Hailed by the National Post as "a bassist to follow," bassist, composer and educator Ashley Summers was born just outside of Vancouver on the West Coast of Canada. With her musical family as her earliest inspiration, she began to play double bass at the age of fifteen, and shortly after moved to Toronto, Ontario, to study with Canadian jazz luminary Don Thompson. She later went on to complete a Masters Degree in Jazz Performance at the renowned Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, where she was also an Associate Instructor to jazz legend David Baker.

Equally passionate about composition and performance, Ashley's talents have brought her to stages all over the world. In 2003, she represented Canada when she was selected to be a member of the Sisters In Jazz All-Star Quintet, an International Collegiate Competition sponsored by IAJE and BET on Jazz. More recently, she has been touring venues throughout the US, from concert halls like the Kennedy Center for the Arts to Cleveland's Nighttown and the Lilypad in Boston, supporting such like-minded artists as Bobby Selvaggio, Paul Tynan and Aaron Lington and their original projects as well as her own. Recent performances have included special guests Corey Christiansen, Leo Blanco, Rez Abbasi and Kenny Werner.

Aside from keeping a busy performance schedule, Ashley is also an in-demand educator. For several years she served as director of IAJE Canada's 'Jazzmobile' project, which placed professional jazz musicians in Canadian schools to motivate, educate and inspire young musicians. She also frequently serves as an adjudicator, guest artist and clinician at festivals and universities throughout Canada and the US, including the annual Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival in Moscow, Idaho.

Currently, Ashley is based in the Cleveland, Ohio area and is on faculty at Ashland University. She continues to develop her own projects and to support a variety of exciting local and international artists in jazz and other genres, both live and in the studio. Two upcoming album releases of note include Paul Tynan and Aaron Lington's "Bi-Coastal Collective 3" and Bobby Selvaggio's "Way of Being", both of which will be available on iTunes in 2013.