THE CAST

Nasar Abadey (drums) has played with Ella Fitzgerald, Tommy Flanagan, Dizzy Gillespie, Sun Ra, Stanley Turrentine and Lee Konitz to name a few. He has performed at jazz festivals in Canada, Italy, Morocco and is the leader and founder of Supernova, a poly-directional music ensemble. A recipient of National Endowment for the Arts and other grants, Mr. Abadey also educates young people and has lectured at the Anacostia Museum, for the Smithsonian Institution's Program in African-American Culture and at the University of Iowa's Music Department. Discography includes recordings with: Joe Ford, "Today's Nights"; Malachi Thompson, "The Jazz Life" & "Spirits"; Gerri Eastman, "My Real Self"; Jeff Major, "Yoka Boka"; Brother Ah & Sounds of Awareness, "Key To Nowhere"; and the Jaman Quartet "Sweet Heritage".

Cassandra Baker (taps, vocals) has been performing and choreographing with NTE's professional company since 1990. A graduate of the University of Maryland's Dance Program, she also received formal voice and musical training and has performed musical theater works such as 42nd Street, Cabaret and Anything Goes with various companies across the United States. She has studied with many tap greats such as Eddie Brown, Steve Condos, and Sam Weber to name a few and credits Chris Baker, Buster Brown, Cab Calloway, John Hendricks and Dorothy Wasserman for inspiring her style and phrasing. A master teacher with a style that mixes a warm personality, caring attention to each student and a good sense of humor, Ms. Baker has taught tap dance at Montgomery College, the Hot Feet Studio, at the Children's Forum for DC Public Schools and has conducted workshops and master classes nationwide as well as in Europe. She teaches each summer at major events such as the National Tap Seminar or the American Tap Dance Institute's Spirit Of Tap Conference, where she is always one of the students' favorite instructors. As a performer, she has shared the stage with tap luminaries Eddie "Scientific Rhythm" Brown, James "Buster" Brown, LaVaughn Robinson and Germaine Ingram among many others. As Educational Programs Coordinator for the National Tap Ensemble she was instrumental in orchestrating an exponential audience growth that translated into more than 200 programs per season in the early years of the company, helping to establish NTE as one of the busiest performing arts companies in North America. As a choreographer, she has created and staged several National Tap Ensemble concert works as well as pieces performed in educational shows. As the Director of Flying Feet, the national tap dance company's Junior Company, she taught basics of technique and performing, oversaw rehearsals and choreographed for 25+ youngsters, several of whom have since turned the excellent skills they learned from her into successful careers. Ms. Baker also serves as Artistic Director and Choreographer Knights Of Harmony, a 70 member barbershop chorus.

Chris Baker credits the great Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong for inspiring him to delve into jazz music first and later into tap dance and acknowledges tap dance legends Steve Condos, Baby Laurence,, Fayard Nicholas, Eleanor Powell, Raymond Winfield and jazz music legends "Papa Jo" Jones and Duke Ellington as other major influences. Mr. Baker still keeps a busy performing schedule and likes "grooves and moves of all kinds." He also possesses a unique teaching background rooted in both a formal teacher’s education and in the invaluable experience of learning his craft from some of such all-time tap greats as Eddie Brown, Honi Coles, Chuck Green, Pamela Thompson, LaVaughn Robinson and of course Buster Brown, who was a very special member of the National Tap Ensemble cast during the last twelve years of his life. A blend of caring, knowledgeable teaching and exhilarating rhythm combinations made his classes popular at the Idyllwild School of Music and the Arts in California, Montgomery College in Maryland and American University in Washington, DC among many other institutions. Chris Baker has also taught guest master classes and workshops at all levels in over two hundred dance centers, theaters and universities across the US and overseas and has trained countless young tap dancers, some of whom have been chosen by young Broadway star Savion Glover to perform New York City. Others have appeared with Gregory Hines at the Apollo Theater. Long known as a "Teachers' Teacher," Mr. Baker has a strong personal commitment to improving the poor teaching standards that are prevalent in tap and has been personally conducting training sessions for the American Tap Dance Institute's Teacher Certification Program since 1998. Chris Baker has researched and developed most of the curriculum and African-American history celebrated by the National Tap Ensemble's more than 20 educational programs. He is a founding member of the International Tap Association and has been the producer and director of many innovative events such as the 1985 Dance Tribute To Jazz Festival, the 1987 Los Angeles Master Tap Series, the 1988 Los Angeles Tap Festival, the 1998 Maryland On Tap! Festival & American Tap Dance Legend Awards, the 1991 and 1992 Hot Feet Festival in Washington, DC, of which he was the curator, the 2003 and 2004 Western Maryland Tap Dance Festival, all editions of the annual "Spirit Of Tap" Conference (the American Tap Dance Institute's groundbreaking annual intensive) since 2000, etc. Chris Baker relentlessly promotes excellence in artistic and ethical standards and has been a quiet and strong driving force behind the current tap renaissance. Under his leadership the National Tap Ensemble has gained international recognition while helping over two hundred thousand young Americans better appreciate their own unique heritage through high-quality educational programs that are brought directly to the heart of communities nationwide.

