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maria schneider

Maria Schneider

Multi-Grammy Award


winning composer Maria Schneider has been referred to as "one of America’s leading composers."? Maria Schneider’s music has been hailed by critics as “evocative, majestic, magical, heartstoppingly gorgeous, and beyond categorization.” She and her orchestra became widely known starting in 1994 when they released their first recording, Evanescence.? With that recording, Schneider began to develop her personal way of writing for her 18-member collective, tailoring her compositions to distinctly highlight the unique voices of the group. The Maria Schneider Orchestra has performed at festivals and concert halls worldwide. She herself has received numerous commissions and guest conducting invites, working with over 85 groups from over 30 countries spanning Europe, South America, Australia, Asia and North America. Schneider has become a strong voice for music advocacy and in 2014, testified before the US Congressional Subcommittee on Intellectual Property about digital rights.
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“To call Schneider the most
important woman in jazz is
missing the point...

She is a major composer–period.”

— TIME MAGAZINE

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jim hall

Jim Hall

NEA Jazz Master

Jim Hall (1930-2013) influenced an entire generation of Jazz musicians and is considered by many to be one of the greatest ever Jazz guitarists. From his early work with Jimmy Guiffre and Chico Hamilton to his now legendary collaborations with Sonny Rollins, Paul Desmond, Ron Carter and Art Farmer, Hall was a major figure in the legacy of American music. 
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“His intensely intimate music gets
under your skin rather than
grabbing you by the lapels...

Mr. Hall has a sound as recognizable as the voice of a friend."

— WALL STREET JOURNAL



ellio villafranca

Ellio Villafranca

Elio Villafranca is at the forefront of the latest generation of remarkable Cuban pianists, composers and bandleaders that for several years has been making major creative contributions to the international development of modern jazz. In the 2010 Grammy Awards he was nominated in Best Latin Jazz Album of the Year, for his performance, composition and co-production in the album Things I Wanted To Do by Chembo Corniel. He has released three albums as a bandleader.

Elio was honored by BMI with the BMI Jazz Guaranty Award and received the first NFA/Heineken Green Ribbon Master Artist Music Grant for the creation of his Concerto for Mariachi, for Afro-Cuban Percussion and Symphony Orchestra. Over the years Elio's music has featured jazz master artists such as Pat Martino, Jane Bunnett, Terell Stafford, and Eric Alexander, among other notable instrumentalists. He has also performed nationally and internationally as leader of his quartet, and as a sideman he has collaborated with leading jazz and Latin jazz artists including: Wynton Marsalis; Jon Faddis; Sonny Fortune; Giovanni Hidalgo; Eddie Henderson; Miguel Zenón; Cándido Camero; and Johnny Pacheco.

 

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"... Villafranca emotes an expressive, emotional quality enhanced by his technically brilliant approach to the keyboard and his rhythmically complex original compositions.."
-Philadelphia Tribune (Steve Bryn)

patricia barber

Patricia Barber

Few performers in or out of jazz are as consistently brilliant as Patricia Barber

wrote Jazz Times. Born outside Chicago in 1955, Barber came by music naturally. Her father was Floyd “Shim” Barber, a saxophonist who played intermittently with Glenn Miller’s orchestra, her mother a blues singer. Barber’s “career has been brilliantly marked by a complete unwillingness to compromise her approach to music,” wrote All about Jazz. “She exists in that uncharted creative realm where she successfully defies classification…. These characteristics spotlight Barber's role as an innovator and catalyst for musical evolution, a musician performing from the front edge rather than the middle of the creative muse.” Barber’s 30-year legacy with Premonition and Blue Note Records includes three albums selling over 100,000 copies each. In 2003, she was awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship in Composition, the first songwriter ever to do so. She has toured the world’s concert venues and festivals. She holds down a renowned Monday night house gig at Chicago’s legendary Green Mill Jazz Club when she’s not on tour. In 2015 she embarked on a successful tour with preeminent soprano Renée Fleming entitled “Higher: Renée Fleming and Patricia Barber Perform the Music of Patricia Barber.” The next year Barber opened Chicago Ear Taxi New Music Festival in Chicago’s Millenium Park.

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As a pianist and vocalist, she is a force to be reckoned with. As a songwriter, she is pure devastation.”

— Jazz Police

“Conspicuously literate and restlessly inventive.”

