Evening worship with contemporary prose, poetry, scripture reading and amazing jazz music in our church lounge this time featuring The Courtney Sappington Trio,
Come and celebrate God as we do a new thing in the spirit of Psalm 150.
Dr. Ardie Walser as singer, pianist and songwriter, was a member of the award winning vocal trio BLACK TIE, two-time winners of the Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Club (MAC) Award for Outstanding Vocal Group and the winners of the Bistro Awards for Outstanding Vocal Group and Best New York Debut. With Black Tie he has shared the stage with the likes of Melba Moore at Carnegie Hall; Sylvia Sims and Ann Hampton Callaway at Town Hall; and Noel Pointer at Avery Fisher Hall; and performed on radio and appeared on a number of TV shows such as The Joan Rivers Show. He has recorded with a wide range of artists from cabaret to pop including – Jazz Composer, Anke Helfrich; Cabaret Artist, Natalie Douglas; Salsa Singer, Michael Stuart; and Salsa Star, Marc Anthony.
Courtney Sappington - Guitar
Courtney Sappington is a guitar player with a real passion for music of all kinds. His professional playing has focused on jazz, blues and R&B. He has had the great fortune to play with many amazing musicians, some of them famous and some of them best kept secrets. He toured extensively both in the U.S and internationally with Bobby Womack, Alphonse Mouzon, Ben E. King and Petula Clark, among others. During his years touring with Bobby Womack, Courtney shared the stage with such iconic artists as Patti LaBelle, Stevie Wonder, Wilton Felder, Paul Young, Ronnie Wood, Aretha Franklin, Sly Stone, and Chaka Khan. He also had the opportunity to play with the great jazz organist Charles Earland in the Charles Earland Trio. Courtney’s Broadway work includes “Smokey Joe’s Cafe”, “Footloose”, “Swing”, "Saturday Night Fever”, "Good Vibrations", and "Hairspray".
Ben Rubens - Bass
Located in NJ/NYC, Bassist Ben Rubens has rapidly developed a reputation for being a supportive and well-rounded rhythm section musician. Performances include: The Kennedy Center, The Apollo Theater, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Blue Note Milano, Blue Note Beijing, Brussels Jazz Festival, Gaume Jazz Festival, Rochester International Jazz Festival, The Nice Jazz Festival, Detroit Jazz Festival and the Red Sea Jazz Festival. He is a featured performer on a number of CDs, including the Smoke Sessions Recording “In The Moment,” by the Johnny O’Neal Trio Ft. late trumpet master Roy Hargrove and “Songs in the Key of Wonder” by James Austin Jr. He also recorded original composition with late great jazz master, Jerry Dodgion.
Rubens has performed three years in a row with the trio supporting NEA Jazz Master Sheila Jordan at Roni Ben-Hur’s RBH Jazz Camp in Burlington, VT. Mr. Rubens is also experienced in musical theater, performing in numerous regional productions as well as the June 6th, 2022 performance of “Plays For The Plague Year” by Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks with musical direction by Ric
Molina (“Wicked”).
He has performed in Italy, France, Belgium, Germany, China, Russia, Israel, and Mexico. Ben has been so lucky to have been studying the bass with legendary jazz master Harvie S and also to have hung and learned from Bob Cranshaw during 2013-2014. Rubens graduated from the Manhattan School of Music with a Bachelor’s of Music in Jazz Performance and Rutgers University with a Masters in Music Education.
Jarrett D. Walser - Drummer, Composer, Educator
What started out as an inquisitive, playful orchestration on pots and pans, at the age of three, grew into a passion. Jarrett’s first love has always been jazz. This allure commenced at the age of 11 when he began studying at NJPAC Wells Fargo Jazz for Teens program. After his studies at NJPAC, he continued to pursue his passion for music at Rutgers University, Mason Gross School of the Arts, where he received his B.A. and M.M. in Jazz Performance. Jarrett has made a career playing with various artists over a wide variety of genres from jazz, to rock to theater. Some notable artists Jarrett has performed with include Rufus Reid, Chico Freeman and Valery Ponomarev, to name a few. Jarrett currently leads the Jarrett Walser Pack, a modern jazz quartet playing his original compositions, incorporating a mixture of fusion, R & B, funk and rock. When not performing, Jarrett is an educator, sharing his love of music and inspiring the next generation of young artists.