To listen to audio on Rock Paper Scissors you'll need to Get the Flash Player

log in to access downloads
Sample Track 1:
"Festival" from Chopteeth Live
Sample Track 2:
"J.J.D." from Chopteeth Live
Layer 2
Bio

More About Chopteeth

Chopteeth is a 12-piece Afrofunk orchestra exploring the common groove between the funkiest, most hip-shakin’ West African and American popular music on the planet.

The core of the Chopteeth sound is Afrobeat: a big-band funk invented by Fela Kuti in 1970’s Nigeria. Afrobeat is a spicy stew of modern jazz, Yoruba tribal music and burning, James Brown-inspired rhythms.

Chopteeth then mixes in classic Ghanaian dance tunes, Senegalese rumba and Jamaican ska and stirs it all thoroughly to create a massive groove.  

The result is a swirl of energetic melodies and call-and-response  choruses, driven by interlocking drums and percussion, and punctuated by a dynamic five-piece horn section.  Funky organ and melodic guitars complete Chopteeth’s unique and infectious sound.

Chopteeth updates African classics while remaining true to the spirit of the music and its message. Band members step to the mic to serve up lyrics in a total of seven different languages.

In 2009, the band was honored to win Wammie Awards for Artist of the Year, Debut CD, and World Music CD. The awards are presented by their peers in the Washington Area Music Association.
Chopteeth also won the World Music Group Award for 2009 and 2008.

Chopteeth can be seen regularly at top venues in the Washington, DC, Baltimore and Virginia areas, including The Kennedy Center, Strathmore Arts Center, Carter-Barron Amphitheatre, Artisphere, The Clarice Smith Center for the Performing Arts, The 9:30 Club, The B
lack Cat, Rock & Roll Hotel, IOTA, The State Theatre, The Avalon Theatre, The 8x10 Club, Jammin' Java and many others. 

The band has performed with and/or opened for critically acclaimed international artists including Aaron Neville, Gov't Mule, Ivan Neville, Derek Trucks, Chuck Brown, Konono No.1, Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars, The Pietasters, Toubab Kre
we, Brazilian Girls and Soulive.

Chopteeth also performs frequently at numerous area festivals including Earth Day (National Mall 2010), The Adams Morgan Day Festival, Artscape (Baltimore), Duke Ellington Jazz Festival, Western MD Blues Festival, The Baltimore Book Festival, The Baltimore Waterfront Festival, Hot August Blues, Federal Hill Street Beat Fest, Sowebo Fest, Groove City Jazz Fest, The Herndon Jazz Festival, The Takoma Park Folk Festival, The Takoma Park Street Festival and The Taste of Bethesda.


Members

Michael Shereikis—vocals, guitar
Michael's deep fascination with various African guitar styles began as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Central African Republic. He subsequently honed his skills playing with local recording artists in New Orleans and in Abidjan (Cote d'Ivoire), while pursuing an advanced degree in ethnomusicology. He is a founding member of the Ivoirian group Zieti and is currently producing their debut release in the US for Rootstock Productions. In addition to his first love, the old-school afropop of Chopteeth, Michael gigs and records with several groups in the Washington DC area.  Michael can be reached at rootstockproductions@msn.com

Brian Simms—keyboards
An award-winning keyboardist, singer, and accordion player, Brian also leads Baltimore and DC’s renowned New Orleans funk band Junkyard Saints, and has toured and recorded with Rounder recording artists Disappear Fear.  He has recorded or shared the stage with many internationally-known artists such as  Indigo Girls, Deanna Bogart, Roomful of Blues, The Radiators, The Iguanas, Buckwheat Zydeco, Rachel Cross and more. Brian has music-directed and performed in a number of national touring and regional Broadway productions, and also writes and produces for the Saints as well as other artists in the mid-Atlantic region.  Brian is an accomplished, versatile studio and commercial musician, and is a graduate of Towson University’s music program.  He teaches independently and is a guest lecturer on the music business at area colleges.

Craig Considine—trombone
Craig performs and records with several bands in Baltimore. He can be heard playing Latin Jazz with Rumba Club, Rock and Soul with All Mighty Senators, and original music as well as live scores for silent films with Anne Watts and Boister. Craig has played his trombone for audiences all over the world. In the D.C.  area he has played Blues Alley, The Kennedy Center, The Smithsonian, The 9:30 Club and many other venues.