- The New Yorker

spanish harlem orchestra

Spanish Harlem Orchestra

Multi-Grammy® Award winning Spanish Harlem Orchestra

founder Oscar Hernández is all about tradition. Born into a large Puerto Rican family living in the Bronx, it was the nearby Spanish Harlem neighborhood that shaped his cultural musical sensibilities. The soundtrack to this bustling enclave in the ‘60s, emanating from any given window on any given day, was a mix of Latin Jazz and American pop radio.  In the spirit of this tradition the Spanish Harlem Orchestra was born.

With each album, and every Grammy nomination, this Latin Jazz powerhouse knows it is crucial to continually push themselves and raise the bar. We are very proud to host Oscar and the members of this world class ensemble on here ArtistShare.

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"It's a joy for me to congratulate my friend Oscar Hernandez 

& Spanish Harlem Orchestra on their 15th anniversary. 

This ensemble has been bringing the real sound of the 

streets of New York, Puerto Rico and Cuba 

to us with album after album of classic music. 

It's a a privilege to know these musicians 

and to have had the pleasure of performing 

and recording with them as well. "

Abrazo,

— Paul Simon

the clayton brothers

The Clayton Brothers

The Clayton Brothers,

originally founded in 1977, continue to share a common musical vision.  

John Clayton is a Grammy winning bassist/composer/arranger/conductor and has written and arranged music for Milt Jackson, Nancy Wilson, Ray Brown, Regina Carter, McCoy Tyner, Carmen McRae, Quincy Jones, Diana Krall, Kurt Elling, Dee Dee Bridgewater Gladys Knight, Natalie Cole, Michael Buble' and many others.

Jeff Clayton has recorded with Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight, Kenny Rogers, Michael Jackson, Patti Labelle, Earth Wind & Fire, and solo'd on Madonna's recording "Back in Business."  As a jazz musician, he has worked with Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Ella Fitzgerald, Woody Harmon, Lionel Hampton, Lena Horne, McCoy Toner, Dee Dee Bridgewater and many others.

Currently, the quintet consists of John's son, Gerald Clayton on piano (also Grammy© nominated for his 2009 CD  “Two Shade”, for Best Instrumental Composition, “Battle Circle” from The Clayton Brothers’ “The New Song and Dance” CD and in 2011 for Best Jazz Instrumental Album for “Bond: The Paris Sessions”) .

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"Excellence in the writing,
excellence in the ensemble blowing
and excellence in the solos."

— JAZZTIMES

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billy childs

Billy Childs

Billy Childs

was born in Los Angeles on March 8th, 1957, to Joseph and Mable Childs. At age six, he was enrolled in piano lessons by his parents, both fervent music lovers. The younger Childs developed rapidly, and at age sixteen entered the Community School of the Performing Arts, a preparatory music program sponsored by the University of Southern California. Although the initial focus of his energies had been piano performance, he was so inspired by the teachings of his theory professor, Marienne Uzsler, that he shifted his attention to composition. Soon after graduating, Childs began touring with Freddie Hubbard and went on to record or perform with other influential jazz musicians such as J.J. Johnson, Joe Henderson, and Wynton Marsalis.

He went on to record numerous albums under his own name while simultaneously occupying a parallel niche as an in-demand composer. His commission credits include Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, and others. Childs has garnered 13 GRAMMY nominations and four awards as well as a Chamber Music America Composer’s Grant, a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, and an award from The American Academy of Arts and Letters.
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“...powerful and compelling...”

— AUDIOPHILE AUDITION



chris potter

Chris Potter

A world-class soloist, accomplished composer and formidable bandleader,

saxophonist Chris Potter has emerged as a leading light of his generation. Down Beat called him "One of the most studied (and copied) saxophonists on the planet" while Jazz Times identified him as "a figure of international renown."

Born in Chicago on New Year’s Day 1971, Chris Potter took up the alto sax at the age of ten and played on his first jazz gig at the age of 13. His education took him to New York City’s New School and Manhattan School of Music. Graduating from Manhattan in 1993, Potter began a long series of sideman activities with top names like the Mingus Big Band, Paul Motion, Ray Brown, Jim Hall, James Moody, Dave Douglas, Mike Mainieri and many more. Although he’s performed extensively with the incredible bassist/composer Dave Holland’s various ensembles, Potter has been performing all over the world with his own groups since the release of "Gratitude" early 2001. Potter has consistently appeared in the Down Beat Critic’s and Reader’s Polls and has been named Tenor Saxophonist of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association. He received a Grammy nomitation for Best Instrumental Solo for his playing on Joanne Brackeen’s "Pink Elephant Magic."

