Results for "Contemporary Jazz"

Masaki Hanawa

Born: April 7, 1998

Sound Artist / Saxophonist / Composer / Painter / etc.

Centering his practice on the alto saxophone with a distinctive tone that emphasizes air-inflected noise, Masaki Hanawa explores an expressive realm that moves fluidly between silence, sound, and music, creating works and performances that merge seamlessly with time and space.

His creative approach extends beyond music into painting, photography, and other visual media, cultivating a multidisciplinary practice that transcends conventional boundaries.

In 2023, he made his major debut with the release of his first album "Silence" on CADENZA (by T-Toc Records).
Recent highlights include his solo exhibition of acrylic "Paintings for Café" and the accompanying sound installation "Music for Café".
As part of his Alto Saxophone Solo Exhibition series, he has presented concept-based performances such as "Progrades and retrogrades based on the present moment", "Noise of the Alto Saxophone and the Sound of Space", and "Boundaries in Perception".

Paul Taylor Trombone

Paul Taylor writes and performs as a solo artist in a project known as Trombone Poetry.

He has published a wide-ranging series of poetry books with Redriff Press. 

He works as a freelance musician (performing, recording, composing, arranging, directing, compèring) in jazz, Latin music and free improvisation and runs two trios: Click Beetle and The Blowpipes Trombone Trio. 

He is a founding member of Roland Perrin's Blue Planet Orchestra.

Lucas Martinez

Born: October 22, 1994

Lucas Martínez (Blanes, 1994) is a saxophonist and composer active between Spain and Mexico. Having performed in 27 countries and contributed to more than 50 recordings, he has established himself as an internationally active artist within the contemporary jazz scene. In 2025, he was recognized as Young Talent of the Year by the AMJM (Catalan Jazz Musicians Association).

For Martínez, the saxophone is more than an instrument—it is a medium to explore emotions and human connection, a voice of courage: to speak, to be heard, and to stand for one’s beliefs. His music balances lyricism with intensity, moving naturally between intimacy and openness. With four albums as a leader and two as a co-leader, he has developed a personal artistic language while remaining an active collaborator across a wide range of projects.

AMPHITRIO

Active since: 2023

AMPHITRIO is an award winning contemporary jazz project based in Bucharest, Romania, initiated in 2023, featuring pianist and composer Andrei Petrache, bassist Mike Alex and percussionist Philip Goron, all of them having a solid background in classical and alternative music.

Patrick Perone

Patrick Perone is a French musician, primarily known as a pianist, keyboardist, composer and film composer.

Patrick started playing jazz when he was young. At 18, he was already playing the Hammond B3 in many Parisian Jazz Clubs, also performing now and plays Piano, Fender Rhodes el. piano & Synths.

David Ling

Born: June 22

David is a Malaysian composer, performer, and educator based in the US. A graduate of Berklee and the New England Conservatory, he is an in-demand presence in the Boston music scene. He has performed with Grammy-nominated vocalist Debo Ray and drummer Charles Haynes, award-winning saxophonists Grace Kelly and Seba Molnar, and is a fixture of the Charles River Jazz Festival, appearing annually since its inception in 2021. He recently co-produced the album Encontro by Brazilian-American duo Caio e Jess, featuring Michael Mayo on vocals and Laura Perrudin on harp. 

As a composer David led the 16-member Wally’s Jazz Orchestra at their monthly residency at Boston’s historic Wally’s Cafe, and was awarded the ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Award in 2019.

Josh Cohen

Born: August 28, 1987

Josh Cohen is a Toronto-based composer, electric bassist, bandleader, author, and professor of music at Humber Polytechnic. His work has expanded from solo electric bass performance into composition, improvisation, and ensemble writing, drawing from jazz, counterpoint, groove, odd-meter writing, and electronic music.

Cohen has performed on two JUNO Award-nominated albums. He earned first place in the 2020 NAMM Phil Jones Bass Solo Bass Competition and second place in the competition’s 2016 edition. He was also named a 2018 Madison Magazine honoree for Innovation in the Arts and received No Treble’s No. 1 Bass Video of the Year in 2015. In 2022, he was included in Titans of Bass, a book profiling 130 bassists from around the world.

Ronny Smith

Ronny Smith is a contemporary jazz guitarist, composer, and recording artist whose warm tone, melodic sophistication, and deep sense of groove have made him a distinctive voice in contemporary jazz. Influenced by masters such as Wes Montgomery and George Benson, Smith blends contemporary jazz with soul, funk, blues, gospel, and Brazilian influences to create music that is both emotionally engaging and musically refined.

A veteran ensemble musician with decades of experience, Smith creates sophisticated, groove-driven instrumental music that balances memorable melodies with rich harmonic textures. His compositions function equally well as engaging listening experiences, atmospheric soundscapes, and emotionally resonant musical storytelling, making them appealing to both jazz audiences and visual media.

Austin Di Pietro

Stephen Arnold

Born: July 22, 1995

Stephen Arnold is a bassist and composer from Greenfield, Massachusetts and based in Washington, DC. A pianist from a young age, Arnold picked up the upright bass at the George Washington University, where he studied with Herman Burney, Jr. Shortly after college he was selected to participate in the Betty Carter Jazz Ahead program at the Kennedy Center under the direction of Jason Moran. Arnold contributes to projects by a wide variety of artists including Fran Vielma, Sharón Clark, Todd Marcus, Brandon Woody, Aleks Izotov, Keith Butler, Jr., and ¡FIASCO! Since 2018 he has contributed to over 40 recording projects and performed at many great venues, such as the Library of Congress, the Kennedy Center, Blues Alley, and the Howard Theater