Chris Baker is the recipient of several Maryland State Individual Artist Grants for choreography and performance. Over the past 20 years he has also produced and directed in the U.S. and overseas major tap dance events, festivals or shows that have featured such legendary or leading artists as Cassandra Baker, Bril Barrett, Ira Bernstein, Warren Berry (Berry Brothers,) Buster Brown, Eddie Brown, Joe Chvala, Heather Cornell, Steve Condos (Condos Brothers,) Willie Covan, Skip Cunningham, Savion Glover, C.B. Hetherington, Gregory Hines, Germaine Ingram, Stanley Kahn, Paul Kennedy, Jenny Lane, Henry LeTang, Frances Nealy, Gene Nelson, Harold and Fayard Nicholas (Nicholas Brothers,) Idella Reed, LaVaughn Robinson, Sandman Sims, Linda Sohl-Donnell, Pamela Thompson, Kirby Ward, Dorothy Wasserman, Sam Weber, Chester Whitmore, etc. Additional information on Mr. Baker's career can be found here.

Artis Brienzo (taps) is an accomplished performer and teacher who has been dancing since the age of five. While receiving a traditional show tap and all-around dance education, she was heavily influenced by the popular dance movies of the 1930's, 40's and 50's, and by Big Band music. She credits Sammy Davis, Jr., Gene Kelly and the Nicholas Brothers for her early inspiration as well. She was the first dancer to be hired in NTE’s professional company. A long time Washingtonian, she was formerly the director of her own company, The Tap Quartet, which opened for LaVaughn Robinson at the Smithsonian’s first ever tap concert. A dancer with a truly original sense of phrasing, Ms. Brienzo displays a particularly keen understanding of bebop and other jazz rhythms while using many traditional show tap moves and steps. This unique style has been enjoyed by her loyal students for over twenty years.

Octogenarian James "Buster" Brown (taps), a Baltimore, MD native was for years the only surviving member of the legendary Copasetics Club (an elite group of master dancers and musicians formed after the death of the great Bill "Bojangles" Robinson to honor his legacy) to still perform. Mr. Brown enjoyed a career that spanned over seven decades, from touring the vaudeville circuits to guest appearances in the Broadway hit revue Black and Blue. Other career highlights include the Apollo Theater, soloist with the Cab Calloway Orchestra, United States Information Agency tours, performing Duke Ellington's Sacred Concert, appearing in the film The Cotton Club (dance sequence with Gregory Hines) TV spots on many shows including the PBS special The Gershwin Gala. Mr. Brown was also a featured artist in several tap dance documentaries, including Fancy Feet and Great Feats of Feet. An active teacher and choreographer well into his eighties, he was the recipient of fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. In 1990 he was a resident artist at the Colorado Dance Festival and Boston Great Tap Reunion. Mr. Brown is one of America's true national treasures and appeared in selected National Tap Ensemble presentations starting 1990 and for the last 12 years of his life. He was selected by his peers as the sole recipient of the 1998 American Tap Dance Legend Award and also received an Honorary Doctor of Performing Arts in American Dance Degree from Oklahoma City University in 2002. Mr. Brown passed away on May 7, 2002. He is immensely missed by everyone at the national tap dance company and throughout the world of tap dance.