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“…easily the most
compelling saxophonist
of his generation.”

— DETROIT FREE PRESS



bob brookmeyer

Bob Brookmeyer

Grammy® nominated composer/trombonist

Bob Brookmeyer (1929-2011) was named as one the National Endowment for the Arts' 2006 Jazz Masters. He was best known for his writing, especially his arrangements for big bands, which captured the spirit of past masters like Duke Ellington and Count Basie while remaining thoroughly contemporary. His charts in the 1960s for Mulligan’s Concert Jazz Band and the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra helped invigorate the big-band genre at a time when many critics considered it moribund. As a valve trombonist, Bob worked with artists such as Gerry Mulligan, Stan Getz, Clark Terry, Jimmy Guiffre, and Clark Terry. Also an accomplished pianist, he recorded a two-piano album with Bill Evans in 1959. Highly respected as a teacher, he taught classes at the New England Conservatory. ArtistShare was fortunate enough to have recorded and released two monumental recordings by this Jazz master, "Spirit Music" and "The Standards Project." Bob passed away on December 15, 2011 and will be greatly missed by us all.

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"Melodic elegance, advanced awareness of harmony and
counterpoint... a composer and arranger whose work has
inspired such contemporary big-band stars as Maria Schneider..."

— THE GUARDIAN



jane ira bloom

Jane Ira Bloom

Soaring, poetic, quick silver, spontaneous and instantly identifiable

are words used to describe the soprano sound of saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom. She's been steadfastly developing her singular voice on the soprano saxophone for over 35 years and is a pioneer in the use of live electronics and movement in jazz.

Her continuing commitment to "pushing the envelope" in her music has led to collaborations with such outstanding jazz artists as Kenny Wheeler, Charlie Haden, Ed Blackwell, Rufus Reid, Matt Wilson, Bob Brookmeyer, Julian Priester, Jerry Granelli, Billy Hart, Mark Dresser, Bobby Previte, & Fred Hersch. She's also spearheaded collaborative world music groups featuring world music virtuosi Min Xioa-Fen on Chinese pipa, South Indian veena artist Geetha Ramanathan Bennett, koto artist Miya Masaoka, Korean komungo player Jin Hi Kim, and bassist Mark Dresser. She has performed at such diverse venues as Carnegie Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Museum of Modern Art, the United Nations, the Montreal, JVC, and San Francisco Jazz Festivals as well as regular club engagements in NYC and tours of England, Portugal, Switzerland and Brazil with her current quartet.

A nine time winner of the Jazz Journalists Award for soprano sax of the year, the Downbeat International Critics Poll for soprano saxophone, the Mary Lou Williams Women In Jazz Award for lifetime service to jazz, the Charlie Parker Fellowship for Jazz Innovation and the International Women in Jazz Jazz Masters Award. Bloom is the first musician ever commissioned by the NASA Art Program and was honored to have an asteroid named in her honor by the International Astronomical Union (asteroid 6083janeirabloom). Her 2014 all-ballads release "Sixteen Sunset" was nominated for a Grammy Award for surround-sound.

In addition, she has garnered numerous awards for her creativity including a Guggenheim Fellowship in music composition and a residency at the Baryshnikov Arts Center. A new jazz festival in Brooklyn, NY featuring cutting edge woman artists was named in her honor (The Bloom Festival).

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"...one of the most gorgeous tones
and hauntingly lyrical ballad
conceptions of any soprano saxophonist."

— PULSE



robin eubanks

Robin Eubanks

Trombonist Robin Eubanks

has an impressive list of performance credits, including Slide Hampton, Sun Ra, Stevie Wonder, Art Blakey, Bobby Previte, Steve Turre, Dave Holland, Eric Harland, Mark Turner, Avishai Cohen, Miguel Zenón, Stefon Harris, Edward Simon, Matt Penman, The Tonight Show Band, and the Saturday Night Live band. Robin teaches at the New England Conservatory in Boston, Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio, and New York University. He won Grammys for his performances on Michael Brecker’s Wide Angles and Dave Holland’s What Goes Around and Overtime. And in 2014, Robin won the Jazz Times Critics Poll for Best Trombonist and is a multiple winner of Downbeat’s Readers and Critics Polls for Trombonist of the Year. He’s also won compositional grants from Chamber Music America and an ASCAP Composer’s grant. Robin comes from a musical family which includes his brothers guitarist Kevin Eubanks and trumpeter Duane Eubanks. go to projects…

“In his hands the trombone is transformed
from an aging relic of big-band day's
into a youthful augur of the future.”

