Pretty Good Jazz Trio featuring Nina Emery - An Evening of Selections from the "Great American Songbook."

• Nina Emery - Vocals
• Brandon Kelley  - Guitar
• Mark Neslusan - Bass
• Lahndon Irizarry Drums

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The Pretty Good Jazz Trio, which includes guitarist Brandon Kelley, bassist Mark Neslusan, and drummer Lahndon Irizarry, as well as featured vocalist Nina Emery, will perform selections from the "Great American Songbook."  In addition to songs by giants of the genre such as George and Ira Gershwin, Johnny Mercer, and Hoagy Carmichael, the concert will also feature works by lesser-known but equally talented composers like Brooks Bowman and Ronnell Bright. If you would like to hear some of Brandon Kelly's solo guitar work, visit his YouTube site at https://www.youtube.com/@BrandonKelleyMusic.

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• Brandon Kelley is from Bucksport, Maine, where he began studying guitar while in high school. Brandon was accepted into the Maine All State Jazz Band and earned recognition as one of the"Top Five" best musicians at the Maine State Jazz Festival. He has performed professionally at restaurants, clubs, and private functions since the summer before his junior year of high school. In 2021, Brandon received his Bachelor of Arts in Jazz Studies from the University of Maine at Augusta. In 2024, Brandon relocated to the Boston area, where he is establishing a guitar studio and performing.
• Nina Emery is from Bucksport, Maine, and began her musical study in fifth grade as a trumpeter. She began to study singing in the 9th grade, eventually gravitating toward jazz. Nina sang with the Maine All State Jazz Choir for three consecutive years and earned the highest scores in the entire state of Maine. Nina twice received a "Top Five" award at the Maine State Jazz Festival. In her Senior year, she earned the Dale Huff Award, which recognizes the best jazz musician in the entire Maine State Jazz Festival. In the summer before her Junior year, she attended the prestigious Berklee College of Music's five-week summer program and was awarded a full scholarship to study there, where she just completed her first year. She has been singing professionally since she was 16 years old.
• Lahndon Irizarry is from Penobscot, Maine, and began playing drums at the end of his Sophomore year at Bucksport High School. He often arrives at school at 5:00  AM (when the janitor arrives) to find 2-3 hours of practice time before school starts. Lahndon received a "Top Five" award at this spring's Maine State Jazz Festival. He has been performing professionally for the past year. Lahndon is currently studying jazz drumming with Mike Bennett, adjunct professor at the University of Maine. This fall, Lahndon will attend the University of Maine to major in Jazz Studies.
• Mark Neslusan is from Oxford, Massachusetts, and began playing clarinet in 1971. He graduated from the University of Lowell in 1985 with a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education and Composition, and then attended the University of Texas at Austin for his graduate work. Mark began teaching music at Bucksport High School in 1986 and retired in 2026. During his career, he conducted bands, jazz bands, choirs, and directed 30 musicals. Several of his jazz combos earned Gold Medals at State Jazz Festivals. Mark has performed with community bands, "in the pit" for several musicals, polka bands, Dixieland bands, rock bands, and jazz groups (including jazz recording artists Greg Abate and Mike Levine), and has played piano for his church. He has composed several pieces for the clarinet and arranged many pieces for jazz combos.  

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