James Cotton (tenor & alto sax, clarinet, flute) graduated Cum Laude from James Madison University with a degree in Music Education. He has performed as a guest performer or at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Rehoboth Jazz Festival, The Shenandoah Music Festival, Danville Festival of the Arts, Harlem Nutcraker-George Mason Center for the Arts, Black Entertainment Television, Blues Alley, and the Corcoran Gallery of Art. James has also performed with a number of groups including The Great American Music Ensemble, Richmond Symphony, Miss Virginia Pageant Orchestra and Jazzmania BigBand. He has worked with a number of outstanding performers including Ethel Ennis, Chuck Israels, Jerome Richardson, Conductor/Composer David Berger, Dmp recording artist Vinny Valentino, and N2k recording artist Lostin Harris. James is also an Artist in Education with the Virginia Commission for the Arts and has served as an Artist in Residence at schools as well as performed lecture/demonstration explaining Jazz and Jazz improvisation to students of all ages. He leads the James Cotton Quartet, which has performed at the area’s finest clubs and has given many concerts of its original music.

"Pepe" Gonzalez (acoustic bass, hand percussion) credits the artistry and technical wizardry of jazz giants Charles Mingus and Paul Chambers for inspiring him to make a career of playing the acoustic bass. While expressing his talent mostly within the jazz idiom, he has also performed with was ZAPATA, a successful Latin/Soul fusion group that was also one of the first to integrate Hispanic and African-American musicians in the Mid-Atlantic region. Nationally, he has worked with such jazz artists as Pepper Adams, Kei Akagi, Ruben Brown, Junior Cook, the Harper brothers, Buck Hill, Ron Holloway, Carter Jefferson, John Malachi, Steve Williams and Dorothy Donegan, among others. Internationally, Mr. Gonzalez has toured the Carribean, France, Greece, Italy, Spain and the former Soviet Union. Recordings include works with Vinny Valentino, Ron Holloway, and an award-winning bilingual children’s album with Maria Rodriguez introducing Spanish language to English-speaking youngsters.

Professor Calvin Jones (trombone, keyboards, musical director) is the founder of the Jazz Studies Department at the University of the District of Columbia (UDC). A trombonist of national recognition, he was a member of the legendary Howard Theater Orchestra and of the Ray Charles Band. He has also worked with Duke Ellington, Count Basie and many others. Although mostly known as a trombonist, Mr. Jones is also a distinguished pianist and bassist who has worked with the orchestras of major touring productions at the Kennedy Center and every major theater in the nation's capital. Under his direction the UDC Jazz Studies Program has produced premier collegiate jazz ensembles that have performed at many jazz festivals and recorded several compact discs. As a composer/arranger Mr. Jones has produced an extensive selection of works for ensembles of varying size and instrumentation. He has also conducted the Blues Alley Big Band in a program devoted to the "Calvin Jones Library".

James King (acoustic and electric bass) has made guest appearances with dozens of major jazz artists such as Milt Jackson, Teddy Wilson, Dakota Staton, Eddie "Cleanhead" Vincent, Kenny Barron, Sir Roland Hanna, Arnett Cobb and Max Roach. He has performed at many jazz festivals including Atlanta (1986 & 92), Montreal (89), District Curators' Lost Jazz Festival (87, 88, 90 & 91), San Remo (89), and East Coast Jazz Festival (92 & 93). Mr. King can be heard on the following recordings: Marcia Frazier, "Blase"; Hilton Fenton, "Ode To The New Life"; Paul Carr "P.C. 10"; Ronnie Wells "After The Lights Go Down Low", "Live At Montpelier 91" and "For You, For Me, For Evermore"; and Malachi Thompson, "Spirits".

