Results for "Contemporary Jazz"

Zhengtao Pan

Born: May 22, 2003

Zhengtao Pan is a composer and arranger born in 2003 who grew up in Shanghai, China. Currently studying Jazz Composition and Composition at Berklee College of Music, his commercial game works include "Mist Sequence," "Lost Soul Aside," "One Piece: The Bloodline," and "Arknights," among others. He has worked on music outsourcing for companies like ByteDance, Masaya Games, and miHoYo.

Beyond media scoring, Zhengtao Pan excels as an arranger and orchestrator for jazz orchestras and Big Bands, with his concert music premiered by ensembles like the HyperCube ensemble, Cascadia Composers, and Webster University.

Avery Scanlon

Mina Choi

Mina Choi is a Korean-born, Los Angeles-based jazz pianist, composer, and conductor whose music uniquely blends jazz, classical, and the rich traditions of her Korean heritage. With years of experience as both a performer and educator in California, Mina’s work reflects her personal journey, characterized by beautiful melodies, intricate rhythms, and colorful harmonies. Each composition tells a story, inviting listeners to experience a deep emotional connection to her music.

Mina has performed at renowned venues across the United States, including Herb Alpert’s Vibrato Jazz Grill, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, The Queen Mary, Catalina Jazz Club, and The Blue Whale Jazz Club. She has studied under prominent jazz figures such as George Cables and Bill Cunliffe, whose guidance has shaped her unique musical voice.

Dave Manington

Gwen Sampé

Gwen Sampé is a jazz singer for whom the art of improvising is an integral and indispensable part of her musical soundscape. Born into a family of singers in Houston, Texas her approach to jazz singing is rooted in the past yet unapologetically modern.

Nurtured on John Coltrane and Betty Carter, she brings surprise and daring to her performances. Her artistic background is rich and diverse. As well performing on the jazz circuit, she has also performed in, and directed, contemporary jazz inflected mixed media theatre pieces, including a self-produced one woman show, “From the Fields to the Concert Hall,”  first performed in Italy.

Graeme Wilson

Graeme Wilson is a saxophonist whose playing features on over 30 albums including releases by his own Quartet, Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra, ACV, Ushaw Ensemble and Bill Wells. His writing for ensembles large and small, including six jazz works for John Warren’s Voice of the North Jazz Orchestra, has been performed at venues such as Sage, Gateshead and Festspielhaus Hellerau, Dresden. Recent work includes duo releases A Cast of Thousands with Raymond MacDonald and Shoes for Losers with Andy Champion; an album of songs based on Italo Calvino stories for new group Monsterosa featuring vocalist Rebecca Hollweg; and  a score commissioned by Hexham Jazz Festival for the silent film Die Bergkatze

Barbara Bruckmueller

Barbara Bruckmüller, a composer and jazz pianist born in Vienna, was influenced by the sounds of "Hollywood Jazz" from the 1930s, 40s, and 50s at a young age. Although she received piano lessons early on and studied intensively for seven years, it took some time for her to discover her true passion for jazz. She successfully completed her jazz piano studies with Paul Urbanek at the Gustav Mahler Conservatory in Vienna in 2004, marking the beginning of a remarkable musical journey.

Barbara's inspiration and role models lie not so much in individual pianists, but rather in great Big Band leaders and composers such as Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Oliver Nelson, Thad Jones/Mel Lewis, Gil Evans, Joe Henderson, and Maria Schneider.

Gordon Hulbert

Matt Perronne

Born: November 6, 2001

Matt Perronne is a trumpeter, bandleader, and composer of the New Orleans area. He began his career playing with various brass bands of the city, eventually finding his love for New Orleans composers. This led to his enrollment at Loyola University-New Orleans in 2020, graduating in 2024 with a degree in jazz studies.. While in school, Perronne found consistent work playing on the famous Steamboat Natchez six nights a week, which he continues to do. Matt Perronne is also the leader of the Blue Rose Music Group, and has recently put together a solo project of original music. He has played at New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival multiple times and is an experienced performer in the New Orleans jazz club scene.

Darren Leonidas

Born: February 6, 1969

Born in NYC in 1969, Darren Leonidas first began playing guitar at the age of 11 years old. Growing up in a household with numerous musicians and surrounded by music for most of his life, Darren credited Eric Clapton as the reason he originally began playing guitar. Along with Clapton, Darren was deeply inspired by other 60s and 70s era rock-and-roll bands like Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones.

After moving to New Jersey in his teenage years, Darren discovered Jazz and quickly became engrossed with the genre. Albums from notable artist such as George Benson, David Sanborn, and Pat Metheny caught his interest. After graduating high school, Darren studied jazz at William Paterson University, studying under Jazz Virtuoso Vic Juris. It was here where Darren developed a deep appreciation for Modern Contemporary Jazz and instilled an overall drive to seek out all forms of music.