— PHILADELPHIA DAILY

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rachel z

Rachel Z

Manhattan-born and raised Rachel Nicolazzo (aka Rachel Z)

had music practically ingrained in her genetic code. Groomed to follow in her mother’s operatic footsteps, she began voice lessons at two, started classical piano lessons at seven and attended the opera by age nine.

Listening to Herbie Hancock’s harmonies over Wayne Shorter’s compositions helped her bridge the gap from her classical training to jazz. After launching a quintet called Nardis, she studied with Joanne Brackeen and Richie Beirach. Rachel Z graduated from the New England Conservatory with a ‘Distinction in Performance’ award while working professionally in the Boston area with performers like Bob Moses, Miroslav Vitous and George Garzone.

She began performing and recording steadily with the classic fusion band Steps Ahead from 1988 through 1996. Rachel also worked with Al Di Meola, Larry Coryell, Special EFX, and Angela Bofill, and began a fruitful association with producer/vibraphonist Mike Mainieri. She worked with Wayne Shorter on his hit comeback album "High Life," for which she built a synthesized orchestral framework to crystallize his musical vision. She played piano on the recording served as the musical director for the tour that followed. The album won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Jazz Album.

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“New York-born pianist Rachel Nicolazzo,
nicknamed Rachel Z, is one of the more musically
open-minded 'young lions' to have emerged from the 1990s.”

 

— AMAZON.COM

 

danilo perez

Danilo Perez

Danilo Pérez

started his musical studies when he was three years old with his father, a bandleader and singer. He went on to study at the National Conservatory in Panama and the Berklee College of Music. While still a student, he worked as a sideman with Jon Hendricks, Terence Blanchard, Slide Hampton, Claudio Roditi and Paquito D’Rivera, and went on to perform with the likes legends Wayne Shorter, Steve Lacy, and Roy Haynes.

Perez has released eight ablums a leader, earning Grammy® and Latin Grammy® nominations for "Central Avenue (1989)," "Motherland (2000)," and "Across The Crystal Sea (2008)." As a composer he has been commissioned by The Lincoln Center, Chicago Jazz Festival, Carnegie Hall and Imani Winds Quintet among others.

Pérez, who served as Goodwill Ambassador to UNICEF, has received a variety of awards for his musical achievements, activism and social work efforts. He currently serves as UNESCO Artist for Peace, Cultural Ambassador to the Republic of Panama, Founder and Artistic Director of the Panama Jazz Festival, and Artistic Director of the Berklee Global Jazz Institute in Boston’s Berklee College of Music.

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“but there are still amazing musicians
like Danilo Perez... he is not
afraid of anything."

— HERBIE HANCOCK



kevin hays

Kevin Hays

Kevin Hays is internationally recognized

as one of the premier jazz pianists of his generation. Many of his 15 recordings as leader have received critical acclaim from publications such as The New York Times, Downbeat Magazine and Jazz Times, as well as a “Coup de Coeur” from the Académie Charles Cros (France). A prolific sideman appearing on over 60 records, Kevin’s long list of notable musical associations include records with Chris Potter, Joshua Redman, Nicholas Payton, and Al Foster.
2011’s Modern Music (Nonesuch), a piano duo collaboration with Brad Mehldau and composer Patrick Zimmerli, garnered widespread critical acclaim. The duo premiered several works at Carnegie Hall, and has toured throughout the US, Europe, and South America. The solo Variations (Pirouet, 2011), was released to excellent reviews throughout North America and Europe. go to projects…

“Hays is a wizard of harmony and clarity. His touch places
him in a class by himself and he seems to be one of the few ivory
ticklers that understand how to use the full range of the instrument.”

