The Aura duo are two musicians that have legendary status in the DC area. 
The Aura duo is Charles Wright on guitar and vocals and Mike Pryor on bass and vocals. Both are alumni of The Duke Ellington School Of The Arts.
Having played all over the world in almost every type of venue and performance situation, this duo is limitless in their versatility and ability to adjust to any events needs.
Aura performs popular music in all genres and styles with the emphasis on a fun time and unsurpassed musical integrity and professionalism. 
The Aura Duo is perfect for cocktail events and small to medium sized private events and parties including but not limited to wedding and birthday celebrations. 
Additional instrumentation is available upon request. 
Aura will make sure that you get what you want for your event and how you want it from start to finish. Our attention to details such as good sound quality and song selection will immediately impress our clients. 
We are extremely easy and fun to work with on the fly as sometimes clients may have sudden changes to be addressed during your event. 
We look forward to providing the best music experience possible for our clients.

This trio of seasoned musicians first performed together back in the early nineties. Since then, all three of them have gone on to prolific careers, performing a broad variety of music in far-flung venues around the world. Now they have reunited as Cordial Affair, to once again share the joy of their first musical love, jazz.

Bassist Doug Ross recently returned to the DC area, after spending many years in Japan and Los Angeles. He was a faculty member of Los Angeles College of Music and Fukuoka School of Music, in addition to performing with diverse artists such as jazz guitarist Jody Fisher, Motown legend Martha Reeves, and Brazilian singer Katia Moraes. Doug has a solo album on Egad records.

Steve Long is Cordial Affair's keyboardist, and has long been among the most in-demand musicians of the Mid-Atlantic region. A graduate of New England Conservatory, Steve currently serves as musical director and keyboardist for numerous local groups, including international recording artist Jaared.

Drummer Wes Crawford is credited with backing artists such as Ron Holloway, Eva Cassidy, Shahin and Sepehr, and Jane L. Powell. He is also on faculty at Goucher College, and is founder of  Enviro Drum Maryland, a percussion performance group.

Ro Cube’s philosophy is simple: great entertainment makes for unforgettable events. As a seasoned bandleader, musician, DJ, and performer, Ro knows how to engage any crowd and keep the energy high—whether he's on the keys, behind the DJ console, or leading the dance floor.

With national and international experience, including performances on cruise lines and stages from Las Vegas to Dubai, Ro brings unmatched versatility and professionalism. He has performed for prestigious events at the U.S. State Department, British Embassy, and Presidential Inaugural Balls, and at local festivals like Wine in the Woods.

Ro’s strength lies in blending classic and contemporary hits while managing seamless transitions between genres. He prioritizes customer satisfaction and works closely with clients and vendors to ensure every event runs smoothly.

Throughout his career, Ro has played with legends including The Temptations, Mary Wilson, and Heatwave, and opened for acts like Al Green, Kool and the Gang, and The Whispers. His DJ sets and live performances reflect a lifetime of musical excellence, bringing an elevated experience to every event.

The Blue Ridge Jazz Project consists of local musicians, Brian Litz on Guitar, Bruce Fransen on Sax/Flute and John Leonard on upright Bass. The veteran trio performs jazz standards from
Great American Love Songs, Cool Jazz, Bebop, Bossa Nova and Sambas. They all now live in the Tri State area but met playing club dates in Washington DC years ago. Together they offer
over 100 years of experience of swinging music.

Jazz vocalist Christiana Drapkin has been performing in New York and on the East Coast for over twenty years. She now makes her home in the Washington, DC area, but keeps coming back for gigs in the Big Apple. She is noted for her lyrical and highly personal delivery of ballads and for her abandoned yet artful scat improvisations. Christiana's singing is deeply immersed in the rich traditions of Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Carmen McRae, as well as in the vocalese fireworks of Anita O'Day, Annie Ross and Eddie Jefferson. With her focus on Jazz Standards, she highlights improvisation and harmonic development, carrying on and developing the tradition of Bebop and musicians like Charlie Parker, Lester Young, Thelonious Monk, Lennie Tristano and Dizzy Gillespie.

