..William Ellis, Joseph Patrick Moore and Shawn Perkinson first met while attending the University of Tennessee in Knoxville between the years of 1989-1994. They each studied privately with:
Jerry Coker (Pat Metheny, Jaco Pastorius, R. Brecker)
Donald Brown (Art Blakey, Freddie Hubbard)
Rusty Holloway (Woody Herman)
Mark Boling (Billy Higgins, TS Monk)
Keith Brown (Mose Allison, Tommy Flannigan)
and many other important teachers and mentors.
While attending U.T.K., William Ellis, Joseph Patrick Moore and Shawn Perkinson would play regularly together in a variety of settings. Upon graduating U.T.K. their opportunities and talents would lead each of them to different parts of the United States and abroad. While they would keep in touch, they wouldn’t play together again for many years. That all changed in 2002, when EMP Project assembled together for the first time in more than a decade. They captured this magical meeting on their self-titled debut CD, "E.M.P. Project" released in 2003 on Blue Canoe Records .
With the success of their debut release, EMP Project reassembled to embark on another CD recording project. This outing, now dubbed "Wherever we Go" , is an explorative and adventurous recording from this original jazz trio.
