Avery Sharpe Quartet & Extended Family Choir by Northampton Jazz Festival

Avery Sharpe is a jazz bassist, composer, and educator. He began playing piano at age 8 and switched to electric bass in high school. He studied economics at UMass Amherst while playing in gospel, funk, and rock bands. Sharpe met Reggie Workman, who encouraged him to learn acoustic bass. He soon began performing with Archie Shepp and Art Blakey. In 1980, he joined McCoy Tyner's group and played with him for 20 years. Sharpe has also recorded and performed with many other jazz greats including Dizzy Gillespie, Wynton Marsalis, Yusef Lateef, Bobby McFerrin, Pat Metheny, and Billy Taylor. 

He has released more than 12 albums as a leader, and his music has been featured in films and television shows.

An NAACP Martin Luther King Jr. Special Achievement Award recipient, Sharpe is also an active educator. He has given clinics and workshops around the world, and is an Artist Associate in Jazz Bass at Williams College. 

**The Extended Family Choir** is a 22-member gospel group. Avery and his brother Kevin put together this amazing ensemble of talented and accomplished singers for a series of recordings and choral compositions.