Christiana came to the US as a Fulbright exchange student from Germany, studying in New Orleans where she got her first immediate exposure to Jazz. Moving to New York provided her with her ideal artistic home, where she became part of a vibrant local jazz scene. She studied jazz with pianist Charles Sibirsky and vocal coach Barbara Feller. Christiana has drawn a lot of inspiration and support from workshops with Sheila Jordan, Mark Murphy, and, more recently, Tierney Sutton.

The Jazz Update band features some of the top players and singers on the east coast, who deliver compelling performances in concerts, festivals, clubs and jazz cruises. Their repertoire ranges from straight ahead jazz like Duke Ellington and Miles Davis, to their cutting edge original compositions. The Jazz Update's two recent CD's have been on the international jazz radio charts, and have enjoyed widespread critic acclaim. They range from a duo or trio up to five or six pieces with vocals. 

Saxophonist Jeff Antoniuk is an internationally respected jazz composer and musician. His recordings and performances are consistently well received by critics. An acknowledged master of the saxophone, he is also the Artistic Director of the Maryland Summer Jazz Festival in Rockville, MD each summer. Antoniuk has been a featured performer and teaching artist at the Edmonton International Jazz Festival and the National Music Center. He is associated with Washington Performing Arts Society (WPAS), and has played and recorded with artists as diverse as Ray Charles, Natalie Cole, Marcus Miller, Najee and Kenny Rogers.

"Considerable chops . . . . "

Bill Mikowski, Jazz Times

Karen has been featured on many of the Washington area’s most exciting stages and events, including The Smithsonian Jazz Cafe, The Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage, The Duke Ellington Jazz Festival, the Adams Morgan Day Festival, the Bethesda Fine Arts Festival, the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Steinway Concert Series and “Take-Five” Series, the Silver Spring Jazz Festival, and the Sheperdstown Opera House.

As a teenager, Karen worked in a record store, where she first discovered the music that would shape her career. While the store focused on pop and soul hits, her interests quickly turned elsewhere. The first album she ever bought was a collection by The Glenn Miller Band, from which she learned “Moonlight Serenade” and “Tuxedo Junction.” That was followed by albums from the Manhattan Transfer, where she picked up “In A Mellow Tone” and “Love for Sale.” She then explored solo vocalists, learning “Sentimental Journey” from Dinah Shore and “Moonlight in Vermont” from Willie Nelson—an eclectic but deeply formative mix.

Her love for the music fueled her learning. Each song felt like a distinct creative masterpiece, open to personal interpretation. By the time a chance encounter led to her first professional gig years later, she had already built a rich and diverse “accidental repertoire” of over 200 songs.

Today, singing remains a central part of her life. Although she performs less frequently since the birth of her daughter in 2007, she still takes the stage once or twice a week at festivals, restaurants, concerts, and private events. For Karen, it’s all about jazz—both to sing and to listen to—almost exclusively.

Jerry Lynn provides live music for a wide range of events, including wedding ceremonies, rehearsal dinners, cocktail parties, corporate receptions, birthday parties, anniversaries, and any occasion where live music adds a special touch. Flexibility is key—Jerry performs as a soloist and also works with duos, trios, quartets, and full bands, adapting the performance style to suit the size and tone of your event.

When looking for the consummate pianist/vocalist with the right sound and presence, look no further than acclaimed artist-songwriter Yvonne Johnson. Yvonne has been setting stages on fire for over twenty years with her lavish keyboard and acoustic piano sound. Whether she is playing gospel, pop, rhythm and blues or stretching out in the jazz idiom her diverse background of musical taste is always evident through her funky and passionate interpretations.

Hailing from the Washington DC area, Yvonne established her love for the piano at the age of nine and by fifteen she was composing for local theatres. She considers her love for creating and performing music as a "joyous and spiritual journey". While Yvonne is considered a jazz artist her music is greatly influenced by Stevie Wonder, George Duke, Miles Davis, Joe Sample, Donny Hathaway, Patrice Rushen, Herbie Hancock, Bill Evans, Oscar Peterson, and The Yellow Jackets.

As her reputation expanded across the Washington metropolitan area, Yvonne received invitations for national opportunities that included the famed Apollo Theatre in Harlem, NY and The National Jazz and Heritage Festival in New Orleans. She has shared the stage and opened for numerous well known artist's such as Ronnie Laws, Kim Waters, Roy Ayers and Bobby Humphrey.