Results for "Contemporary Jazz"

Noah Stoneman

La Otra Band

Active since: 2024

La Otra Band is an experimental ensemble born in Barcelona out of La Otra Jam, a long-running platform dedicated to free improvisation that brings together musicians, dancers, poets, and visual artists. The project represents the most developed musical expression of this collective experience, translating its spontaneous and multidisciplinary nature into a “produced improvisation” format.

The ensemble gathers a fluid lineup of international musicians from diverse backgrounds, including jazz, contemporary music, and electronic experimentation. Rather than working with fixed compositions, La Otra Band builds its sound through real-time interaction, where structure emerges organically from listening, tension, and collective intuition.

Vittorio Solimene

Vittorio Solimene was born in Naples on 9 January 1998. He began his piano studies at the age of 12 and trained musically in Rome, where he graduated from the biennium in jazz piano with honors. In 2017 he won the first prize in the soloists section of the "Paolo Randazzo" competition; he was a finalist in the "B-Jazz International Contest" and in the "Conad Jazz Contest". He has performed in some of the most important clubs and theatres in Italy (Auditorium Parco della Musica, Casa del Jazz, Teatro Eliseo) and abroad (Germany, Holland, England, Spain, Finland and Belgium). He has also participated in several festivals and festivals including: "Umbria Jazz", "Ischia Jazz", "Jazz in Sardinia", "Acuto Jazz", "Il Jazz Italiano per le terre del sisma", "Jazzit Fest", "Jazzup Festival", "Jazz At Casilini’s Garden", "Eddie Lang Jazz Festival", "Francavilla is Jazz". He has performed with musicians of the Italian and international scene including: Kurt Elling, Gegè Telesforo, Rosario Giuliani, Fabrizio Bosso, Roberto Gatto, Dario Deidda, Benny Benack III, Jerome Sabbagh, Fabio Zeppetella, Marco Valeri, Maurizio Giammarco, Lorenzo Tucci and many others.

Gilad Barakan

Gilad Barakan’s Unsettled reimagines the acoustic guitar in an expanded and unconventional role—a lyrical lead voice carried by the organic character of the instrument. Joining him is a new generation of internationally sought-after musicians: pianist Ahmed Alom (Pedrito Martinez), bassist Tal Mashiach (Anat Cohen), and drummer Ofri Nehemya (Shai Maestro, Kurt Rosenwinkel).

Spending more than a decade performing and writing alongside Grammy-winning artists from around the world, Gilad Barakan has built an international career rooted in collaboration and live performance. At 20, he received the Outstanding Player Award from Musicians Institute, presented by Scott Henderson, and soon began touring internationally with a range of artists. After graduating from Berklee College of Music in 2015, he worked closely with Venezuelan singer Nella as a co-writer, producer, and touring guitarist. He later produced Tamara Jokić’s 2025 album Kuća, collaborated extensively with Turkish singer Elif Sanchez, and is currently touring with Grammy-winning vocalist Chandrika Tandon.

Carlos Meneses

Born: January 9, 1979

Carlos Meneses is a double bassist, composer, and bandleader from the Canary Islands. He leads Carlos Meneses’ Hip Quartet, a creative project where contemporary jazz, original composition, and artistic collaboration converge into a distinctive and evolving musical language.

Since 2020, Meneses has released five albums — Sharp Jazz (2020), Jazz a.m. (2021), Like One (2022), [collabs] (2024), and Archinautas (2025) — establishing a coherent artistic path rooted in both tradition and innovation.

Nacho Valenciaga

Born: July 20, 1967

Juan Ignacio Sánchez Hernández (Madrid, 1967) is a composer, arranger, producer, and multi-instrumentalist whose career is as diverse as it is refined. Known artistically as Nacho Valenciaga, and through his alternative projects lofiATTICUS and the modern crooner ZANE, his bass guitar stands as the emblem of a craft shaped through decades of musical exploration.

Career and Signature Style

Sylvie Natsume

James McClure

South African trumpet player and composer James McClure presents his deeply personal Debut Album on Molk Records (27 February 2026). He is a powerful emerging voice within Amsterdam’s experimental music community, known for his mesmerising sound, patience and sensibility. This is a bold and introspective work that invites deep listening. It is rooted in emotion, free improvisation and progressive thought with traces of heritage, while the album is held together by a recurring lullaby written in response to violence and global unrest. It is a call for change, reflection and healing that feels ever more relevant and increasingly urgent. 

Chiara Izzi

Born: May 22

Based in New York City since 2014, Chiara Izzi is an award-winning jazz singer and composer from Italy who has captivated audiences worldwide. Her breakthrough came when she won first prize at the prestigious Montreux Jazz Festival Vocal Competition, a victory personally awarded by the legendary Quincy Jones, who chaired the jury. The following year, Chiara returned to the festival to perform and open for the iconic Paco de Lucía. She has since earned numerous accolades, including an Independent Music Award for Best Jazz Song with Vocals for her composition "Circles of the Mind," as well as national honors such as Lucca Jazz Donna, third place in the Chicco Bettinardi soloist category, and recognition in the Barga Jazz group category.

Raffaele Fiengo

Raffaele Fiengo was born in September 1998 and, from a very young age, was immersed in music—particularly jazz—thanks to his father.

After acquiring his first musical foundations in his local town band, he began studying saxophone at the Civica School of Music L. Piseri in Brugherio, attending professional courses in Jazz Saxophone and History of Modern Music under Antonello Monni, Jazz Piano with Marco Detto, and Modern Theory with Barbara Gervasoni, earning a Diploma in Jazz Saxophone in June 2016.

He later studied at CEMM (Centro Educazione Musica Moderna) in Milan, deepening his knowledge of jazz language, improvisation, composition, and arranging through masterclasses and workshops led by internationally renowned musicians including Walter Donatiello, Tiziano Tononi, Bruno Chevillon, Roberto Gatto, Giovanni Tommaso, Enrico Pieranunzi, and Antonio Faraò.