Soul Vocalist Debórah Bond & Keyboardist Trey Sorrells | Live from the Mansion Concert Series

Launching from her longtime home-base of Washington, DC and taking flight to the rest of the world, Debórah Bond has become an integral part of the fabric of the worldwide indie-soul scene. Debórah grew up absorbing the golden age sounds of the 70s and 80s soul music that bellowed through her childhood home in New Haven, CT. Artistically, she stands at the intersection of Anita Baker, Sade and Chaka Khan, though she also credits Luther Vandross, Whitney Houston and Stevie Wonder (among many others) for inspiring her to pursue a career as a recording artist. Upon her arrival in D.C. to pursue a degree in journalism at American University, Debórah quickly fell in lockstep with the top musicians of the local scene. Eventually, she formed a life-changing partnership with the production team Third Logic, comprised of bandmates and songwriting partners Robbie McDonald, Aaron “Funky Chuck” Evans and Kinard Cherry. This partnership yielded two studio albums: DayAfter (2003) and the critically acclaimed follow-up Madam Palindrome (2011). Playing for eager and excited audiences, she headlined packed houses around the US and EU including: Warner Theater, 9:30 Club, Kennedy Center Millenium Stage, Blues Alley, Blue Note NYC, Cobb Performing Arts Center in Atlanta, and Jazz Café in London. In 2015, she headlined a four-week international residency for Jazz At Lincoln Center in Doha. An accomplished radio personality and voice over artist, she hosted a weekly Sunday afternoon radio show at Sirius XM, where she worked for ten years. She recently composed and performed the theme song for a brand new podcast, The Suga, hosted by actresses Tika Sumpter and Thai Randolph. For the past decade she’s been doing radio jingle and voice over work for Amsterdam-based PURE Jingles, which can be heard here. In addition to her career as a performing artist, she’s a pillar of the D.C. music community, having served six terms as D.C. GRAMMY Chapter Governor. As an educator, she’s been a mentor and voice coach to many aspiring vocalists, and since 2018 has served on the faculty of the Richardson School of Music. She also offers private teaching and coaching sessions. https://www.deborahbond.com Trey L. Sorrells, a native of Portsmouth, VA, is a saxophonist and music teacher based in Washington DC. His passion for the instrument, inspiration for his powerful and soulful sound and love of music began in the church at an early age ultimately driving him to pursue music as a full time career. Sorrells, a Bachelor of Music, received his degree from Virginia Commonwealth University where he concentrated solely on the jazz art form under the direction of Skip Gailes and J.C. Kuhl. While in attendance, he received numerous honors and awards including the John F. Kennedy Jr. Jazz Scholarship and had the pleasure of serving as a member of the International Jazz Exchange Program with the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa on multiple occasions. Through the Jazz Program mentorship and exposure to various jazz artists, such as Dick Oatts, Boris Koslov, Bob Mintzer, and John Abrecrombie. Trey discovered his love of the hard-bop style of jazz music which allowed him to discover his own personal sound. Since making the DC Metropolitan area a base in his career, Sorrells has had the pleasure of working with the Darin Atwater’s Soulful Symphony, Sue Ann Carwell, Deborah Bond, The Chuck Brown Band and Mark G. Meadows. Trey Sorrells is a D’Addario Woodwind Artist, exclusively endorsing their reeds, mouthpieces, and ligatures. Currently, Sorrells holds the saxophone position in Richmond based band, Future Prospect. As an emerging band on the scene, Future Prospect has already begun to make its mark with its high-energy and intricate sound. In 2016, they released their debut album The Climb on the Ropeadope Recording Label which peaked at #6 on the iTunes Jazz Charts. In their short time as a band, they have had the pleasure of backing a plethora of noteworthy artists and opening for internationally acclaimed artists and bands. This includes names such as Jon Bibbs, Kia Bennett, Sam Reed, Braxton Cook, Butcher Brown, No BS Brass Band, Galactic, Kneebody, amongst others. https://www.treysorrells.com From July 15, 2020, Live from the Mansion is a virtual concert series that brings together inspiring music and insightful conversation. Grammy-nominated progressive hip-hop artist Christylez Bacon hosts performances in a variety of genres and helps us get to know the artists, who are all alums of Strathmore’s renowned Artist in Residence program. https://www.strathmore.org/AIR Mecca Filmworks: T.L. Benton, director • Malika T. Benton and Michael Adeyeye, executive producers • Brandon Wilkerson, camera operator Host: Christylez Bacon Director of Artist in Residence Program: Betty Scott Event Producer: Madeline Waters Sound Engineer: Samuel Prather Voiceover Sound Engineer: Peter Roberts/Fantom Music