Bailey Hinkley Grogan is an award-winning jazz vocalist, songwriter, musicologist, and sought after feminist scholar based out of Denver, CO. After receiving a Doctorate in Jazz Studies with an emphasis in musicology from University of Miami, Grogan went on to release her debut album, Three Sides of a Story which features a series of vocal and instrumental duos that illustrates Grogan’s vocal and jazz mastery. As a vocalist, she has been featured at various festivals, including the Monterey Jazz Festival, and has presented her research at conferences and universities across the country. Most recently noted for her research of feminism in jazz history, Grogan is also a published author and frequent presenter in topics of jazz history, black American music, and representation in jazz.
She received her Bachelors in Jazz Studies from Indiana University in 2017 and her Master of Jazz Studies from California State University Long Beach in 2019. In 2019 she was awarded the Outstanding Creativity Award and the Distinguished Achievement in Creative Activity for her work on her graduate thesis project at California State University Long Beach. She received her Doctor of Musical Arts in Studio Music Jazz Voice from the University of Miami in May 2023 where she served as a Henry Mancini Fellow at the Henry Mancini Institute directed by Maria Schneider. In 2024, she received the Downbeat Student Music Award for the Graduate Jazz Vocalist category and has received acclaim for her doctoral research, “The Lives and Careers of Six Female Black Instrumentalists.” This research has been presented at the Jazz Education Network Conference, the Association for Popular Music Education conference, the Reno Jazz Festival, and the College Music Society Conference.
While Bailey has been heavily involved in various academic credentials, she spends her free time performing with a quartet in her hometown of Denver Colorado as well as the greater Los Angeles area. She is a regular performer at Dazzle Jazz and Nocturne in Downtown Denver.
Known for her creative arrangements and compositions, striking vocals, and skillful violin playing, Kara Baxter infuses her music with a wide range of influences from her musical life. Kara studied classical violin at the University of Colorado, Boulder, where she began singing jazz, and after graduating, moved to Chicago and earned a Master’s in Jazz Voice and Commercial Music at the Chicago College of Performing Arts of Roosevelt University studying with Patricia Barber and Mike Molloy.
In 2014, Kara completed her Doctorate in Jazz Composition at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, studying with Eric Richards. Kara has taught at the collegiate level since 2006 at institutions such as Doane University, Nebraska Wesleyan University, the University of Nebraska, Hastings College, and Casper College, where she taught Jazz Voice lessons, Violin lessons, Composition, song writing, and directed jazz choirs, big bands, as well as orchestras and chamber music.
Kara performs as a jazz vocalist and violinist with her jazz combo, and appears as a guest soloist with Big Bands, Orchestras, and choirs throughout the Midwest. Her arrangements and compositions have been performed by Lincoln’s Symphony Orchestra, Jazz MN-a professional big band in Minneapolis, the Hastings Symphony, and the Powder River Symphony, among others. She has recorded two CD’s, Black Coffee, and On This Journey, featuring vocal group QuinteCentral and the Kara Baxter Big Band.
Composer and saxophonist, Wil Swindler currently resides near Denver, Colorado, where he leads Wil Swindler’s Elevenet, the modern bop quintet GoodRattle, and the Wil Swindler Quartet. In addition to his own bands, he is an active performer with the Peter Sommer Septet, The Annie Booth Big Band, Remy LeBouf’s Assembly of Shadows, Al Hood’s H2 Big Band, Colorado Symphony, the Ben Markley Big Band, and the Dallas Symphony. After receiving IAJE’s Gil Evans Fellowship for 2008, Wil has completed numerous commissions from military bands, symphony orchestras, and big bands around the world. Wil has four albums available under his own name, Space Bugs (OA2 Records 2022), Universe B (OA2 Records 2010), The Right Riot (2014), and Chamber Jazz Ensemble (NohJoh Music 2006), and can be heard on numerous other albums including Ingrid Michaelson’s Songs for the Season, Ben Markley’s Ari’s Funhouse and Clockwise, Steve Owen’s Stand Up Eight, Peter Sommer’s Happy-Go-Lucky-Locals, Ted Piltzecker’s Vibes on a Breath, Tom Amend’s Bishop’s Lair, Al Hood/Dave Hansen’s Jazz Muses and You’re It, Bob Washut’s Journey to Knowhere, and David Caffey’s Enter Autumn and All in One. Mr. Swindler’s most recent project is the premiere of his concerto for Jazz Trio with Symphony Orchestra, “The Point,” which premieres on Oct 5, 2023.
As an educator, Wil is in demand as a saxophone and jazz clinician and joined the music faculty at Colorado State University as a jazz instructor in 2009. He is currently the coordinator of Jazz Studies and director of Jazz Bands at CSU. He is a frequent adjudicator for high school and college jazz festivals around the country and maintains a private saxophone/composition studio in the Denver area. Wil has served as an adjunct saxophone teacher and Jazz Ensemble director at Denver University, instructor at the University of Northern Colorado, and composition teacher for the Colorado Conservatory of the Jazz Arts. He is also the camp director for the CSU Jazz Summer Workshop.
Originally from Central Texas, Wil began studying music at age five and picked up the saxophone at age nine. He earned a B.M. in Jazz Studies from the University of North Texas in 2001 where he played in, composed for, and recorded with the 1:00 Lab Band. In 2000 he attended the Henry Mancini Institute on a full scholarship from BMI and received a commission the following year from HMI for a piece premiered at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. In 2001, Wil relocated to New York City, where he played with Toshiko Akiyoshi and Bill Warfield’s NY Fusion Ensemble, among others. During his time in N.Y., Wil studied saxophone with Dave Pietro and composition with Michael Abene and Jim McNeely as a member of the BMI Jazz Composers Workshop. In 2003, he returned to his hometown of Austin, Texas, where he co-founded the 10-pc Chamber Jazz Ensemble and served as musical director for vocalist Kevin Ahart. Mr. Swindler has lived in Colorado since 2006 with his wife April Johannesen, and daughter Anna.
