Results for "composer/conductor"

John La Barbera

Born: November 10, 1945

John La Barbera is a Grammy® nominated composer/arranger whose writing spans many styles and genres. His works have been recorded and performed by Buddy Rich, Woody Herman, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, Mel Torme, Chaka Khan, Harry James, Bill Watrous, and Phil Woods just to name a few. Though his major output has been in jazz, he has had works performed and recorded for symphony orchestra, string chamber orchestra, brass quintet, and other diverse ensembles. Most recently, Mr. La Barbera was chosen from among dozens of applicants to participate in the Jazz Composers Orchestra Institute at UCLA. As a result, John was one of sixteen composers commissioned by the JCOI to compose new works that meld jazz and symphonic music. “Morro da Babilonia” was the resulting work and was presented by the American Composers Orchestra in New York City at Columbia University’s Miller Hall. His “Drover Trilogy” for string orchestra and corno da caccia was recorded by the late Dr. Michael Tunnell and has recently been released on Centaur Records. John’s Grammy® nominated big band CD “On The Wild Side“ along with “Fantazm,“ “Caravan” and his latest “Grooveyard” on Origin Records®, have been met with tremendous artistic and commercial success and are on the way to becoming jazz big band standards. As co-producer and arranger for The Glenn Miller Orchestra Christmas recordings (In the Christmas Mood I & II) John has received Gold & Platinum Records and his arrangement of “Jingle Bells” from those recordings can be heard in numerous films including the Academy Award winning film “La La Land.” John is also the co-founder of “The Diva Jazz Orchestra” the all women jazz big band established in New York City in 1992. Mr. La Barbera is a Professor Emeritus of Music at the University of Louisville’s School of Music and an international clinician/lecturer whose topics range from composing/arranging to intellectual property and copyright. Among his numerous organizational affiliations are Jazz Education Network, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, NARAS, American Composers Forum, Chamber Music America, and a writer/publisher member of ASCAP since 1971.

Jim McNeely

Born: May 18, 1949

Jim McNeely was born in Chicago into a musical family. His mother sang in the church choir. His father played piano by ear (only in the key of Gb). His sister and brother both took piano lessons; his brother still plays bass in and around the Chicago area. Jim started piano lessons at the age of six. When he was eight he started lessons with Bruno Michelotti, who taught him basic music theory as well as the piano. This was the beginning of Jim’s life-long love of theory and, subsequently, composition and arranging.

He began to get interested in jazz around the age of 12. He went to Notre Dame High School for Boys (now Notre Dame College Prep) partially because they had a big band, the Melodons, under the direction of Rev. George Wiskirchen.  Besides playing piano in the band he started writing big band arrangements, at the age of 16. Jim then went to the University of Illinois, again largely on the strength of their big band, led by John Garvey. There was a vibrant jazz scene there at the time: a fusion of school musicians like Ron Dewar (saxophone), Ron Elliston (piano), Charlie Braugham (drums) and Howie Smith (saxophone), along with musicians from the local scene like Ron and Cecil Bridgewater, Tony Zamora, Donald Smith and Maurice McKinley (most of whom were also involved with the university). He studied theory and composition with Ed London and Morgan Powell.

David White

Born: 1979

With the 2011 release of Flashpoint, the debut album by the David White Jazz Orchestra, the trombone-blowing leader and his 16 compatriots served notice on the jazz world of an ensemble that, while steeped in big-band traditions, takes the music in exciting new directions rife with vibrant voicings and rhythmic variety. “[T]here is an infectious energy that may be the new signature sound in the development of the more contemporary jazz orchestra,” Brent Black stated in his review of Flashpoint for the Critical Jazz web site. “White clearly knows his jazz history and strikes a perfect balance by incorporating his musical influences while defining his own progressive style,” Karl Ackermann commented at allaboutjazz.com. And Aaron Cohen wrote in Down Beat that White “guides his 17-member orchestra through a program of compositions that seamlessly move from extended blues strut (‘I’ll See You in Court’) one moment to soft-focus serenity (‘First Lullaby’) the next.” Six new compositions from White’s pen now appear on The Chase, second CD on White’s Mister Shepherd Records label

Stephen Guerra Jr.

Born: November 18, 1973

Saxophonist, Composer, and Arranger Stephen Guerra currently resides in Miami, FL where he continues coursework for the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Jazz Composition under Gary Lindsay at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, FL. In addition to his studies, Stephen also teaches courses in jazz arranging, directs small ensembles and has co-directed the award-winning Studio Jazz Band. He is also a member of the Clark Terry Big Band, of which he also serves as the staff arranger. He is the former music director of the Greater Manchester Youth Jazz Orchestra and the New Hampshire Jazz Orchestra. Stephen received a Masters of Music in Jazz and Contemporary Media: Writing Skills from the Eastman School of Music, a Bachelor of Arts in Music Performance from the University of New Hampshire in, and a Bachelor of Arts in Jazz Studies from the Clark Terry Institute of Jazz Studies at Westmar University. Highly in demand as a composer and arranger, Stephen's music have been performed by the Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra (featuring Bruce Hornsby and Friends), the Lakes Region Symphony Orchestra, the New Hampshire Jazz Ensemble, the Eastman Jazz Ensemble, Eastman's New Jazz Ensemble, Eastman's Studio Orchestra, Clark Terry Institute Big Band and The UNH Jazz Ensemble

