About Sha-nniece

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Bio

Sha-nniece has been intrigued by music ever since a she was a child. The strongest influence as a young child was hearing jazz and r&b music being played around the house. She has been playing music for over 13 years. Sha-nniece started playing the Clarinet before switching to the Tenor Saxophone in the eighth grade. After a year of playing the saxophone she joined the jazz band in her high school. This is when she received her introduction to jazz music. From this point she decided to get some additional training in the area of jazz at Virginia Commonwealth University jazz workshops. There she found out that she had natural talent and decided to pursue it. Since then she has continued to pursue her love of jazz throughout high school and into college.
Sha-nniece has performed in just about every musical situation there is. She has done everything from Rock, Reggae, Classical, Hip-Hop, R&B, and Gospel music. But throughout all of those different types of music Sha-nniece finds contemporary jazz most satisfying. Sha-nniece's biggest instrumental influences came from her mentor Najee. Sha-nniece also got the chance to meet her mentor in two years ago. Najee has been advising Sha-nniece for the past seven years through her different musical experiences. Sha-nniece finally got the opportunity to perform with him in the summer of 2002.

Sha-nniece is still elevating her music through her current live project (SJP) and working on next recording project. Sha-nniece's goal is to continue striving to be a better musician and a better human being.

Meet the band members of SJP

David Smith (Music Director)

David Smith, a native of Richmond, Virginia was destined to become a musician. A veteran musician for over 20 years, he is a self taught bass player. His aspiration to become a professional musician can be attributed to his love of music and being a member of a multitalented family. The seeds of David's musical roots began as early as age 13 from the time he began to play the lead guitar, later switching to the bass guitar. David previously performed with a local band called Ivy. After a 3 year tenure with the band, he took a leave of absence from performing to further hone his skills as an apprentice under the guidance of different teachers and constructively listened to various musicians. David attributes his creative style to the likes of various artists such as Bootsy Collins, Larry Graham, John Patitucci, Nathan East, Victor Wooten and Marcus Miller who have been inspirational. Upon his return to the local arena, David began playing bass for Mosby Memorial Baptist Church and SJP. He also does occasional pick up gigs and studio work. David's goals are to continue to expand on his musical talents and record a CD.


Benjamin J. Tanner a.k.a. Faheem

Season veteran Benjamin Tanner, has always added flavor in all of his past and current musical projects. The Franklin, VA native comes from a musical family. He began playing guitar at an early age and studied with his father, Benjamin C. Tanner Sr., who was also a fantastic guitarist. He also furthered his studies with James Benton of the Milwaukee Conservatory of Music. Benjamin has been playing for over 25 years and has lead several groups of his own. He has opened for such artists as: Chuck Loeb, Roy Ayers, Pieces of A Dream, Doc Powell, and Brian Culbertson to name a few. Some of his influences include: George Benson, Wes Montgomery, Pat Martino, and Benjamin C. Tanner Sr. Currently Benjamin is an in demand guitarist in the Hampton Roads area and is hard at work on his CD project.

Contact Sha-nniece

sha-nniece@shanniecejames.htmlplanet.com