— ALL ABOUT JAZZ



brian lynch

Brian Lynch

Grammy© Award Winner

Brian Lynch is a vital force and emergent legend within both the hardcore straight ahead and Latin Jazz communities. He is as comfortable negotiating the complexities of clave with Afro-Caribbean pioneer Eddie Palmieri as he is swinging through advanced harmony with bebop maestro Phil Woods. A honored graduate of two of the jazz world’s most distinguished academies, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers and the Horace Silver Quintet, he has been a valued collaborator with jazz artists such as Benny Golson, Toshiko Akiyoshi, and Charles McPherson; Latin music icons as diverse as Hector LaVoe and Lila Downs; and pop luminaries such as Prince. As a bandleader and recording artist he has released 19 critically acclaimed CDs featuring his distinctive composing and arranging, and toured the world with various ensembles reflecting the wide sweep of his music. He currently is Professor of Jazz Trumpet at the Frost School Of Music, University of Miami as well as conducting clinics, residencies and workshops at prestigious institutions of learning the world over. His talents have been recognized by top placing in the Downbeat Critics and Readers Polls (#3 Trumpet 2011 Critics Poll), 2005 and 2007 Grammy award nominations, and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Chamber Music America, and Meet The Composer. go to projects…

“A masterful soloist who came to prominence
with the late Art Blakey…Lynch is even in command today...
offering peerless, flawless improvisations and collaborating empathetically...

Lynch is also a gifted composer.”

— LA TIMES



ingrid jensen

Ingrid Jensen

Ingrid Jensen

has been hailed as one of the most gifted trumpeters of her generation. After graduating from Berklee College of Music in 1989, she recorded three highly acclaimed CDs for the ENJA record label, soon becoming one of the most in-demand trumpet players in the global jazz scene. After a teaching stint in Europe in her early twenties (as the youngest professor in the history of the Bruckner Conservatory in Linz, Austria), Ingrid settled in New York City in the mid-1990s where she joined the innovative jazz orchestras of Maria Schneider and Darcy James Argue. More recently, Ingrid has been performing with the Grammy- winning Terri-Lyne Carrington and her Mosaic Project. Ingrid is a featured soloist on the Christine Jensen Jazz Orchestra’s JUNO award winning album Treelines (2011), and its successor, Habitat (2013). She has performed with a multi-generational cast of jazz legends ranging from Clark Terry to Esperanza Spalding. Ingrid has also performed alongside British R&B artist Corrine Bailey Rae on Saturday Night Live and recorded with Canadian pop icon Sarah McLachlan. In addition to her busy sideman and featured soloist schedule, Ingrid leads her own quintet, quartet and organ trio. Her own bands have garnered glowing reviews and a loyal fan base in Australia, South Africa, Europe, Canada, the US, South America (including Brazil, Peru and Chile), Japan and Mexico. Ingrid won the Carmine Caruso Trumpet Competition in 1991 and has twice served on the judges' panel. go to projects…

"Ingrid plays trumpet and flugelhorn with all the
brilliance and fire of a true virtuoso, following the spirit
of the muse as she creates…warm, sensitive, exciting and totally honest..."

— MARIAN MCPARTLAND



donny mccaslin

Donny McCaslin

Donny McCaslin

picked up the saxophone at an early age and has explored the extensive stylistic possibilities of the instrument, from modern jazz to funk to lush ballads. At the age of 12, McCaslin began playing with a group led by his father, a vibraphonist. As a senior at Berklee, he joined vibraphonist Gary Burton’s quartet and toured internationally with the group for four years. McCaslin went on to work with Steps Ahead, the Maria Schneider Orchestra, the Gil Evans Orchestra, George Gruntz Concert Jazz Band, The Danilo Perez Quartet, and Santi Debriano’s Panamaniacs. He was also a member of the experimental jazz group Lan Xang. McCaslin has released numerous records under his own name and has received three Grammy nominations.  go to projects…

“McCaslin seems to have direct access to
emotional expression in his playing, as if
it were a valve he could open at will.

