Charles Dickerson/Billy Mitchell

Guests:  Inter City Youth Orchestra and DON'T MISS THIS SHOW!!

Charles Dickerson (Chuck) is Founder, Executive Director and Conductor of the Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles (2009-present), and Director of Music at Rolling Hills United Methodist Church (RHUMC) (2005-present).  He also serves as Director of the Choir at Leo Baeck Temple during High Holydays.  He formerly served as Music Director and Conductor of The Southeast Symphony (2004-2011), and as Director of Music at Holman United Methodist Church (1996-2005), and he has served in a variety of other leadership capacities - in music and otherwise.

Born in Tarrytown and raised in Buffalo, New York, Billy Mitchell tinkered with the piano as a child but did not get serious about music until he entered Morehouse College. While pursuing a political science degree he joined an off-campus jazz band and was soon playing gigs in and around Atlanta. In 1970 Mitchell moved to Los Angeles to pursue his career and was soon backing up such artists as Gloria Lynn, Ester Phillips, Randy Crawford and Linda Hopkins, to name a few.

His first solo efforts, Blue City Jam (1984) and Night Theme (1987) captured the funky, urban flavored vibe of the Quiet Storm format just before the advent of smooth jazz, and Faces (1988) and the similarly styled In Focus (1991) rose high on Billboard’s contemporary jazz chart and continue to receive international airplay.