photo credit Steve Stolzfus

TIM WARFIELD (Saxophonist, Recording Artist, Educator), a native of York, began studying the alto saxophone at age nine. He switched to tenor saxophone during his first year at William Penn Sr. High School where he participated in various musical ensembles winning many jazz soloist awards, including second out of 40 competitors at the Montreal Festival of Music in Canada. After high school, Warfield attended Howard University in Washington, D.C. for two years before leaving to lead and co-lead groups in the Central Pennsylvania and Baltimore/Washington areas.

In 1990, he was chosen to be a member of trumpeter and CBS/Sony recording artist Marlon Jordan's Quintet, of which he remained a member for three years.

In 1991, he was selected to record “Tough Young Tenors” on the Island/Antilles label, which was listed as one of the top ten recordings of the year by The New York Times, ultimately rising to number five, on the Billboard Top 100 Jazz chart. He also joined Jazz Futures, a world touring group assembled by George Wein, to showcase some of the world’s brightest young stars in jazz. Also in 1991, Warfield placed third at the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition held at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

Warfield has made several television appearances including the Today Show, Bill Cosby’s You Bet Your Life (where he was a member of the house band until 1992), and Ted Turner's 1998 Trumpet Awards. Additionally, he has made numerous stage appearances with such names as Donald Byrd, Michelle Rosewoman, Marcus Miller, Marlon Jordan, James Williams, Christian McBride, Winard Harper, Dizzy Gillespie, Larry Coryell, Dakota Staton, Johnny Coles, Leslie Burrs, Isaac Hayes, Peter Nero, Shirley Scott, Jimmy Smith, Billy Paul, Kenny Barron, Nicholas Payton, Charles Fambrough, Eric Reed, Carl Allen, Terell Stafford, Stefon Harris, Orrin Evans, The Newport Millennium All Stars, “Papa” John DeFrancesco, Edgar Bateman, Joey Defrancesco, Claudio Raggazzi, Derrick Gardner and the Jazz Prophets, Trudy Pitts, Dana Hall, and others.

In 1994, he joined bassist and Verve recording artist Christian McBride’s group, where he remained a member until 1999. 

Warfield’s first recording, A Cool Blue, was selected as one of the top ten recordings of the year in a 1995 New York Times Critic’s Poll, as was his 1998 recording Gentle Warrior (featuring Cyrus Chestnut, Tarus Mateen, Clarence Penn, Terell Stafford, and Nicholas Payton), proclaiming him possibly the most powerful tenor saxophonist of his generation.

KIRK REESE began his formal musical training at the age of five. He has studied with pianists Cedar Walton and former John Cage protege Ron Thomas, jazz guitarists and theorists Pat Martino and Steve Giordano. Reese attended Elizabethtown College and Global University/Berean School of the Bible. He has served on the faculty at Elizabethtown College and has performed clinics and seminars at Swarthmore College, Albright College, Gettysburg, York and Elizabethtown Colleges, to name a few. His involvement in Arts in Education earned him national recognition in 1996, through the Leonard Bernstein Center, as an innovator in arts infusion education.

HASSAN SHAKUR, son of pianist Gerald Wiggins, Sr., learned to play bass at age four (standing on a chair) and with his father as a guide, developed a high sensitivity and wide range of expression in jazz. At age 12 he became the bassist for the Craig Hundley Trio, appearing on television shows such as the Today Show, Johnny Carson, Jonathan Winters, Ted Mack Amateur Hour and The Della Reese Show. The Trio also recorded an album for World Pacific Records. At age 18 Hassan joined the Duke Ellington Orchestra under the direction of Mercer Ellington. He continues to perform with the Orchestra.

In addition to performing with his father, Shakur has performed with numerous other artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Milt Jackson, Loretta Devine, Billy Eckstein, Al Grey, Sarah Vaughn, Joe Williams, Herb Ellis and many others. Hassan also performed on an USO Tour with Pearl Bailey and Louie Bellson, entertaining the troops in the Persian Gulf. He was bassist for the Broadway show, “Me and Bessie” with Linda Hopkins and “Black and Blue” with Ruth Brown and Linda Hopkins. He was also the bassist for the Duke Ellington shows “Sophisticated Ladies” and “Queenie Pie”. Hassan is a longtime member of the Bill Easley Quartet, which has recorded several albums. Hassan also performs regularly with Monty Alexander on tours in the United States, Europe and Japan.

JEFF STABLEY is a composer, studio jazz drummer, and percussionist. He is currently a professor and director of the Jazz and Percussion ensembles at York College of Pennsylvania, and is the music director of the annual Jazz Vespers concert that honors Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Stabley has directed this concert for close to 20 years.

Stabley was born in York, Pennsylvania in 1961. He got his B.A. in Percussion at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1983 and went on to teach in the York City School District until 1986. In 2013 Stabley was featured in a book titled Leg Up: The Courage to Dream. He lectured at Messiah College from 1997 until 2002, and became the Director of Contemporary Music at Zion Lutheran Church from 2002 until 2016.

Stabley has played with such notable musicians as Greg Kihn, Donnie and Marie Osmond, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Eddie Money, Arturo Sandoval, Tim Warfield, Kirk Reese, Steve Meashey, Skip Heller, Don Collins, Paul Carr, John Swana, Chris Bacas, Jimmy Wood, Don Carn, Steve Rudolph, Ronnie Waters and many others, including Stefon Harris, Terell Stafford, and Cyrus Chestnut. Locally, he plays with Kirk Reese, Tim Warfield, and Jim Wood.