— NY TIMES


alex sipiagin

Alex Sipiagin

Alex Sipiagin

hails from Yaroslavl, Russia and got his advanced musical training at the Gnessin Music Institute and Conservatory. After competing at the 1990 Thelonius Monk Trumpet Competition, where he placed 4th amongst players such as Nicolas Payton, Ryan Kaiser and Scott Wendholt, Sipiagin moved to New York in 1991. His talent was quickly recognized by others, and Sipiagin soon began playing in various groups such as the Gil Evans Orchestra and the Zebra Coast Band headed by award winning composer/arranger Gil Goldstein. He became a regular member in groups such as the George Gruntz Concert Jazz Band, Mingus Big Band (and later Mingus Dynasty and Mingus Orchestra), Dave Holland Big Band (and various small groups), Michael Brecker's Quindectet, the latter two winning Grammy's in 2003, 2004 and 2006. He has also performed with Eric Clapton, Dr. John, Aaron Neville and Elvis Costello, with recent recordings with Michael Franks and Dave Sanborn. Sipiagin regularly tours worldwide both as a soloist and sideman for various groups. go to projects…

"Alex Sipiagin is an amazing musician - truly a multifaceted
composer, arranger, producer, a wonderful
lead trumpet player, and most of all, a

completely original trumpet and flugelhorn soloist."

— RANDY BRECKER

scott colley

Scott Colley

Scott Colley

graduated from CalArts with a Bachelor of Music degree in 1988. He has been the bassist of choice for such jazz legends as Herbie Hancock, Jim Hall, Andrew Hill, and Michael Brecker.

His remarkably empathetic skills, strong melodic sense and improvisational abilities have served him well in groups led by colleagues Chris Potter, Adam Rogers, Brian Blade, David Binney, and Kenny Werner. Colley has flourished as a composer and bandleader, starting with his 1996 release, “Portable Universe.” Colley has appeared on more than 200 albums to date.

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“One of jazz's most
ubiquitous bassists”

— ALL ABOUT JAZZ



jon gordon

Jon Gordon

A native New Yorker, saxophonist and composer Jon Gordon

was born into a musical family and began playing at age ten. He attended Performing Arts High School and won numerous competitions, including the Julius Grossman, Goldman Band, and Performing Arts Concerto competitions. This led to performances as a soloist with the Julius Grossman Orchestra, Goldman Band and the Performing Arts Orchestra.

Since that time, he has worked with Maria Schneider, Ron McClure, Clark Terry, Benny Carter, Phil Woods, T.S. Monk, TanaReid, Bill Mays, The Vanguard orchestra, Bill Charlap, Ray Barreto, Mark Turner, George Colligan, Chico Hamilton, Jimmy Cobb, Ben Riley, Harry Connick jr., Bob Mintzer, Bill Mobley, and the N.Y. Pops Orchestra, among many others. Jon also appears regularly as a member of the Jazz Nativity, whose other featured artists have included Tito Puente, Ron Carter, Dave Brubeck, Savion Glover, Slide Hampton, and Harold Nicholas.

Additionally, Jon has led his own groups at various European, Canadian and U.S. jazz festivals and clubs, including Ronnie Scott’s and The Pizza Express, The Sunside, The Sunset, LA Villa, The Brecon Jazz Festival, and others. In November of 1996, Jon won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition.

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"Jon is one of
the greatest alto
players ever."

 

— PHIL WOODS



geoffrey keezer

Geoffrey Keezer

Geoffrey Keezer

was playing in jazz clubs as a teenager, holding down the piano chair for Art Blakey at age 18, and touring in the company of Joshua Redman, Benny Golson and Ray Brown in his 20s. More recently he has toured with David Sanborn, Chris Botti, Joe Locke and Christian McBride; worked with vocalist Denise Donatelli on projects garnering three GRAMMY® nominations, and released a series of albums drawing influences from Hawaiian, Okinawan and Afro-Peruvian folk traditions. Perhaps the most exciting turn in Geoffrey’s career is his recent focus on solo piano and his first solo release in thirteen years, "Heart of the Piano." Geoffrey Keezer’s singular style of intellectually abstract lyricism woven over exotically complex rhythms and harmonies makes him one of the most sought-after artists on the modern jazz scene.
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“Geoffrey possesses a refreshingly open-eared sensibility in the
modern manner, and he has more than enough virtuosity and sheer musical wit
and intelligence to weave all of his apparently disparate strands of influence

into an original and compelling whole.”

