THE MELISSA RAQUEL SEXTET
Join us for a live taping and listening-room concert featuring:
- Melissa Raquel - Vocals
- Eric Hargett - Saxophone
- Andre Hayward - Trombone
- Brian Pardo - Guitar
- Terry Bowness - Piano
- Tom Brechtlein - Drums
Melissa Raquel is a Jazz Vocalist and the Band Leader of Honeybee Jazz Music & Entertainment. Melissa is originally from Houston where her professional music career started at the age of 16. She has lived in Austin since 2002 and started her music career back up again in 2020 after a long break.
Melissa has been blessed to play with so many incredible musicians, and some being legends. She has always surrounded herself with world-class musicians, this allows her to continue to grow in her craft. Many have become part of her family and are mentors. Some of her singing Highlights have been with Willie Nelson, Steve Tyrell, Leann Rimes, Dana Rogers from the Army Jazz Ambassadors and singing with an 18 piece Big band for 4 years. She plays with many different musicians and likes to keep it this way....changing things up with different combos and musicians is fun.
Melissa uses top local talent, with many being legends and dear friends that now reside in Austin, including Rick McRae, Tom Brechtlein, Brannen Temple, Floyd Domino, Andre Hayward, Brian Pardo, Bruce Saunders, Tommy Howard, Marco Antonio Santos, Terry Bowness, Ben Irom, Daniel Foose, Chris Maresh, Chris Jones, Miles Wick, and many more! She is thrilled when she has the chance to play with longtime friends and world class musicians from her hometown...Todd Harrison (Retired Drummer with The Jazz Ambassadors), Brennen Nase, Billy Solley, Mike Wheeler and David Craig!
The sharing and fellowship of Music warms her heart as she wants to continue to create and bring music to anyone who wants to listen...hoping to take them on a journey in time, reminiscing in their minds and resting in the moment of what they are feeling as the music takes them away.