Results for "Instrumental Jazz"

Gavriel Micah

I play trumpet in Denver. Most of what I write is instrumental and built around Jewish diaspora melodies, some traditional and some my own. I treat them the way a jazz group treats standards: the tune stays as it came to me, and the harmony and the solos do the work.

I record, mix and master at home, in a room I call the Shack, in Centennial, Colorado. My first album, Songs I Found, comes out 4 December 2026.

The Seven Ups

Australian instrumental combo The Seven Ups exist between groove and atmosphere. Expansive guitar and warm synth layers stretch outward, grounded by bass and percussion, with horns shifting between restraint and impact.

Led by multi-instrumentalist Trent Sterling, the group has carved out its own space across five studio albums, developing a sound that balances locked-in rhythm with immersive texture and long-form explorations. Their latest release, Fight Night (2024), leans further into analogue synth territory, layering lush pads and rolling arpeggiators over the band’s signature brass and driving rhythm section.

Ayumi Kobayashi

Francois Bourassa

François Bourassa—now with eleven albums of original music under his belt—has become an ambassador for Canada’s thriving jazz community at an international level. A paragon of both consistency and evolution, he continues to seek out new challenges for himself, his colleagues, and his growing community of listeners. On July 7, 2023, he released « Swirl », a new live album by the François Bourassa Quartet recorded in 2022 at Studio Piccolo in Montreal (QC), and on April 16, 2021, Bourassa finally released his first solo piano album L’Impact du silence, recorded at La Buissonne in the southeast of France.
Bourassa’s talent was initially recognized by the Festival international de jazz de Montréal in 1985, kickstarting his trio’s recording and performing career throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. In 1996, Bourassa’s trio joined forces with André Leroux, a saxophonist and flutist who is equally at home with a contemporary saxophone quartet as with a jazz orchestra as the featured soloist. Bourassa’s eponymous quartet has been a staple of Montreal’s artistic landscape for 30 years and celebrates this anniversary with a Canadian tour in June/July 2026 and a European tour in November 2026. The band features founding bassist Guy Boisvert, longtime saxophonist André Leroux, and Guillaume Pilote as the most recent addition in Bourassa’s mentorship of young drummers. Their 2001 Live album recorded at Toronto’s Top O’ the Senator received a Juno award. In celebration of his compositional output, Bourassa was also the recipient of SOCAN’s Hagood Hardy Award in 2011. Number 9 (2017) chronicles his discography while also providing a subtle namecheck to the Beatles’ psychedelic oeuvre “Revolution #9” and The White Album. One highlight of the album, “Carla und Karlheinz” salutes two more of Bourassa’s guiding influences: Carla Bley (to whom he paid tribute at the Festival international de jazz de Montréal with the Orchestre national de Jazz) and Karlheinz Stockhausen. Number 9 was heralded as one of the best Canadian jazz albums of 2017 (Peter Hum, Ottawa Citizen) and praised by Bley herself and Steve Swallow as a “wondrous piece of work.” Over the past decades, the quartet has garnered multiple Félix and Opus awards for their recordings and live performances, respectively.

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.

Jonas Larsson Band

Jonas Larsson Band is a high-energy jazz-fusion group drawing strong inspiration from 1970s and 1980s jazz, rock, and blues. Their music blends the era’s powerful grooves—driven by pronounced guitar and keyboard riffs and heavy, dynamic bass lines—with complex, virtuosic improvised solos that push the sound into bold, modern territory.

Jonas Larsson is a Swedish musician, composer, and visual artist based in the UK. His work spans music, visual art, and literature. He has composed music for stage productions and television, exhibited visual artwork in London and Paris, and published books in both Swedish and English

The Inter Section

Active since: 2024

The Inter Section is a collective of musicians from around the world recording contemporary jazz that is melodic and easily approachable. The songs meld the sounds and rhythms of Pop, R&B, Soul, Latin and World music and presents them in a jazz context.

The Inter Section's music is written and produced by Steve Ehrlich from his (necessary) sofa as he suffers from Chronic Lyme Disease. He offers an example for others with similar limitations of what is possible even when their everyday lives have been turned upside down.

Proceeds from the sale of The Inter Section's music are donated to lymedisease.org and Bay Area Lyme Foundation.

Justin Fitzgerald

Born: August 7, 1969

Based on the picturesque South Coast of New South Wales, Australia, Justin Fitzgerald is a distinguished pianist and composer who seamlessly bridges the worlds of jazz, classical, and solo piano music. Drawing inspiration from legendary artists such as Bill Evans, John Coltrane, and Oscar Peterson, Justin cultivates a unique musical style that pays homage to his influences while carving out his own artistic identity.

With a keen ear for melody and harmony, Justin's compositions are characterized by their emotional depth and intricate arrangements. His work has garnered attention not just in the jazz community, but also in the realms of television and film. Justin's music has found its way into popular productions such as "The Path" and "5th Ward" on Hulu in the United States, as well as programming for Fox Sports, The History Channel, ABC, SBS, and Channel 10 in Australia. This widespread recognition is a testament to his versatility and ability to create music that resonates across various mediums.

Threegonos - Modern Jazz Unity

Threegonos – Modern Jazz Unity was founded around 20 years ago by bassist Toni Armetta, initially as a trio, and has evolved over the years into its current sextet formation.

Toni Armetta began studying music at the age of 12 and took up the double bass at 14, graduating in 1983 from the G. Rossini Conservatory in Pesaro. From an early age, Armetta was inspired by diverse musical forms and genres, which led him over the years to deepen his studies in electric bass, harmony, composition, arrangement, jazz, improvisation, and more. Along the way, he participated in a vast array of professional experiences, ranging from chamber and symphonic orchestras to jazz, Latin jazz, big bands, fusion, pop, and recording studio sessions.