Although both his parents enjoyed music, especially jazz, Darius Scott (piano) did not learn how to actually play an instrument until he enrolled in a keyboard awareness class while studying engineering in college. Scott Joplin’s rags led to more in-depth studies of and appreciation for the styles of such masters as Bill Evans, Red Garland, Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell, Horace Silver, Bobby Timmons and Herbie Hancock, another engineering major. Darius has performed with Lawrence Wheatley, Bob Butta, Gary Thomas, Ed Wiley Jr., Chris Battistone, Chris Bacas, Phil Cunneff, Tom and Whit Williams, Roy McCoy, Dontae Winslow, Steve Novosel, Tom Baldwin, Paul Gill, Gary Bartz,  Talib Kibwe and many other jazz artists including Baltimore’s legendary singer Ruby Glover and veteran R&B group The Drifters. He founded the Resolution Jazz Group at Funk’s Democratic Coffee Spot in Baltimore in 1993 and is also the alternate piano chair in the successful and highly energetic Rhumba Club band.

Chester Whitmore (taps, drums, vocals), founder of Black Ballet Jazz is perhaps the most versatile and knowledgeable tap artist of the current generation with an already unique career as a dancer, choreographer, arranger and dedicated historian. Among his mentors are such legendary tap dancers as Fayard Nicholas of the Nicholas Brothers and John Bubbles - the father of modern rhythm tap. A master of a variety of American vernacular dance styles from Tap to Lindy Hop and from Jazz, to Hip-Hop, Mr. Whitmore has choreographed such productions as Porgy and Bess, Guys and Dolls and Treemonisha, directed tributes to Lena Horne, Bill Robinson, the Nicholas Brothers and Fats Waller as well as hit videos with Weird Al Yankovic, Tina Marie and others. Other choreography credits include working with the Commodores, M.C. Hammer, The Boyz, The Temptations and choreographing the 22nd NAACP Image Awards, during which the great Sammy Davis Jr. made his last TV appearance. Chester Whitmore's terpsichorean contributions include works with the Count Basie Orchestra, the Duke Ellington Orchestra, Lionel Hampton, Janet Jackson, John Hendricks, Michael Jackson, Sarah Vaughan and Joe Williams, and with Louie Bellson as a drummer and tap dancer. Film and TV work include the movie Octagon with Chuck Norris and television appearances on such shows as Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories. He has also worked with Swing dance masters Frankie Manning, Norma Miller, Archie Savage, creator of the "Central Avenue" style of West Coast Lindy Hop and is a regular featured guest with Frankie Manning at the annual Rhythm Hot Shots Dance Camp in Sweden.

May 8, 2002: Our "little giant" has passed away 
It is with extreme sadness that we have to announce the death of the oldest member of our company, the legendary Buster Brown. Buster passed away on May 7, 2002, just ten days shy of his 89th birthday. We had all kinds endearing nicknames for him, but at this time "little giant" is the one that seems most fitting. Buster was a small man in size, but a giant in many other ways : His talent, his sense of humor, his low-key but encyclopedic knowledge of tap dance and jazz music (like Ella Fitzgerald he knew hundreds of songs by heart,) his genuine love of people, his generosity, his deep appreciation for our vernacular cultural traditions...

We had planned to have Buster as our guest of honor for the 2003 American Tap Dance Institute "Spirit Of Tap" Conference but he just played this one last trick on us... Since this Conference is all about sharing and learning (two things Buster loved to do even at an advanced age) and celebrating the spirit of tap in a way that so exemplifies what he was about, we are dedicating the 2002 edition to him. We have also decided to rename the NTE scholarship fund that provides thousands of dollars in scholarships for talented and deserving tappers each year the Buster Brown "Future Of Tap Dance" Scholarship Fund.

For more than twelve years Buster Brown gave us kindness, laughter, great performances, and tremendous inspiration.  He represents the epitome of what many in our cast aspire to be.

Buster will be immensely missed, but he will live in our hearts and through our feet forever.

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