Mark Gilbert—saxophones
Mark’s high school rock band played at the original Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco, and he has spent the 35 years since performing with some of the most respected names in jazz, soul and funk.  Mark toured for seven years with the DC horn section backing Gladys Knight and the Pips, and has played and recorded music around the US and Mexico with artists such as The Temptations, The Four Tops, The Dells, Cab Calloway, Don Cherry, Los Flamers, Rootboy Slim, Trouble Funk and many others.  Mark has performed during three Presidential inaugurations, and he has played in many local jazz, funk and salsa groups including Windmill Saxophone Quartet, Locura, Chainsaw Jazz and Vector.

Justine Miller—trumpet, vocals
Justine won a music scholarship to University of Nevada-Las Vegas then studied in the masters program at Peabody Conservatory in computer music.  She has toured everywhere from Maryland to Florida to Puerto Rico in bands playing Latin, R&B, funk, jazz and classical.  Justine has worked recently with 2 Funkin’ Heavy, an all-girl funk band, as well as with numerous Latin groups.  She has recorded with many bands including 2 Funkin’ Heavy, The Brenda David Group, Heoka, and Malvin Lopez.

Trevor Specht—saxophones, vocals
Trevor combined his interest in technology and music as a computer music student at Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore. He has performed a wide variety of musical styles with many different groups, ranging from classical saxophone quartets and wind ensembles to funk/rock party bands.  A few of Trevor's musical heroes are Branford Marsalis, Charles Mingus and John Cage.  Trevor is a member of Junkyard Saints.

Cheryl Terwilliger—trumpet
Cheryl received her Master of Music Education degree from the Eastman School of Music with a concentration in trumpet performance and jazz studies.  A veteran performer who has played since age 8, Cheryl has experience in a variety of musical genres, including jazz, classical, Latin, funk, blues and rock.  For the past several years, she has appeared as a member of the Wammie-nominated all-girl funk band, Zeala. When not performing, Cheryl is a full-time music teacher at a local independent school and also maintains a studio of private students.

Mahiri-Fadjimba Keita - percussion
Mahiri-Fadjimba Keita has been drumming for over 2 decades. He was a lead drummer at the age of 8 in Trenton, NJ and participated in his first international tour at 14, performing with the Maimouna Keita School of West African Dance Children’s and Adult Company (NY) at the Sorano Theater in Dakar, Senegal.  Mahiri continues to commit his life to studying Mandingue drumming extensively with master musicians and historians of Mandingue and other West African traditions, including Mamady Keita (Guinea), Famoudou Konate (Guinea), Fadouba Oulare (Guinea), and Djimo Kouyate (deceased-Senegal).  He has toured internationally and nationally as a lead drummer with several professional performing companies, including Farafina Kan, Mamady Keita’s production tour “Sewakan”, Memory of African Culture Performing Company and Wo’se African Dance Theatre.  As a graduate of Tam Tam Mandingue (TTM), a school of percussion founded by Mamady Keita, he is the first appointed instructor in the US

Jason Walker—percussion
Jason Walker is a multi-disciplined percussionist with over twenty years of training and experience. He began his training in the eighties with Kenneth Krohn. He is a 1996 graduate (BM percussion performance) from the Hartt School of Music in Hartford, CT. Currently Jason studies Afro-Cuban rhythms with master percussionist Sam Turner and Ashiko with Baba Taiwo Duvall. Jason's music can be found in a number of settings including: performance, recording, therapeutic intervention, dance accompanist, and group and private instruction.
 
David McDavitt—drums
Since first punching through the fragile paper heads of a toy drum kit at age seven, drums have been David's madness.  He specializes in Ewe, Akan, & Ga music, often orchestrating tribal ensemble drum parts onto his Afrotrap kit. David studied with Ghanaian royal drummer Asante Okyerema (Paul Simon). David has celebrated his passion for African music playing with Jimi Hope, Cheick Hamala Diabate, and A Different Drummer.  David teaches architecture, and directs a children’s African drum ensemble.

Victor Crisen—guitar
Originally from Romania, Victor has been playing guitar since childhood.  He studied music at the University of Maryland, where he was privileged to play with the Maryland Jazz Ensemble and work with maestro Chris Vadala.  Victor has collaborated with a number of groups, including funkers Original Jones and alt-rockers The Walk (now Continuous Play).  He teaches guitar professionally and has done studio recording work in addition to pursuing acting.

Robert Fox—bass
Robert has been playing and collecting music for twenty-five years and is a student of many musical genres.  His influences include Duke Ellington, The Velvet Underground, Fela Kuti, Bob Marley, John Zorn, Manu Chao and Johnny Cash.  Robert studies bass with Rob Perl and lives in Takoma Park, MD.