Results for "Improvisation"

Gui Duvignau

Gui Duvignau is a French-born Brazilian bassist and composer whose multi-cultural background has led to a life of traveling and musical exploration. A jazz musician and improviser in essence, he also draws inspiration from a variety of musical traditions and cultures. He is interested in creative and original music in all its forms, and is particularly dedicated to fostering deep human connection and exchange through music.

His first album Porto, in collaboration with singer Sofia Ribeiro was inspired by his time living in Portugal. The album features compositions by Sofia Ribeiro and Gui Duvignau and was released in 2010 with the support of Portuguese radio station, Antena 2.

His second album Fissura springs from his years in Paris, where it was recorded with Jonathan Orland (alto saxophone & clarinet), Julien Pontvianne (tenor saxophone & clarinet), Federico Casagrande (guitar), Thomas Caillou (guitar) and Thibault Perriard (drums). It was released in April 2016 on the Parisian label Onze Heures Onzes.

His travels led him to New York City, where he attended New York University and studied with, Drew Gress, Billy Drummond, Billy Drewes, Brad Shepik, and Michael Wolff, among others. He received his master's of music degree in May 2020. 
He is also a student of jazz legend and master bassist, Ron Carter.


His book From the Bottom Up, featuring interviews with Ron Carter, Buster Williams, Ron McClure, Mike Richmond, Jay Anderson, Drew Gress, and Christian McBride was published by Ron Carter Books in September 2020, and in Brazil by Editora Tipografia Musical with the title De Baixo Para Cima in May 2023.

His third album of original compositions, 3,5,8, was released in January 2021 by Sunnyside Records and features Billy Drewes (saxophone), Jeff Hirshfield (drums), Santiago Leibson (piano), and Elias Meister (guitar).

His album Baden is a tribute to the musical universe of legendary Brazilian musician, Baden Powell. Released in January 2022 on Sunnyside Records, it features Billy Drewes (saxophones), Lawrence Fields (piano), Jeff Hirshfield (drums), and special guests Ron Carter on bass and Bill Frisell on guitar. 

His latest album, Live in Red Hook, with pianist Jacob Sacks and drummer Nathan Ellman-Bell also features his original compositions and was released on Sunnyside Records in January 2024.

His upcoming album, Listen In, is the second installment of his trio with pianist Jacob Sacks and drummer Nathan Ellman-Bell. It also features his original compositions and will be released on Adhyâropa Records in October 2025.

He is one of the founding members of the band ContraPunctus with Mike McGinnis, Carmen Staaf, and Hamir Atwal. The band performs regularly in NYC and their debut album is set for release in early 2026.

Duvignau’s music and recordings have been featured on radios across the world, in playlists on Apple Music and Spotify, and in publications such as, The New York Times, Downbeat magazine, JazzTimes, Jazziz, Jazz Magazine, Jazz News, All About Jazz, among others.

Dave Schoepke

Born: July 15, 1969

Dave Schoepke is an accomplished drummer from the Greater Milwaukee area. He has been the drummer for The Willy Porter Band since 2002 with three acclaimed albums with Willy. In addition to recording and touring he has numerous television and radio appearances. Dave has had the pleasure of working with the Legendary Jethro Tull guitarist Martin Barre. Dave toured with Martin’s band in 2017 and briefly in 2018. He appears on his Live At The Factory Underground album released in 2019. His project, Drums On Low, has received acclaimed reviews from Modern Drummer, Recording Magazine, and numerous global on-line music critics

Boris Savchuk

Boris Savchuk, a virtuoso violinist, is an internationally recognized performance and recording artist. Classically trained, he plays viola and violin and specializes in Jazz, Improvisational, Latin and Jewish (Klezmer, Yiddish, Chassidic, and Traditional Jewish music rooted in Eastern European culture) music. Boris was born in 1948 in the Ukraine and began studying music at the age of six. Boris immigrated with his family to Israel in the fall of 1990 and now lives near Ashdod. He has made seven CD’s in Israel, eight albums in the US, and is frequently featured as a guest artist with other musicians and vocalists

David Borgo

Born: February 8, 1970

David Borgo started playing alto saxophone at the age of 8. He had formative jazz experiences growing up in the Washington D.C. area, and went on to earn his B.M. in Jazz Studies at Indiana University, under the tutelage of renown jazz educator David N. Baker.

After graduation, David began touring widely, and his travel experiences in Turkey, Israel, Morocco, and more, sparked an interest in "world music" and the academic field of Ethnomusicology. He went on to earn M.A. and Ph.D. degress in the field from UCLA, studying with one of the world's preeminent Ethnomusicology faculty.

Toggi Jonsson

Born: May 29, 1976

Þorgrímur “Toggi” Jónsson, bassplayer has been a major part of the Icelandic jazz seen for the last 20 years. Has played with with some of the best-known musicians in Iceland an also some of the many foreign musicians that have visited Iceland in recent years.

2016 Toggi released his own CD including 10 original compositions performed by his own band including some of the finest musicians in Iceland. His music is under influences from the Balkans, pop music as well as European jazz. Thoughtful and melodic compositions are at the forfront showcasing the strenghts of his quintet.

