Prometheus featuring Ken Mitchell & Martie Vandry

Ken Mitchell has been singing and playing harmonica in front of audiences since 1972.  Since moving to the Bay Area in 1984 he has performed at Jazz clubs, including Yoshi's.  He has studied with world famous jazz singer Mark Murphy, and is also a former member of The Oakland Jazz Choir.  In 2009, "Sunrise", an original song cowritten with Martie Vandry was selected by the San Jose Jazz Society to be performed at the "Silicon Valley Composer's Showcase" at The Improv in San Jose, CA.  He has been influenced by a wide range of singers, from Ray Charles to John Lennon to Ella Fitzgerald; and by instrumentalists from John Coltrane to blues harmonica legend Little Walter.  Together with his life partner and musical collaborator Martie Vandry, he is dedicated to writing and performing original music with an uplifting message, as well as classic jazz, blues and other forms of popular music.

Martie Vandry has been singing all of her life.  She and her two older sisters would 'lip sync' to their father's albums of the Lennon Sisters and perform them for their parents.  She taught herself to play the guitar at the age of twelve and sang, acted and performed throughout high school.  Her musical influences are diverse from Jazz to 70's , R&B to Latin and World Music.  She has studied music theory and voice and became a voice teacher in 1989.  She taught voice at The East Bay Center for the Performing Arts until 2001.  Martie has been singing professionally in the Bay Area since the late 80's.  She has performed as a solo artist as well as with other groups including The Generation Gap Big Band, Blue Light, an original Bay Area based band and the original 55 voice Oakland Jazz Choir under the direction of Molly Holm.  She has performed throughout the Bay Area in many venues including Yoshi's, The Great American Music Hall, Kimball's East, La Pena and Ashkenaz.  Martie and her daughter, Christina also appeared in Mavis Staples' video "Blood Is Thicker Than Time" in 1992.  Most recently Martie and Ken have been focusing more on their original compositions.

Ken and Martie met in 1995 when they both performed with The Oakland Jazz Choir.  They have been performing and writing songs together since 2000.  They both still perform as solo artists as well as performing together in their band, Prometheus.  Knowing firsthand of the amazing healing power of music Ken and Martie write songs from the heart, speaking their own truths through song, influenced by the musical styles and sounds that they grew up with.  Their wish and intention is to promote peace and wellbeing through their music.  "Prometheus" takes their name from the Greek hero of the same name who stole fire from the Gods to share with all humanity.  Ken and Martie like to think of Prometheus as the 'Bringer of Light' and hope in some small way that their music can do exactly that.