Inspired by spontaneous springtime garden parties in Brooklyn backyards, and the band’s first official performance at the New Jersey Jazz Festival in June 2011, Emily Asher’s Garden Party was launched with Asher’s longtime friend and musical collaborator, Juno Award-winning trumpeter and vocalist, Bria Skonberg. The two brass-kicking ladies worked together on Asher’s debut album, Dreams May Take You, then as Skonberg’s career moved into a solo focus, “eloquent trumpet prodigy” (NY Times) and fellow Seattle native Mike Davis brought his exceptional passion for early jazz and quickly became an integral part of the Garden Party sound.

Maximum strength Garden Party showcases a septet shining on trombone and vocals, trumpet, clarinet and saxophone, guitar, piano, bass and drums. Bassists Rob Adkins and Sean Cronin, drummer Jay Lepley, pianists Dalton Ridenhour and Jesse Gelber, and guitarists James Chirillo and Adam Moezinia are the most frequent distinguished Garden Party members.

Garden Party’s repertoire has been established by Asher’s love for New Orleans legends Louis Armstrong and Kid Ory, songwriting mastery of Hoagy Carmichael, Irving Berlin, Fats Waller, vocal innovators Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Nancy Wilson, and her own songwriting inspired by Pacific Northwest roots and more than a decade of New York City life lessons. Asher has thoughtfully drawn on all of these influences to stake her own claim in a largely male-dominated musical world. Will Friedwald of The Wall Street Journal wrote, “In traditional jazz, the trombone comes closest to the human voice, although up to now it’s rarely been cast as a distinctly female voice. On her new album, “Dreams May Take You,” Ms. Asher plays with both grit and grace...” Combining a deep reverence for those who originated these styles with a desire to bring the party to every room, “she and her groups...have fun with vintage material but don’t make fun of it, as so many post-modern groups have done” (Paul de Barros,The Seattle Times).

Featuring:

Band Personnel:

• Emily Asher: trombone, vocals
• Mike Davis: trumpet
• Rob Adkins: bass
• Adam Moezinia: guitar

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EmilyAshersGardenParty
Website: http://www.emilyasher.com/
Instagram: @gardenpartyband #gardenpartyband #emilyasher #tromboneisforgirls

Video Links:
“Riverboat Shuffle”
“My Life Would Be Easy”
“When You Wore A Tulip”

Press Quotes:

“Simply extraordinary hot jazz played by some of the finest young musicians devoted to keeping this music alive today.” - Ricky Riccardi, Director of Research Collections, Louis Armstrong House Museum

“Emily and her friends have understood something deep about the delicate balance between honoring the originals and creating something new.” - Michael Steinman, Jazz Lives