Shawn Purcell
Biographie Shawn Purcell
Shawn Purcell
originally hailing from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is a jazz guitarist, composer, arranger and educator based in the Washington DC region. Purcell has shared the stage, recorded with, and/or toured with Walt Weiskopf, Pat Bianchi, Regina Carter, Steve Fidyk, Chip McNeill, Sean Jones, Steve Allee, Brian Charette, Terell Stafford, Tim Warfield, Lucas Pino, Peter Erskine, The Chicago Jazz Ensemble, The Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra, Javier Nero Jazz Orchestra, Eddie Daniels, National Symphony Orchestra and many others. Purcell has appeared at jazz venues and festivals around the globe. His performance credits include legendary venues like The Kennedy Center, Blues Alley, Smalls, Chris’ Jazz Café, The Jazz Kitchen, The Bop Stop, Con Alma, Sharp 9 Gallery, Keystone Korner Baltimore, JazzB in São Paulo and Aalt Stadhaus in Luxembourg as well as major festivals such as Umbria Jazz Festival, Ancona Jazz Festival, DC Jazz Fest, Indy Jazz Fest and Savannah Jazz Festival.
As a recording artist, Purcell’s guitar work can be heard on nearly 40 albums with Chip McNeill, Steve Fidyk, Alan Baylock Jazz Orchestra, Ben Patterson Group, Ben Patterson Jazz Orchestra, The Capitol Bones, Mike Tomaro Big Band and multiple releases by vocalist Darden Purcell, including her latest release Love’s Got Me In a Lazy Mood (OA2 Records). His debut as a bandleader, Symmetricity, was released in 2019 on Armored Records, followed by 180, released on Origin Records in 2022. His latest 2025 Origin Records album, Oblivity, features saxophone great Walt Weiskopf.
Purcell dedicated over 20 years as a member of the military big bands in Washington DC. From 1996-2004, Purcell was the guitarist in the US Air Force jazz ensemble, The Airmen of Note. During his time with “The Note,” Purcell performed in England, Germany, Turkey, Luxembourg, The Azores, Belgium, Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Italy, Kuwait, and Bahrain. He recently finished his tenure as the guitarist with the Washington DC based US Navy Band “Commodores” jazz ensemble.
As an educator, Purcell currently serves as adjunct professor of jazz guitar, jazz combos and jazz arranging at George Mason University. He has served on the jazz faculty at West Viriginia University, Towson University, Middle Tennessee State University, and was a Visiting Lecturer in Jazz Studies at Indiana University, Bloomington, under the direction of David Baker. He has led master classes at major universities throughout the country and has served on the faculty for camps such as Mason Jazz Camp, National Jazz Workshop, Maryland Summer Jazz Camp, JazzWire Summer Summit, and National Guitar Workshop. Purcell has penned educational articles for Premier Guitar, Jazz Guitar Life, and DownBeat Magazine.
Purcell holds a BM in Recording Arts & Sciences from Duquesne University, an MA in Music from Middle Tennessee State University, and a DMA in Jazz Performance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
"With this collection of originals played by a group of great musicians, Shawn Purcell shows his mastery and maturity as player and composer of the highest level. The tunes are varied and very well crafted, and Shawn shows his great range as a guitarist. This is a beautiful collection of musical stories!!" - Peter Bernstein