— TIME MAGAZINE



kate schutt

Kate Schutt

Kate Schutt

is a singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer living in New York City. Raised in Chadds Ford, PA, Kate was schooled in Boston, both in Harvard’s English department, where she studied the influence of jazz on modern poetry, and at Berklee College of Music, where she studied jazz guitar. A constant collaborator, Kate has worked with John Ellis (Charlie Hunter), Terri Lyne Carrington (Herbie Hancock), and Viktor Krauss (Lyle Lovett, Bill Frisell), to name only a few. In 2007 & 2009 Kate was the John Lennon Songwriting Contest Winner in the Jazz Category and received the ASCAP Plus Awards for Jazz Composition from 2006- 2009. go to projects…

"From the first notes I heard,
I knew Kate was the real deal.
A huge talent."

— MARIA SCHNEIDER



julian lage

Julian Lage

Julian Lage

emerged on the music scene at a young age. The young San Francisco Bay Area-based musician was offered record deals on numerous occasions. Playing a unique style that melded blues, classical, folk and jazz influences, Lage decided to wait for the right moment to document his own music. He chooses instead to become a sideman with established instrumentalists like Gary Burton and to collaborate with contemporaries such as pianist Taylor Eigsti. He also went on to perform with Pat Metheny, Kenney Werner, Toots Thielemans, Martin Taylor, and others. He performed at the 2000 Grammy Awards.
 Along the way, Lage received recognition from musical luminaries, including Herbie Hancock and Béla Fleck, and patiently waited until he was ready to go into a studio with a band of like-minded players to realize his own musical vision. He graduated from the Berklee College of Music in 2008 and has since released nine albums as a leader or co-leader.

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“No longer a prodigy,
Julian Lage now qualifies
as a modern master.”

— JAZZTIMES



fabian almazan

Fabian Almazan

Fabian Almazan

is an award-winning Cuban-born American pianist and composer based in New York City.  Fabian is a graduate of the New World School of the Arts High School in Miami, FL, the Brubeck Institute, and the Manhattan School of Music. He has been a touring member of the Terence Blanchard Group for a number of years, and has also worked with artists such as Gretchen Parlato, Paquito D'Rivera, Christian Scott, Chris Dingman, David Sanchez, Stefon Harris, Kendrick Scott, and Ambrose Akinmusire among others.

Fabian received the Cintas Foundation 2010/11 Brandon Fradd Award in Music Composition, and he was selected to participate in the Sundance Composers’ Lab in 2011. He was voted #1 Rising Piano Star on the Downbeat Magazine Critics 2014 Poll and was granted the Chamber Music America 2014 NEW Jazz Works commission. Fabian was recently nominated for a Grammy for his work on Terence Blanchard’s "Breathless."


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“As both a composer and pianist,
Fabian Almazan masterfully manipulates a
balance between lyricism and tension.”

— DOWNBEAT

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jon cowherd

Jon Cowherd

The Kentucky-born, New Orleans-schooled, New York-based

pianist/composer Jon Cowherd is best known for his long-running partnership with drummer/bandleader Brian Blade, with whom he co-founded the Brian Blade Fellowship, whose acclaimed, influential albums showcase Jon's keyboard work and compositions. When not recording and touring with the Fellowship, Cowherd has worked extensively with a broad array of players, singers, and ensembles from the jazz, pop, classical, and rock worlds including Cassandra Wilson's band, Rosanne Cash, Lizz Wright, Iggy Pop, Marc Cohn, Mark Olson and Victoria Williams, Daniel Lanois, Joni Mitchell, John Leventhal, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Dave Easley, Delfeayo Marsalis, Jeff Parker, Marcus Strickland, Jack Wilkins, the New Orleans Ballet, and the New Orleans Symphony and Opera. As a producer, Cowherd has overseen albums by Lizz Wright, Alyssa Graham and The Local NYC. go to projects…

"Cowherd's playing shows an artful touch to the keys...
emphasis on just the right dynamic at just the right time
and a sense of harmonic imagination that is tied to the music of the moment."

— JAZZ REVIEW

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niels lan doky

Niels Lan Doky

Copenhagen-born Danish-Vietnamese composer/pianist

Niels Lan Doky has recorded more than 30 albums as a leader and has worked with many artists including Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Joe Henderson, Gary Peacock, Jack DeJohnette, Ray Brown, Randy and Michael Brecker, David Sanborn, Al Foster, Billy Hart, John Scofield, John Abercrombie, Bill Evans, Bob Berg, Tom Harrell, Ray Drummond, Al Jarreau, Charlie Haden, Gino Vannelli, Thad Jones, and others. Niels is a "melodic player with a deep and enlightening touch" -Michel Contat (Telerama, France).
He has been commissioned by United Nations Educational Scientific & Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) to compose, record and perform the innovative suite “The Story Of Earth and Water” on the occasion of the International Year of Biodiversity 2010. He is also the recipient of the Ben Webster Award, the Prince Henrik  Award, Fermaten Live Award/Best Jazz Concert Of The Year and others. Doky was knighted by HRH the Queen of Denmark in 2010.

