The Dave Shelton Trio

DAVE SHELTON - David started music lessons at age 6 - first accordion, then clarinet and piano. By high school, he was accomplished enough to win top honors in several state-wide competitions in both clarinet and piano. He then attended Washington University in St. Louis where he earned both BA and MBA degrees in a five year program. He also continued to study classical piano, but was increasingly drawn toward jazz and began playing at local restaurants and private parties.

After college, David moved to Chicago and pursued a career in venture capital, primarily with the firm he co-founded - Montgomery, Shelton & Company. Meanwhile, music remained a passion. He played regularly at community events and parties. He also formally studied jazz piano and jazz theory with Alan Swain, Larry Novak, Joan Hickey and others; and he broadened horizons by playing with a local R&B band.

Music has now moved to front stage in David’s life. He is performing regularly and becoming more active as a composer. He has also completed his first recordings with two limited release CD’s, "Captured Moments" and "Balance"; and he played with the Ed Holmes Quintet on Agnes Shawn’s release “Agnes – The Wait is Over”.

Dave most often performs with The Dave Shelton Trio. Venues have ranged from private parties and upscale restaurants to country clubs, the Chicago Jazz Festival and The Art Institute of Chicago. For over two years, the Trio was a regular at the highly-regarded Sage Grille in Highwood, IL. He also sometimes performs duo with acoustic bass and piano; and a vocalist and/or other instruments are sometimes added to the Trio. His plays either as smooth jazz background or as a performance.

David’s music draws from his classical and jazz backgrounds, plus his work with R&B musicians. His repertoire includes a wide range of jazz and Latin standards as well as jazz arrangements of pop songs, blues and funk. More specifically, the repertoire includes:

Songbook and modern standards (e.g., A Foggy
Day, Fly Me to the Moon, It Could Happen to
You, A House is Not a Home, Moon River)
Latin standards (Jobim and others)
Jazz standards (from Wayne Shorter and Miles
Davis to John Coltrane, Dave Brubeck and
Horace Silver)
Jazz arrangements of pop/rock hits (from Motown
and Elton John to Stevie Wonder, The Beatles
and Michael Jackson)
Blues and funk (a la Ramsey Lewis, early Herbie
Hancock, Les McCann and Gene Harris)
Jazz and Latin originals

He cites the music of Herbie Hancock, Bill Evans and McCoy Tyner as having the biggest influence on his playing.

THE DAVE SHELTON TRIO - In addition to Dave, regular members of the trio are MIKE STARON on acoustic bass and SHANE MOONEY on drums. Mike has had an exciting music career, in Chicago and elsewhere. He has a Master’s Degree in Music from Northwestern and, in addition to performing, he is a lecturer at DePaul University and Triton College. He has been a member of several touring companies, including the international touring company for A Chorus Line. Shane is a highly regarded drummer and teacher in Wisconsin. While in the Air Force, he was a member of several Air Force and USO bands. He has since played with a number of other combos and big bands; and he is the long-time Principal Percussionist with the Racine Symphony.