Esther Williams is a name you're sure to remember once you've seen this sensuous, talented entertainer. It is said that in just one set, Esther will take you from a whispered, heart-warming ballad to a swinging, jazzy standard right into something that gets into your spirit and makes you move.
Esther started her professional career in earnest as a vocalist when capturing the title of Miss Black DC. She toured Germany with the Miss Black America Tour and her many guest appearances included national and international venues and many guest appearances on national television and radio programs.
Musical theater was a natural transition including performances at Ford's Theater in "Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope.", as well as "Tambourines to Glory" with the Black American Theater Club in D.C. and traveling productions of Fats Waller's "Ain't Misbehavin".
A diverse performer with an extensive repertoire in Jazz, R&B, Pop, Spiritual and Gospel, Esther carved her niche and enjoyed working and recording with many artists, including Davey Yarborough, Sir Roland Hanna, Bobby Felder, Buck Hill and Keter Betts.
Esther landed a recording contract with Friends and Company Records after a producer heard vocals she had recorded for others. She recorded two successful dance albums for Friends and another successful album for RCA records. "Beautiful Friendship", was released in 2004 by Esther and saxophonist, Davey Yarborough to great reviews. She can be heard on the CD's "Jazz at Peoples Church, a New Experience", "Christmas Jazz at Peoples Church" and "Amazing Grace" with bandleader, Bobby Felder.
Esther has opened for the Temptations, at the Savoy in New York City, and Peaches and Herb at Baltimore's Harbor Place. Esther performs regularly at the "East Coast Jazz Festival" and has performed for "The Chesapeake Jazz Society", "Live Music Now" and the "Mid-Atlantic Jazz Showcase" in New York with Davey Yarborough. She has been a guest performer at the annual Kennedy Center Kwanzaa Celebration, and on the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage. Esther sings with the Voices of Peoples Gospel choir at Peoples Church in DC, and is a regular performer in their Jazz Vesper series. Esther and her choir performed with gospel artist Larnelle James.
An engaging emcee, Esther produced and directed three successful musical variety shows, as well as emceed the Dumbarton Concert Series of Washington, DC.
Together, in 1998, Esther and Davey Yarborough created the Washington Jazz Arts Institute, a non-profit organization with community programs, dedicated to educating and mentoring young and aspiring musicians.
Source: http://www.dcjazzmusic.org/jazzesther.htm Davey Yarborough's impressive musical career has taken two distinct paths - those of accomplished performer and dedicated educator. Earning bachelor and master's degrees in education and performance, his university studies were augmented by studies on flute with the venerable Frank Wess and saxophone with the legendary Sonny Stitt.
As a performer, bandleader, composer and arranger, he has worked with Sir Roland Hanna, Keter Betts, Billy Eckstine, Buck Hill, Shirley Horn, Lena Horne and Joe Williams, to name a few. He has also collaborated with trumpet virtuoso Wynton Marsalis, performing on Marsalis' Making the Music series on National Public Radio (NPR).
Davey also joined Wycliffe Gordon, Herlin Riley, Bill Easley and Reginald Veal on Gordon's new arrangement for the opening theme for NPR's All Things Considered. He has performed at the Kennedy Center's Jazz Club, the Millennium Stage, and Davey's sold-out performance for Dr. Billy Taylor's Jazz at the Kennedy Center, Terrace Theater Series at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, which was widely hailed as a highlight of the series.
As an educator, he returned to his alma mater, the University of the District of Columbia, as music instructor and director of the Jazz Stage Band. In 1986, Davey was recruited to create the jazz orchestra at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC, and built what is now an internationally recognized Jazz Studies program and Jazz orchestra, "The New Washingtonians". It is there at Ellington that Davey continues to nurture and mentor aspiring performers in this legacy.
He received the coveted 1998 Mayor's Arts Award in Washington, D.C., for Excellence in Dedication to the Arts. During that same year, Connie Chung featured Davey in a sensitive, insightful piece on ABC's 20/20, chronicling his efforts on behalf of his students. The recipient of a 2000 Special Achievement Wammie, Davey also received the coveted Whitney M. Young, Jr. Community Service Award from the Greater Washington Urban League in 2000, for his work with students and within his community as a whole, as well as a DC Emancipation Day Image Award for 2001, The 2006 DC Youth Orchestra distinguished Alumni Award. and with his wife, Esther Williams, a Community Service Award from Kids In Trouble, In DC. Davey was also honored in 2004 by The Society, Inc., of DC for his dedication to the education of young people.
Established in 1998, The Washington Jazz Arts Institute, under his leadership is an extension of his legacy of education and mentoring. As Co-Founder/Artistic Director, Davey, with his talented and accomplished staff, guides young musicians through instruction, lecture, one-on-one with professionals, mentor opportunities and performance with their peers.
From 1988 to 1991, Davey's sax was part of the memorable background music for The Cosby Show. His composing and arranging talents are heard on the musical soundtrack for the movie Uptown Angel. In addition to performing at the East Coast, San Remo, Italy, and Montreaux Jazz Festivals, Davey has recorded four albums; Collaboration with pianist, Hilton Felton; It's Time for Love; Lovetones; and Beautiful Friendship with vocalist Esther Williams. A much sought after soloist, Davey appears on many recordings, including Ronnie Wells' Live at Montpelier, harpist Jeff Majors' New Age Soul and Sacred, and with bandleader, Bobby Felder, Christmas Jazz At Peoples Church, Jazz at Peoples Church, a New Experience and Amazing Grace.
A dynamic lecturer, Davey conceived and presented the Smithsonian Institution's Jazz Evenings for Young Professionals lecture series. An overwhelming success, that project led to his Journey into Jazz, which covers the history of jazz by combining a performance and lecture format.
Davey and the legendary Sir Roland Hanna collaborated on JazzMont Records on a compilation of original compositions, and Duke Ellington's music, coinciding with Duke's 100th birthday. "Royal Essence", An Evening of Ellington is an important, historic project in this genre of music.
Source: http://www.dcjazzmusic.org/jazzdavid.htm 