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“That rare thing in the jazz
of our time, an original voice
in the great tradition."

— DAN MORGENSTERN

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gonzalo grau

Gonzalo Grau

Grammy nominated multi-instrumentalist

Gonzalo Grau established himself through performances with Venezuelan music projects like Maroa, Schola Cantorum de Venezuela, Camerata de Caracas and the Simón Bolivar National Youth Orchestra, jazz icon Maria Schneider and the Latin jazz giant Timbalaye. A Berklee College Suma Cum Laude, Gonzalo developed skills in many instruments, including the viola da gamaba, the cello, and the flamenco cajón. As a music director he leads two projects of his own, "Plural" (Latin jazz-Flamenco-Venezuelan fusion) and "La Clave Secreta" (salsa fusion), which was nominated for the 2008 Grammys in the Best Tropical Album category. As a recording artist, Grau has participated in over eighty productions that bridge both classical and popular music worlds. His most recent productions include the studio recording of Golijov's "La Pasión Según San Marcos" (winner of the ECHO award 2010), the album "México of Rolando Villazón" (winner of the ECHO award 2011), and "Nazareno" with pianists Katia and Marielle Labeque. He has also produced a performance of "West Side Story" with the Labeque sisters (winner of the Choc the Classica). As a composer he has collaborated with the legendary Osvaldo Golijov for the opera Ainadamar and La Pasion Segun San Marcos. He has been commissioned by the Atlanta Symphony, the Chicago Symphony, the Bach Academy Natural, pianists Katia & Marielle Labeque, and others. go to projects…

“Grau's sophisticated, jazz-schooled
harmonic sensibilities achieve
a perfect sonic frisson..."

— ALL ABOUT MUSIC



doug beavers

Doug Beavers

Grammy Winning artist Doug Beavers

has established himself as cutting-edge studio trombonist and as a world-renowned producer, composer, and arranger. Winning a Grammy for his work with Eddie Palmieri in 2006 on "Listen Here!" and working with the Spanish Harlem Orchestra, Doug has become known for his attention to detail and his exceptional musicianship.

Nine-time Grammy Winner Eddie Palmieri first took notice of Doug as his reputation rose in New York. While working with Eddie, Doug was asked to re-arrange music from the 1960's ensemble, "La Perfecta." Eddie developed a new project, “La Perfecta II,” where Doug became lead trombonist and arranger. This allowed Doug to work with some of the best in Latin Jazz, such as Dave Valentin, Brian Lynch, Mario Rivera and John Rodriguez, Jr.

Since then, Doug has been recognized as one of today’s leading musicians. In addition to the Spanish Harlem Orchestra and Eddie Palmieri, he has worked with the, Rosemary Clooney, Don Omar, Sheila E., Pete Escovedo, Mingus Big Band, and countless others.

Doug’s ArtistShare project, "Titanes del Trombón," shares his artistic vision and pays homage to greats of both jazz and Afro-Cuban idioms. The project features musicians that are at the forefront of these idioms today, including Oscar Hernandez, Edsel Gomez, Luisito Quintero, Luques Curtis, and more.

In 2017, Doug was once again nominated for a Grammy for his ArtistShare recording "The Art of the Arrangement".

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"For the efforts of Mr. Beavers,
the new millennium finds me
truly grateful"

 

— EDDIE PALMIERI



diva jazz orchestra

Diva Jazz Orchestra

Headed by Music Director/Drummer Sherrie Maricle,

DIVA exudes the excitement and force found in the tradition of the historic big bands but with an eye towards today’s progressive sound and originality. With New York as their home base, DIVA performs all over the world playing contemporary, mainstream big band jazz, composed and arranged to fit the individual personalities and styles of the players.

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“If there were still big band cutting sessions, DIVA would swing a lot of the remaining big bands out of the place.”

 

— Nat Hentoff, Jazz Times