Episode 013 - Jazmin Ghent; Playing in church and bringing your playing to the next level with church groups

Jazmin Deborah Ghent is a national jazz and gospel recording artist born in Heidelberg, Germany and currently residing in Central Florida.

She was recently voted Best New Artist of 2017 by the Smooth Jazz Network.  She graduated from Florida State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education/Jazz Studies and Tennesssee State University with a Master’s Degree in Music Education.

She currently teaches elementary music in the POLK COUNTY School System in Florida.

Jazmin’s debut CD, “Boss” was released in June, 2015 and her current CD, “Chocolate Sunshine” was released on September 1, 2016.

The hit single,  “Compared to What” gained national recognition and was #5 on Smooth Jazz Charts.  It received over 400 spins per week including airplay on Sirius XM radio as well as Music Choice, Pandora and Spotify.

Her second hit from the Boss was the title song, Boss.  Both tunes were in the top 100 songs for 2015.

She currently has 3 hit singles from her current CD, “Chocolate Sunshine”  –  Chocolate Sunshine, Games and her current release “Hello”.

Jazmin has performed at the Newport Beach Jazz Festival in California; Steele City Jazz Festival in Birmingham, AL; Orlando Jazz Festival in Orlando, Fl;  Low Country Jazz Festival in Charleston, South Carolina; Rehoboth Jazz Festival in Delaware;  the Smooth Jazz Weekend in Melbourne, Florida; Seabreeze Jazz Festival in Panama City, Florida; Red Cat Jazz Festival in Galveston, Texas and the Atlanta Jazz Festival in Atlanta, Georgia.

She has performed with Norman Brown, Nick Colionne, Ronnie Laws, Kirk Whalum, Brian Simpson, Julian Vaughn, Nicolas Cole, Lin Roundtree and Jazz in Pink, Mindi Abair, Peter White, David Sanborn, Marion Meadows and country artist Keith Urban.  Jazmin was the winner of the “Show Your Talent” contest on the Smooth Jazz Cruise 2014 where she opened for the Sirius XM Hall of Fame Ceremony hosted by Marcus Miller.

The link to her full biography, along with more Resources for this episode, is on our website.

Here’s what you’ll hear in this episode:

• how to create performance opportunities in your community
• how playing in church helped Jazmin become a versatile performer, and how you can bring your playing to the next level with church groups
• advice for classical players wanting to play jazz
• the key difference between straight-ahead jazz and contemporary jazz
• the importance of working on your standards
• Jazmin’s writing process and how networking helped her collaborate with renowned writers and musicians
• insights into the recording process
• how Jazmin balances teaching and playing

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