SWINGING MOTOWN

As veteran members of the Grammy Award-winning music ensemble Sounds of Blackness, Geoff and Chreese have crisscrossed the globe, performing at the Montreux, North Sea and Vienne Jazz Festivals, the Olympic Games, the (Soccer) World Cup, the Tonight Show with

Jay Leno, Soul Train, Showtime at the Apollo, the NAACP Image Awards, for global heads of state at the G8 Summit, and many other televised and live appearances. With the Sounds they have recorded on projects with and performed on stage with Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan, Elton John, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Joe Sample, Nnena Freelon, Jackie McLean, the Heath Brothers, and numerous others.

Nancy and Jim Bierma have been playing jazz together since 1976. Originally from Des Moines, Iowa they are both in the Iowa Jazz Hall of Fame. Nancy has a degree in music from Drake University. For several years Nancy co-produced Women in Jazz concerts held at the Des Moines Art Center and Hoyt Sherman Auditorium.  Jim played with the Irene Myles Trio for 17 years before moving to Minnesota. Nancy and Jim have recorded extensively with their duo and trio. Their album I Love Being Here With You features singers Charmin Michelle, Thomas Bruce and Aaron Keith Stewart. Nancy and Jim have performed regularly at Twin Cities’ venues and around the country.  They have worked with numerous jazz musicians including Debbie Duncan, Bobby Commodore and Dennis Spears.

Nathan Norman is a native of Washington, DC. He earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music in 1984 then studied with the Percussion Group Cincinnati at the University of Cincinnati before returning to Washington to teach at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts. Nathan moved to the twin cities in 1987 and has an extensive resumé performing and/or recording with area artists, including Debbie Duncan, Connie Evingson, Joyce Lyons, Thomasina Petrus, Charmin Michelle, Dennis Spears, JoAnn Funk, Illicit Sextet, Bill Banfield, Lila Ammons, Joel Shapira, Robert Huntley, French 75 and more. He performs regularly with the Travis Anderson Trio, bassist Michael Gold, guitarist Glen Helgeson and various groups led by saxophonist Paul Harper.