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Jazz up the holidays with the Daneen Wilburn Quartet. The Quartet will be performing holiday classics, and a few special arrangements. Recording artist and vocalist Wilburn performed at the Library during this past summer’s Jazz Concert Series and the audience loves her. Like that concert, this one will will also feature Grammy winner Kamau Kenyatta on piano. They are joined by Richard Sellers on drums and Cecil Mcbee Jr. on bass.
Daneen Wilburn was born and raised in San Diego, CA. She began singing at the age of three and by the time she was seven, she was the lead singer in the family band that included her talented brothers and sisters. At age 19, Wilburn was performing at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Her performance led to an invitation to sing at the legendary Hollywood Bowl for its Easter Sunrise Service. Soon after, she was sharing the stage with some of gospel music’s biggest names, including Darryl Coley, Edwin Hawkins and The Mighty Clouds of Joy.
In 1990, Wilburn married and began a family. She decided to leave music to focus on her children, a decision she never regretted. However, in 2013, she returned to the music scene, with a sold-out concert, at 98 Bottles in San Diego, where she combined her gospel roots with a soulful jazz vibe. In 2014, on Jackie Robinson Day, she was invited to sing the National Anthem by the San Diego Padres. The Padres’ owner, Robert Fowler, was so moved by her performance that he later asked Wilburn to sing for the memorial service of Padres legend Tony Gwynn at Petco Park. Her rendition of “Amazing Grace” uplifted an audience of thousands that included baseball legends Reggie Jackson, Steve Garvey, Trevor Hoffman, Joe Torre, and sports announcer Bob Costas. The next morning’s front-page headline in The San Diego Union Tribune simply read, “Amazing Grace.” Since then, Daneen has performed for former First Lady Laura Bush, and at the wedding of soccer superstar and gold medalist Alex Morgan. Her self-titled debut album, produced by Grammy winner Kamau Kenyatta, was released in the summer of 2017.
Kamau Kenyatta is a Grammy award-winning producer and arranger. He is a Teaching Professor at the University of California, San Diego Music Department. He was honored with the prestigious Barbara J. and Paul D. Saltman Distinguished Teaching Award at UCSD in May 2009. Originally from Detroit, his versatility comes from his early exposure to a vast array of musical styles.
Kenyatta has worked with jazz greats such as Hubert Laws, Donald Byrd, Yusef Lateef, Jim Pepper, and Earl Klugh. World tours have taken him to over 20 countries and include stints with The Supremes, Carl Anderson (from Jesus Christ Superstar), Oscar Brown, Jr., SWV, Silk, the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band and New Kids on the Block. Kenyatta has also collaborated with Hubert Laws in writing the score for Small Steps, Big Strides, a documentary concerning the history of African-American film. He wrote and supervised music for The Dawn At My Back, a Sundance Film Festival award-winning interactive DVD-ROM memoir. In 2015, Kamau scored the film Spirits of Rebellion by Zeinabu Irene Davis.
In 2016, he completed the score for the Gregory Porter biopic, Don’t Forget Your Music, which was released in the UK in the fall of 2016. Kenyatta served as musical director for Blues Schoolhouse, an educational program for middle-school children, at the International House Of Blues (San Diego). In 2009, Kenyatta joined the Music Department at California State Summer School for the Arts (CSSSA) and served as Department Co-Chair from 2010-11. Destiny, a recording that showcases Kenyatta as pianist, composer and producer, was released in the spring of 2007. The Elegant Sadness, his most recent recording in the same roles, was released in the fall of 2019. Kenyatta produced the album Water and the song "Be Good" for vocalist Gregory Porter - both were nominated for Grammy awards. In 2013, Kenyatta served as associate producer and arranger for Porter’s Blue Note Records debut disc Liquid Spirit which won a Grammy in the “Best Jazz Vocal Album” category. Other production projects include Gregory Porter’s Take Me to the Alley, Ed Motta’s Perpetual Gateways, and Steph Johnson’s Music Is Art. In February 2017, Kenyatta won a Grammy for his co-production and arrangements on Take Me to the Alley in the “Best Jazz Vocal Album” category.
Cecil McBee Jr. is a very talented musician and bassist. He has performed with many of the top bands in Southern California. McBee Jr. has also performed with many pop and jazz superstars such as Ike Turner, Patrice Rushen, the Donna Summer Band, Hubert Laws, Chico Hamilton, Steve Laurie, Fat Burger Band, and Dr. Dave.
Richard Sellers has been playing drums professionally for over 20 years. In that time, he has performed with countless groups and ensembles in a variety of styles, including straight-ahead jazz, avant-garde jazz, Brazilian, Latin, funk and hip-hop. In addition, he has worked extensively as a teacher, applying his unique rhythmic approach and meticulous technical methods. Sellers, a native of Valencia, California, received early training from Stewart Fischer (brother of jazz giant Clare), Earl Palmer, and Joe Porcaro. The support of such greats prepared him for his move to San Diego nearly six years ago, when he began to make frequent performance appearances at San Diego State University, and gigged incessantly with the best professionals in town.
