Sunday, February 21, 2021

Hennessy Six + Colorado Springs Youth Symphony - The Road Less Traveled (2021 Summit Records)

Bringing its unique jazz voice to the bandstand as well as the orchestra, the original music of the Hennessy 6 spans the gamut seamlessly through intricate arrangements and orchestrations that showcase the band’s versatility and virtuosity.

Collectively, the band’s members have appeared alongside numerous luminaries of the music world, including Dave Liebman, Maria Schneider, Joe Walsh, Ernie Watts, John Faddis, Wycliffe Gordon, Vince Gill and Amy Grant.

Composer and Trumpeter Sean Schafer Hennessy is one of America’s most gifted composer/ instrumentalists. Since winning major competitions since his twelfth year, he remains a brilliant protege of the renowned Wynton Marsalis. Beginning his trumpet studies at age ten, Sean made his concerto debut three years later with the Colorado Symphony. Sean has performed a solo recital at Carnegie Hall, appeared as a guest soloist at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and moved audiences with his appearance on the Public Radio International’s “From the Top”.

The National Alliance for Excellence Award, conferred on Sean, caps a string of honors, including the International Trumpet Guild Young Artist Award, and winner of the National Trumpet Competition. Sean is also one of the gifted young composers who contributed to Kennedy Center’s Imagination Celebration, providing his Theme for the Mars Millennium Project. Recruited by Maestro Marin Alsop to perform the lead in “Journey Into Jazz” written by Gunther Schueller, Sean dazzled the audience with emotion.

Sean is currently composing in Hollywood.


1. Pneuma

2. Haunted Eyes

3. Funky Winkerbean

4. O & D

5. Desert Fever

6. Dos Mil Uno

7. Stacy's Arabesque

8. The Road Less Traveled


The Hennessy 6:

Sean Schafer Hennessy – Trumpet

Cully Joyce – Tenor Sax / Alto Flute

Colin McAllister – Guitar

Brad Bietry – Piano / Keyboards

Jason Crowe – Acoustic / Electric Bass

Chris Gaona – Drums

* Special Guest Krista Joyce – Vocals (Pneuma, Stacy’s Arabesque)


with the the Colorado Springs Youth Symphony – Gary Nicholson, Conductor