Results for "Improvisation"

Ben Higham

Kasper Rietkerk

Born: February 25, 1995

Award-winning saxophonist Kasper Rietkerk, renowned for his collaborations with esteemed artists such as Eddie Chacon, John Caroll Kirby and Jean Toussaint, has also been a member of the Emma Rawicz Jazz Orchestra. His diverse career includes appearances on various TV and radio programs, as well as contributing to the music composition for VPRO’s television series ‘Naar Bed’. In 2023, Kasper and his London-based sextet, KRSIX, recorded a full-length album set to be released on Zennez Records and launched at Pizza Express Soho on June 24, 2024. This album features original compositions by Kasper, arranged for his sextet along with a string quartet, and includes guest appearances by Emma Rawicz, Anatole Muster, and Immy Churchill.

Gus Leighton

Born: October 28, 1995

Gus Leighton is an Australian contemporary tenor saxophonist based in Hobart, Tasmania. He is known for his improvisational skills and compositional style, drawing influence from notable saxophonists such as Lester Young, Dexter Gordon, Stan Getz, and Wayne Shorter. Gus is currently pursuing his PhD research at the University of Tasmania, focusing on these four saxophonists.

Aside from his research, Gus is actively involved in the music scene. He is a respected saxophonist, composer, arranger, and bandleader of various groups including Uncle Gus and The Rimshots, The Gus Leighton Quartet, and The Greenrises Jazz Orchestra. Gus has also performed at festivals and events as both a leader and accompanist, having shared the stage with artists like Dami Im, Andrew O'Keefe and The Melbourne Ska Orchestra.

Pedro Molina

Born: March 4, 1989

Pedro Molina, Spanish double bassist born in 1989 in Murcia (Spain) and based in Porto (Portugal) since 2017.

He studied double bass in Spain with Jordi Vila (Alicante) and Jordi Gaspar (Barcelona), and in Portugal with José Carlos Barbosa and Demian Cabaud.

He graduated from ESMAE (Escola Superior de Música e Artes do Espetáculo - Porto), specializing in jazz (2021).

In addition to projects where he works as a sideman, in 2022 he starts his own project with original music where he explores not only his interpretative facet but also the paths of his own music.

Henk Kraaijeveld

In the land of European jazz vocalists, Henk Kraaijeveld occupies a unique place somewhere between the known and the unknown. He is one of the rare male vocalists that seek musical adventure, bringing together compelling music with poetic lyrics and surprising improvisations. The award-winning singer disarms his audience with his warm voice and natural playfulness on stage. To Kraaijeveld, the storytelling character of music is essential, because of its power to connect people with themselves and the world around them. “I’m fascinated about our human need to show vulnerability and our longing to be loved as authentic beings with all our possibilities and flaws. I see that reflected in many (current) social developments. In my music and lyrics I always try to relate to that. You can hear that on the new album Patches of Sky, that has just been released.”

Alexander Kelley

Vanessa Vacanti

Born: November 10, 1999

Vanessa Vacanti is a fresh new face on the jazz scene. A recent grad of SUNY Fredonia, (BFA/Musical Theatre) her vocal talents are quickly becoming recognized by musician’s and audiences alike.  She has recently become local to Buffalo, NY, but previously has worked in the Syracuse area.  She has been mainstay in the Syracuse scene with performances at Syracuse Jazz Fest, Fayetteville Jazz Fest with Ronnie Leigh, Fulton Jazz Fest, Lake Ontario Wine and Jazz Fest, the Jazz By The Lake series in Oswego as well as frequent night club performances throughout Central New York. She frequently works with The Jazz Mafia Trio, which is her first-call backing band

Eivind Stordal

Eivind Stordal started playing piano at 7 years old. As a young boy he grew up playing psalms and played piano for the church choir. Later he found his passion in jazz and pop. His greatest inspiration where Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock and the swedish pianist Jan Johanson. Eivind Stordal studied mathematics and became a self taught piano player. He is interested in exploring the interplay between the naive, melodious and consontant, and oppsoing dissonance.

Eivind Stordal plays piano in Ludum (a piano/drum duo) together with the drummer Mats Monstad. The duo plays avantguard music rooted in jazz traditions from both sides of the atlantic.

Ethan Margolis

Born: May 3, 1978

World-traversed and genre-fluid guitarist Ethan Margolis, aka “Emaginario,” is a prime example of an artist who has become greater than the sum of his many parts and pathways. Through the eclectic filter of his musical passions, studies and influences, Margolis has evolved into a creative and worldly artist, whose deep connections with flamenco, jazz, aspects of pop, blues and even punk coalesce into a unique musical voice.

Elements of that Margolis style can be heard coming to fruition on his latest album, Trio Emaginario, in trio form with jazz masters Larry Grenadier and drummer Eric Harland. Illustrating the diverse reach of his musical impulses, Margolis also ventured into his debut “world jazz” album, Soleángeles, in 2014, during a period of live activity in such celebrated Los Angeles Blue Whale and the Baked Potato. From another hybridized corner of his musical mind comes the 2015 album Sonikete Blues. Recorded both in Spain and the USA, the project proposes an inventive merging of flamenco and blues—idioms with more emotional and fringe socio-cultural connections than might be expected.

Roz

Roz Harding is an "original and imaginative" (Mike Westbrook) alto saxophonist. The alto speaks volumes for Roz; she feels connected to it and audiences enjoy her ability to communicate - "a player who can tell a story that captivates and brings us back for more" (Gary Bayley). Described as "inspirational" and "immense" by Jazzwise Magazine, Roz has an expressive and "distinctive" (Smiths Academy Informer) style, citing her influences as Kate Bush, Bob Dylan, F. M. Alexander and his technique, Art Pepper, Jeff Buckley, Prince, The Beatles, Manic Street Preachers and Jackie McLean