The Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County (AHCMC) invites you to join us for Jazz at the Kramer! A music series in partnership with Paul Carr’s Jazz Academy of Music presenting a free evening of jazz at the Betty Mae Kramer Gallery & Music Room on the second Wednesday of every month.
Admission is FREE but advanced registration is required due to limited capacity. Kindly be aware that reservations are limited to 2 tickets per person. For group reservations, feel free to contact us directly at publicart@creativemoco.com.
** Please Note: Outside food and beverages are not permitted in the gallery with the exception of water.
Second Wednesdays: Jazz at the Kramer featuring Vocalist Sharón Clark and Pianist Chris Grasso
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Second Wednesdays: Jazz at the Kramer featuring Bhagwan Khalsa on Bass + Eric Byrd on Piano and Chris Latona on Piano + Andrew Latona on Guitar.
Jazz at the Kramer
Event Listing
Wednesday, June 11, 2025
*NEW START TIME* 6:30 pm at the Betty Mae Kramer Gallery and Music Room
Join us for a night of jazz featuring alto and soprano saxophonist Marshall Keys, and pianist and composer Allyn Johnson.
June Musicians
Allyn Johnson
Native Washingtonian, ALLYN JOHNSON, is a multi-talented musician, composer, arranger and producer whose trademark sound gives brilliance and fortitude to the art of jazz improvisation. Allyn, a prodigy who began playing piano at the tender age of five, got his start playing piano for the youth choir in his uncle’s church. There he honed his inner musical gift.
At the University of the District of Columbia, Allyn was the first recipient of the Felix. E Grant Scholarship Award in jazz performance. He graduated magna cum laude from UDC in 1997 with a Bachelor of Music Degree in Jazz Studies. Now Allyn has served for more than six years as an adjunct professor of music and assistant director of the Jazz Studies program and became the director in 2005.
As a composer-arranger, Allyn has a growing library of works for ensembles of varying sizes and instrumentation. Allyn is one of the nation’s most sought-after musicians in the jazz community. He is revered by musical giants as well as the “young lions” of his generation.
Follow Allyn on Instagram!
Marshall Keys
“Alto and soprano saxophonist Marshall Keys has a solid, soulful tone and a knack for lines that start out as simple lines and seemingly take on a life of their own, developing into elaborate, smartly constructed melodies. He’s a true virtuoso musician who has something personal and erudite to say on the instrument.”
A native of Washington DC, Marshall began in the DC Youth Orchestra Program, then flirted with jazz studies at Howard University, all the while working with legendary jazz musicians like Jimmy Witherspoon, Jimmy Heath, Pepper Adams, Miriam Makeba, Jimmy Scott, Stevie Wonder, and the blues organist Jimmy McGriff with which he recorded the album “Countdown”.
The most resume friendly span of Marshalls’ long career probably begins with the Kennedy Center Tribute to Lionel Hampton in 1981. Marshall performed the iconic “Flying Home” along with Milt Hinton, Al Grey, Clark Terry, Zoot Sims, Illinois Jacquet and Lionel Hampton. There was the Commission by the Smithsonian Institute to perform the works of Wayne Shorter, performing and speaking at the Romare Bearden Exhibit when it opened at the National Gallery of Art, tours to Central and South America, Guinea and West Africa as well as festival performances in the UK, France, Mexico, Indonesia, Germany, Ireland, The Netherlands and the US Virgin Islands. All mostly before the first iPhone was released…
Marshall has stuck close to home in recent years and is unapologetic in his belief that thanks to his collaborations with the world class musicians and institutions in DC, this is the most productive and satisfying period in his long career.
Follow Marshall on Instagram!