Boston area-based saxophonist and band leader Trude Witham brings the best in jazz entertainment to your event. She can provide a duo, trio, quartet or quintet with vocalist, for private parties, corporate events, rehearsal dinners and wedding reception cocktail hours. The core band includes sax, bass and guitar, with optional piano, drums and vocalist, depending on your entertainment needs. The band plays a variety of jazz standards, originals, and contemporary pieces, including those by local composers. Some of the venues where she has played include The Bull Run Concert Series at the Bull Run Restaurant in Shirley, MA (opened for Jay Geils, Gerry Beaudoin and The Kings Of Strings); The Bull Run Sunday Brunch; The Acton Jazz Cafe in Acton, MA.; Thirty-One Main in Ayer, MA.; Destare Martini Bar in Fitchburg, MA.; The Java Room in Chelmsford, MA.; Main Streets Market and Cafe in Concord, MA.; Harvest Cafe in Hudson, MA.; Ichabod's Cafe in Acton, MA.; Sangria's Bar & Grill in Lowell, MA.; Lorica Artworks in Andover, MA.; Chit Chat Lounge in Haverhill, MA.; Sunflowers Cafe restaurant in Fitzwilliam, NH.; summer concert series in Groton, MA., Dunstable, MA., and Fitzwilliam, NH. A Boston native, Witham began playing the guitar at 12 and composed her first song at 16, giving her first public performance shortly thereafter. She moved to Los Angeles after high school, and continued to perform and compose music. After five years, she returned to Boston to attend Emerson College, earning a degree in communications. Witham took up the saxophone later in life to learn a new instrument and the art of jazz improvisation. Her principal teachers were Frank Bonanno and Miles Donahue. While studying saxophone and jazz theory, she continued to perform as a guitarist and vocalist, and was a member of the folk duo, Hummingbird. She also joined the Chelmsford Community Band's concert and big bands, where she still plays alto sax today. After leaving the folk duo, she played in several jazz combos before forming her own band in 2006. Biographies of the band members are below.
Trude Witham: Bio
Justin Maynard - electric bass
Maynard started playing jazz while in high school in central New York, where jazz was "huge at the time." He played in the all-county jazz band, made runner-up for all-state jazz band and played a concert with "Blue Lou" Marini. While in college, Maynard split his time between Clarkson University engineering school and Crane School of Music in Potsdam, NY. He played in a big band, duo and many combos with musicians from Crane. He continued playing after college, but took 12 years off when he began traveling a lot for his job as a firmware engineer. He re-entered the scene 8 years ago by joining the Indian Hill (School of Music) Big Band. "I decided at that point that jazz had been missing from my life for too long. I don't plan to ever be away that long again!"
Ted Osborne - Guitar
Osborne has been playing off and on with various groups in the Boston area for 30 years. While earning his Bachelors of Music from Berklee College of Music, majoring in jazz composition, Ted had the good fortune of studying with local jazz masters, including Jon Damian, Greg Hopkins, Ted Pease, and the late, great Herb Pomeroy. Besides playing with the Trude Witham Group, Ted is the guitarist with the Indian Hill Big Band. Visit Ted's website at www.tedosborne.com.
Carol Chaplin - Percussion
Carol has been playing music for most of her life, piano since age 3 and drums/vibes/percussion since age 8. She has also taught drums and instrumental music for school systems in both New Hampshire and Mass. She has played for the CCMA country music awards in Las Vegas, Riverfest in Manchester, NH, and performed in Symphony Hall, Boston, with GBYSO. She's been in bands that have opened for artists such as Maynard Ferguson and Rebecca Parris, among others. She holds a Master of Music in Applied Percussion and a Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Lowell, Lowell, MA. Besides playing with the Trude Witham Group, Carol also performs with NC Blues Co., and is in demand as a sub for area bands such as Driving Sideways.
Steve Esposito - piano and keyboard
Esposito has been playing piano for 29 years, ever since his Mom and Dad made that leap of faith and bought a Story & Clark piano. During the 70's and 80's, he played professionally in local bands, taking a break when his kids were born. He got back into playing around 2000, taking on solo piano gigs and playing with the nine-piece band "Vehicle". He says he still walks into area hotels and restaurants and says, "Hey, I've played here before!" Besides playing in Trude Witham's band, Esposito also performs with bassist, vocalist, composer Arte Kenyon and in the blues band Red Devil Lye.