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Take Five with Saxophonist Nick Stefanacci

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Meet Nick StefanacciPop/jazz saxophonist, music educator and philanthropist Nick Stefanacci has been a lover of music and performance his entire life. Having started playing saxophone at age 10, he began performing at 16 with the then-rising southern rock guitarist, Derek Trucks. Stefanacci has since worked with some of the industry elite, including, Latin Grammy Award-winning rock group, Diamante Electrico, hip-hop legends Ja Rule and DMC (RunDMC), Cindy Bradley, Dog Eat Dog, Bernard “Pretty" Purdie, and The Four Tops to name ...

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Meet Tubist Jim Shearer

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Meet Jim Shearer Jim Shearer was born in Water Valley, Mississippi, in 1964. His family owned the local newspaper, The North Mississippi Herald, from 1943-2004, and his father was an active musician on the side, playing jazz saxophone and serving as Minister of Music at the family church (but never at the same time!). After spending several years as a flautist at a young age, Jim became a tubist because no one else in the beginning band would play the ...

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Take Five With Pianist Olivia Perez-Collellmir

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Meet Olivia Perez-Collellmir Olivia Pérez-Collellmir is a solo pianist, composer and music director from Barcelona, Spain. Currently, Olivia is a member of the faculty in the Berklee piano department. As a tribute to her heritage, she incentivized the formation of the first Berklee Contemporary Spanish Music and Flamenco Jazz Ensemble. As a performer, Olivia has performance residencies at The Beehive, the Beat Hotel, La Fábrica Central and performs at many other venues in the US and internationally: El Gran Teatre ...

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Take Five With Bassist / Composer Jakob Dreyer

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Meet Jakob Dreyer Jakob Dreyer is a New York City based jazz musician, bassist, and composer. Born and raised in Germany he moved to New York in 2014. He appears on over 30 albums as a sideman, and as a leader he has released two albums on Fresh Sound New Talent: Songs, Hymns & Ballads Vol. 1 and Songs, Hymns & Ballads Vol. 2. Both volumes feature Jason Rigby on saxophone, Jon Cowherd on piano, and Jimmy Macbride on drums. ...

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Take Five with Multi-Instrumentalist Jason Vitelli

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Meet Jason Vitelli We now find Brooklyn-based musician Jason Vitelli standing at a crossroads, pivoting from being a prolific songwriter into an eclectic composer. Though he has previously written for video, his upcoming 4th album, 1. Ambient Corridors (2024), stands out as an inaugural collection of captivating works. He curates an opus of twelve pieces, weaving together acoustic instrumentation, such as cello, piano, and clarinet, with synthetic elements that include electronic programming and sampling. Each track, from the expansive orchestral ...

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Take Five With Pianist Sean Mason

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Meet Sean Mason On Friday, November 17th at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, New Jersey, pianist Sean Mason will lead a five-piece ensemble and two wonderful singers in a special tribute to Disney's centennial. In a one-night only concert, audiences will hear 100 years of Disney through the lens of jazz. “When You Wish Upon a Star--A Jazz Tribute to 100 Years of Disney" presents popular songs from famous Disney films such as Snow White, Mary Poppins ...

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Take Five with Tulio Araujo

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Meet Tulio Araujo Tulio is a Brazilian musician, carrying advanced degrees and experience in the fields of Percussion, Music Production and Sound Engineering. He has studied with renowned masters Ian Guest (Hungary), Santiago Reyther (Cuba), Marcos Suzano (Brazil), among others. Through his experimentation and study, he dreamt and effectively conceived a way to merge the pandeiro with the improvisation universe that jazz provides. Araujo grew obsessed with metric, rhythmic modulations and polyrhythms. His intense study led him to ...

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Take Five with Benny Benack III

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Meet Benny Benack III By age 32, Emmy-nominated trumpeter and vocalist Benny Benack III has already become a leading voice in jazz for his generation, while his trademark ebullience onstage assures his audiences he's got “A Lot of Livin' to Do" still to come! His sophomore album sharing that title featured the likes of bass luminary Christian McBride and drummer/producer Ulysses Owens Jr. and even achieved viral online fame with his vocalese rendition of “Social Call" ft. Veronica ...

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Take Five with Singer-Songwriter Arnab Sengupta

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Meet Arnab Sengupta Arnab Sengupta is a contemporary singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist based out of Bangalore, India. Growing up in the eastern cities of India, Arnab has absorbed a plethora of diverse musical styles, both local and international, and has diligently pursued the study and performance of contemporary music for over 30 years, while arriving at his individual artistic expression as a composer/songwriter. The harmonic sophistication of jazz music is the bedrock of his creation, though one can hear ...

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Take Five with Jon De Lucia

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Meet Jon De Lucia Jon De Lucia is a Brooklyn-based saxophonist, clarinetist and composer. Originally from Quincy, MA, he moved to New York City in 2005.Since then he has performed in the US and internationally at the Burlington Discover Jazz Fest, the Tanglewood Jazz Festival, and the Tamana-shi Jazz Festival in Japan. In New York he has played with Putter Smith, Ray Gallon, Michael Kanan, Steve Little, Bill Crow, Maeve Gilchrist, Joe Hunt, Greg Ruggiero, Nir Felder, Leo Genovese, Kris ...


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