerfully vocal sound and

eclectic range of influences. Since moving to New York in 2011, Patrick has already become one of the

most on-demand saxophonists in the city, most notably having been featured with such world-

renowned legends as Wynton Marsalis, Steve Miller, Carole King, The Chainsmokers, Jon Batiste, Donna

Burke, and Josh Groban. Patrick has also been featured in a variety of television and film specials

including Good Morning America (ABC), The Talk (CBS), The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (CBS), and

can also be heard on the soundtrack to Cafe Society (2016), a film by Woody Allen. As a jazz musician,

Patrick has been influenced by many different types of music, ranging from Rock, Afro-Cuban music,

Chinese classical music, American folk songs, and various types of electronic music. Recently, Patrick has

been gaining widespread recognition for his band, J-MUSIC Ensemble, which was created in order to

share his love for the world of Japanese music and culture through the lens of jazz, creating an

innovative and irresistible fusion that is currently enjoyed by scores of fans worldwide.

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https://www.instagram.com/roderickpaulin/

RODERICK PAULIN FULL BIO

Roderick Paulin is one of the most soulful, versatile and accomplished saxophonists in New Orleans. That status has been understood by musicians for years now, and when an artist as experienced, astute – and not prone to hyperbole – as great New Orleans singer Germaine Bazzle says of Roderick Paulin, as she recently did with unabashed enthusiasm, “I just love the way he plays” – or awardwinning composer and educator Roger Dickerson adds, “Roderick is quite special, truly creative – he was one of my ‘top students’ at SUNO (Southern University New Orleans)” – those are cues for the rest of us to take note of the talents of Roderick Paulin. If the name Paulin sounds familiar, there’s a reason for that – Roderick is the twelfth of the thirteen children – ten boys, three girls – of legendary New Orleans bandleader Ernest “Doc” Paulin and his wife Betty. “Doc” Paulin – who passed away in 2007 five months after his 100th birthday – led bands on the streets of New Orleans for over 70 years. He insisted that the musicians in his bands adhere to certain standards: show up on time – and arrive dressed in the traditional brass band attire of white shirt, black pants and tie, well-shined black shoes and band cap. “Doc” Paulin also gave many young players their start – a “Doc” Paulin gig was often a player’s first paying job, and many who got started with “Doc” have gone on to musical prominence – clarinetist Dr. Michael White, saxophonist Donald Harrison, Jr. and trumpeter Gregg Stafford among them. Six of “Doc” and Betty Paulin’s ten sons elected to pursue music professionally, and they have worked together for many years now as the Paulin Brothers Brass Band. Roderick Paulin grew up in these musically-rich surroundings, and remembers, even before he started playing alto sax in the fourth grade, daydreaming about someday standing in front of an orchestra and conducting it. Roderick was so intent on getting started learning the alto, in fact, that when his fourth grade band director announced on a Friday that the following Monday he would finally distribute the instruments the students had chosen to play, Roderick walked to the man’s house on Saturday, camped out on his front porch all day, and knocked on his door multiple times in hopes of getting his hands on “his” saxophone a couple of days early. To no avail, as it turned out, but he was playing – and loving it – soon enough. Just two years later Roderick played his first gig with his dad’s band, subbing for a saxophonist who cancelled at the last minute, but not without some trepidation. “I was worried,” Roderick recalls, “because I only knew maybe two and a half songs – but my dad told me, ‘just use your ear, you’ll be fine’ – and I got through it okay.” From that point on Roderick made gigs with the “Doc” Paulin band and others, continued to play in school bands, and came up with a way to teach himself more about a side of music he was increasingly drawn to, modern jazz. Community radio station WWOZ featured a three-hour modern jazz program each weekday morning – and Roderick regularly loaded up an older brother’s two-cassette jambox with a pair of 90 minute cassette tapes, taped the ‘OZ show – then listened to it when he got home from school. He’d often play along as he listened, and sometimes try to transcribe a solo or whole tune, all the while sharpening his ear and adding to his repertoire. After high school, Roderick studied music at Southern University New Orleans (SUNO), coming under the guidance of two of New Orleans’ most able music educators, saxophonist Edward “Kidd” Jordan, and the previously mentioned pianist and composer Roger Dickerson. Their counsel gave Roderick a clear understanding of just how much...