Jaymz Bee

Jaymz Bee and his Royal Jelly Orchestra Get "Seriously Happy" On Their Tenth Anniversary. After spending the late 1980's and early 1990's touring Europe and North America with Canada's legendary "Look People", and then handling Musical Director chores on "Friday Night", a variety/talk show on Canada's CBC television network, Jaymz Bee's musical ambitions began to take greater focus in 1994, deciding he: "wanted to do a big-band album.

Phil Kelly

Born: December 16, 1937

In addition to more than 40 years as a composer / arranger for film, TV, and other media applications, he has written for bands like Bill Watrous' NY Wildlife Refuge, the Old Tonight show band , Doc Severinsen, Si Zentner, as well as functioning as arranger/ conductor / drummer for vocalists Buddy Greco, Julius LaRosa, Frank D'Rone, Sylvia Syms, John Gary, Jenny Smith, and Al 'TNT' Braggs among others.. Early on in his career, he also logged several years as a jazz drummer with artists such as Terry Gibbs, Red Garland, and Denny Zeitlin as well as years of work as a studio and recording drummer

Neil Sadler

Born: July 9

Neil Sadler - English-born composer, percussionist/keyboardist's album titled "THEORY OF FORMS" on the BleedingARTs label. Sadler's dark percussion and edgy, jazz/rock compositions create agressive soundscapes featuring guitarist Mike Keneally (Vai, Zappa) and Bryan Beller (Z, Vai), his bassist and partner, at their raging best, and a slew of Frank Zappa horn alumni - Walt Fowler, Albert Wing, Bruce Fowler, Kurt McGettrick & Steve Fowler (known for their work on major movie soundtracks, a who's-who of recording/touring and currently together in 'Banned From Utopia') & LA bassist Joel Woods

Michel Herr

Born: February 16, 1949

Born in Brussels (B), Michel Herr has built in parallel a rich career as a pianist, a composer and an arranger. As a pianist, Michel Herr has played with renown jazz soloists : Joe Henderson, Chet Baker, Archie Shepp, Bill Frisell, Joe Lovano, Charlie Mariano, Johnny Griffin, Slide Hampton, Art Farmer, Lee Konitz, John Abercrombie, Billy Hart, Philip Catherine, Daniel Humair, Aldo Romano, Palle Danielsson, Norma Winstone, Riccardo Del Fra, Richard Galliano, François Jeanneau, Paolo Fresu, etc…, as well a the cream of the Belgian jazz scene. For almost 2 decades, he played with Toots Thielemans in the whole world. Michel Herr led several bands (trio, quintet, nonet and big band), in which he played his numerous compositions. He is also an internationally renown composer and arranger. In 1988 he receives the Monaco Jazz Composition Prize. His compositions and arrangements earned him an international fame. Besides his own groups, they have been played by prestigious European jazz orchestras (big bands of the WDR, NDR, Brussels Jazz Orchestra, Metropole Orchestra, etc...) and by ensembles of various formats (chamber, strings, symphony, choir, etc...)

Mark Taylor

Born: May 22, 1961

Mark Taylor's work with Max Roach, Henry Threadgill and Muhal Richard Abrams, among many others, established his reputation as a go-to French Hornist in the jazz and improvised music communities. Putting aside the Horn for the composer’s pen, Taylor’s newest work continues the spirit that won him recognition from legendary artist MaxRoach, who said, “there is no one dealing with the music the way Mark is.”

Taylor, a native of Chattanooga, TN, has been commissioned to compose for theatre, dance, and the concert stage. He placed two songs in the Dollface Productions independent feature film "The Girl" and scored the documentaries “9/11 Fear In Silence” for JadeFilms and Camille Billops' "A String of Pearls”. He has written transcriptions of the work of seminal jazz bandleader James Reese Europe’s “Hellfighters” military band for the Brooklyn Repertory Ensemble and composed a multi-movement orchestral work commissioned by Anthony Braxton’s Tri-Centric Foundation and premiered by the Tri-Centric Orchestra in New York City in the Fall of 2013.

Graham Collier

Born: February 21, 1937

Graham Collier's career spans four decades of innovation at the forefront of British jazz. He was the first British graduate of the Berklee School of Jazz, Boston, and the first British jazz composer to receive a commission from the Arts Council. During this time composition, conducting, education and journalism have taken him around the world. He was born in Tynemouth, England, in 1937. On leaving school he joined the British Army as a musician, spending three years in Hong Kong. He subsequently won a down beat magazine scholarship to the Berklee School of Music in Boston, studying with Herb Pomeroy and becoming its first British graduate in 1963. Returning to Britain, he formed the first of many line-ups known as Graham Collier Music, dedicated to performing his own compositions