Tin Men and the Telephone

Tin Men and the Telephone (TM&T) will not stand for banality. Their shows – that challenge the gut as much as the brain - undermine the monotony and irritation of everyday life by recycling anything from the bleeping of nuisance devices, to the screeching of overzealous football commentators. Rather than relying upon the jazz standard as plaything, they find melody in the flirtations of a TV porn-star or the moos of an unwitting cow, pushing the boundaries of improvisation and the communicative power of music itself. The Tin Men trio is a dynamic affair, drawing on the harmonic depth of contemporary classical music and modern jazz as much as the visceral rhythms of hip-hop and Balkan music

Hannah Barstow

Born: June 20, 1994

Hannah Barstow (b. 1994) is a pianist, vocalist and composer in the Toronto music scene. As a performer, she is firmly rooted in the tradition of jazz, and is strongly influenced by the classic trios and quartets of Shirley Horn, Ahmad Jamal and Blossom Dearie. As a composer, her jazz, classical, pop, and Latin music influences come through. She composes and arranges for a range of ensemble sizes from trios to women's choirs and big bands. Hannah is a regular performer at the Rex Hotel Jazz & Blues Bar, both as a leader of her trio and sextet, and with the popular R&B band, Jenna Marie Sings R&B

Johan Renard

Born: August 17, 1974

Johan Renard is a French violinist musician based in Paris. He is known for his mastery of the violin, his approach to improvisation, composition, and his teaching. Very early on, he obtained his diplomas and finished his classical musical studies to then enter the CNSMDP to deepen the art of improvisation, he studied there with Jean François Jenny Clark, Daniel Humair, François Jeanneau, Hervé Sellin. He graduated. Johan works regularly from the age of 9 on the violin with Madame Nell Gotkowsky, she instills in him the desire and freedom of creation, the love of art. During the Yehudi Menuhin competition, still a student Johan will present a program where he mixes classical and improvised violin, in the Jury are Stephane Grappelli, Pierre Boulez, who salute his performance. Stephane Grappelli will write him a letter in which he urges him to continue in this direction and underlines to him the importance of the quality and the emotion which he received by seeing young musicians play the violin differently, and what more is his music. Subsequently as part of the CNSMDP he recorded with the George Russel Orchestra. This meeting will transform his vision towards Jazz and the so-called “European Classic” harmony, thanks to the Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization With his technique and his knowledge of the violin, Johan Renard makes a commitment to meet around the most diverse musicians, and coming from all horizons, for him the music is one and indivisible and can not suffer from classification. He then meets Didier Lockwood who considers him to be the next generation of the jazz violin, and asks him to be his assistant in his school the CMDL to develop the teaching of the violin and improvisation. We find him as a musician, arranger and composer, around recognized musicians and in many projects: Emmanuel Bex, Stephan Eicher, Isabelle Olivier, Carine Bonnefoy, Romane, Alex Beaupain, Stochelo Rosenberg, Richard Bona, Archie Shepp, Steve Coleman ... The importance of improvisation and the freedom of creation brought Johan to meet many musicians from all over the world. He regularly leads courses, workshops and exchanges around the violin and improvised music. For Johan Renard the violin is a popular instrument and accessible to all, just like music and improvisation. He teaches at the CRR de Paris and is coordinator of the jazz department of the Gabriel Faure 5th arrondissements conservatory, as well as at the Swing Romane Académie , directed by Romane with whom he shares the importance of oral tradition and creative freedom in music. Johan has performed in many International Festivals: Jazz a Vienne, Jazz Sous les Pommiers, Jazz In Marciac, Nice Jazz Festival (France) Fuji Rock Festival (japan), Festival Zocalo, (Mexico) Montreux Jazz Festival (Switzerland) Paleo (Switzerland) Haldern Pop, Pondicherry (India) ...

Space Whale Orchestra

Active since: 2006

The Space Whale Orchestra is an improvisational chamber music ensemble sown and grown in Philadelphia, PA.

Drawn together over a love of collective improvisation and sonic experimentation, the group continues to explore the borders of music and the meaning of freedom, always striving to keep their sound new and evolving.

Current core members include Erica Corbo: piano;Steve Davit: saxes; Connor Przybyszewski: trombone; Mick Ricereto: Clarinets.

Other collaborators include Dan Moser: bass; Kyle Press: alto sax, bari sax, throat singing.

Clara Fornander

Born: May 6, 1992

Clara Fornander is a Swedish jazz singer based in Stockholm. In 2020 she finished her jazz bachelor studies at the Royal College of Music (KMH) in Stockholm. She plays in both bigger concert halls and smaller jazz clubs, and is regarded a fresh addition to the recent jazz scene in and out of Sweden. Clara grew up in the south of Sweden. During her upbringing Clara spent most of her free time playing the violin, piano and singing. In her teens her interest and work in jazz music started growing. Nowadays she is composing and performing her own music and takes inspiration from all of the improvisational genres including folk and neosoul