Results for "Chicago"

Lindy Endres

Born: May 17, 1984

Music played a bit of a different role in the beginning for Lindy. Finding the perfect song to choreograph and dance to was key, as Lindy dreamt of becoming a professional dancer one day. Her childhood was filled with an array of dance styles, recitals and show choir competitions, always being labeled the 'dancer', never the 'singer'. Upon graduation from Sauk Prairie High School, Sauk City, WI, Lindy attended UW Stevens Point to receive her BA in dance. With her goal in sight, Lindy dove into the world of college dance, only to become sidetracked by the musical productions UWSP had to offer. These shows ignited Lindy's flame for singing, a talent which she thought she would never desire

Jeremy Cunningham

Born: February, 1979

Jeremy Cunningham is a drummer, composer, and improviser. Originally from Cincinnati, he moved to Chicago in 2009, where he currently performs and composes as an integral part of the city’s vibrant music scene. As a teenager, Cunningham grew serious about performing music during his time with a jam band called “Ray’s Music Exchange.” There, he learned the intricacies of playing with a large group, and dove headlong into the jazz of the late 60s and early 70s. He holds a Bachelors of Music from the College Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati, where he studied with professor John Von Ohlen, whose zen, loose approach toward drumming continues to inform Cunningham’s technique today

Marquis Hill

Born: April 15, 1987

From his beginnings as one of Chicago’s most thrilling young trumpeters, to his current status as an internationally renowned musician, composer and bandleader, Marquis Hill has worked tirelessly to break down the barriers that divide musical genres. Contemporary and classic jazz, hip-hop, R&B, Chicago house, neo-soul—to Hill, they’re all essential elements of the profound African-American creative heritage he’s a part of. “It all comes from the same tree,” he says. “They simply blossomed from different branches.” That mission to bring styles together, complemented by Hill’s absolute mastery of his instrument, is a through line connecting his many achievements

Quin Kirchner

Born: December 14, 1981

Quinlan Kirchner (b. December 14, 1981) is a drummer, composer, improvisor & DJ from Chicago, Illinois. He first started his musical studies at the age of 10 at the famed Academy of Movement and Music of Oak Park and later at the Merit Music Program of Chicago. Learning from Chicago educator, Don Skoog, his studies soon grew to include the traditions of Afro-Cuban drumming, taking him to Havana, Cuba to study under acclaimed percussionists José Eládio, Omar Rojas & Don Poncho Terry. His early exposure to expressive arts and dedicated practice led him to earn a Basin Street Scholarship to the University of New Orleans, led by Ellis Marsalis, at the age of 18

Elaine Dame

Born: September 21, 1962

ARTIST'S BIO

"Dame has risen to the top ranks of Chicago jazz singers, with a musicality that allows her to improvise things most singers shouldn't even try. She possesses everything one could want in a true jazz vocalist: centered intonation, an enviable command of rhythm, and a translucent but powerful instrument.”~ Neil Tesser, Grammy award-winning critic and Author, The Playboy Guide to Jazz

Elaine Dame, jazz vocalist and recording artist, is a "Vocal dynamo...[and] continues to be a gem in the city's vocal jazz scene" according to Time Out Chicago. Since 1997, Dame has headlined venerable venues in Chicago, the Midwest and the nation, collaborating with some of the finest jazz instrumentalists. She has enjoyed residencies at such notable music rooms as the Rainbow Room, Michael Feinstein's 54 Below and the Metropolitan Room in New York City - and in Chicago, Elaine headlined the 2015 Chicago Jazz Festival and appears regularly at Winter's Jazz Club and The Jazz Showcase, to name but a few.

Joe Policastro

Born: November 20, 1977

Chicago bassist JOE POLICASTRO grew up in the fertile jazz, classical, and popular music scene of Cincinnati, OH. He studied Classical Double Bass Performance on full scholarship at Miami University. Joe earned his Bachelor of Music in Jazz/Studio Music from the College Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati and his Master of Music in Jazz Studies from DePaul University in Chicago. After performing and recording in Germany, he relocated to Chicago where he quickly established himself an in-demand bassist and arranger/composer. He has performed and recorded with a wide array of artists such as Diane Schuur, Jeff Hamilton, Howard Levy, Phil Woods, Pat and Debby Boone, Tim Ries, IraSullivan, Howard Alden, Rick Margitza, Jim Snidero, David "Fathead" Newman, and Billy Hart

Leroy Williams

Born: February 3, 1937

Leroy Williams is an American jazz drummer.

Williams first began playing drums as a teenager in the 1950s. From 1959 to the middle of the 1960s he played with Judy Roberts, and following this he moved to New York City and played with Booker Ervin in 1967. In 1968 he played with Sonny Rollins, Archie Shepp, and Clifford Jordan; in 1969 he first began playing with Barry Harris, with whom he would collaborate often. 1970 saw him playing with Hank Mobley, Wilbur Ware, and Thelonious Monk, the latter of which he went with on a tour of Japan. Later in the 1970s he played with Yusef Lateef, Ray Bryant, Charles McPherson, Stan Getz, Andrew Hill, Sonny Stitt, Junior Cook, Al Cohn, Buddy Tate, and Bob Wilber.

Goran Ivanovic

Goran Ivanovic is a native of Croatia, a Balkan country torn by the civil strife that engulfed the former Yugoslavia. The musical son of a Serbian father and a Bosnian Croat mother, he has crossed many boundaries in his life and in his music. While he was studying at the Mozarteum in Salzburg with masters such as Elliot Fisk and Joaquin Clerch, his parents were expelled from Croatia and were granted political asylum in the United States. Since his residence in this country, Goran’s broad grounding in Classical music has been enriched by influences of Jazz,Balkan and the World Music. Goran frequently performs at mayor festivals and concert halls in the world,as well as TV and Radio performances

Jason Roebke

Born: 1974

Jason Roebke is a double bassist, improviser and composer living in Chicago.

He was born and raised in tiny Kaukauna, Wisconsin in 1974 and began playing electric bass at age 14.

His first fascination was with Motown bassist James Jamerson. Roebke’s first introduction to jazz was at a summer jazz camp run by local legend, pianist, John Harmon. Here he heard recordings of Charlie Parker and a life long fascination with music was begun.

His high school band director had a small jazz CD collection which included Ornette Coleman’s “The Art of the Improvisers” and Charles Mingus “Mingus Ah Um” which he listed to endlessly for years.

Larry Gray

Born on Chicago’s south side, Larry Gray is considered by many to be one of jazz music’s finest double bassists. His impressive versatility and uncommon musical curiosity keep him in demand as both a leader and sideman. Larry began his musical studies at the age of five when his father brought home an accordion and introduced him to his first teacher. Invigorated by this study, Larry added the guitar to his arsenal and studied piano seriously for many years thereafter. It was not until he was in his twenties that he decided to switch to the double bass. Larry went on to study classical music extensively, eventually adding the cello to his long list of loved instruments