Results for "Jazz pianist"

Vagif Mustafa Zadeh

Born: March 16, 1940

Vagif Mustafa-Zadeh - jazz composer and pianist, is among those rare musicians who could play and perform in any manner. Vagif attracts listeners by his originality, superb technique and harmonies all his own. Besides writing a number of his own jazz compositions and arrangements, Mustafa-Zadeh composed Concert for Piano and Orchestra being a great success. At the International Jazz Compositions Competition in Monaco 1978 V. Mustafa-Zadeh won the First Prize for the piece "Expecting Aziza".

Vagif Mustafa Zadeh was the art director of jazz-trio "Kaukas", "Leyli", "Sevil", "Mugam" jazz ensemble

Atzko Kohashi

Born: September 21

​Atzko Kohashi is a Japanese-born pianist with an international background, currently based in Amsterdam. Her musical journey began at the age of five with classical piano training. While studying Law at Keio University in Tokyo, she discovered her passion for jazz, joining the university’s big band and performing in the vibrant Tokyo jazz scene.

From 1994 to 2001, Atzko lived in New York, where she honed her craft under the guidance of jazz master Steve Kuhn. Her life across three continents—Asia, America, and Europe—has deeply shaped her musical perspective, resulting in a unique style that transcends borders. This multicultural influence is evident in her playing, described by critics as “warm, natural, and deeply human.” Her music is often likened to the Zen philosophy of balance: “neither too much nor too little.” While her roots lie in jazz, Atzko infuses each melody with her own distinctive voice, creating a sound that is both intimate and profound.

Walter Gorra

Born: September 17, 1993

Walter Gorra is an award-winning pianist, composer and arranger based out of the New York/New Jersey metro area. Currently 26 years old, Walter graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder Magna Cum Laude and High Honors in May 2017 with the following three degrees – MS Structural engineering, BM Jazz Piano and BS Civil Engineering. He then pursued a master’s degree in Jazz Composition and Arranging at William Paterson University, graduating in May 2019. In 2016, Walter led his Colorado quartet in a two-month residency at the Denver jazz club – Nocturne Jazz and Supper Club; performing his original music and arrangements

Live People Ensemble

Active since: 2009

Live People Ensemble is a Moscow-based band that was founded in 2009 by Russian pianist and composer Natalya Skvortsova. They play original music that feels stylistically close to contemporary European jazz, while also incorporating influences from the band members’ personal and cultural backgrounds. The musicians use various elements of jazz and art music tradition, folk and world music, and contemporary rhythmic and harmonic-rhythmic structures to convey emotion and live energy in their music. Live People Ensemble performs both original music written by bandleader Natalya Skvortsova and the other band members, and original arrangements of popular jazz pieces

Amanda Addleman

Born: December 31

Amanda Addleman is a San Francisco-based vocalist, pianist, composer, arranger, and educator. Addleman’s musical approach is one well-steeped in a reverence for the traditions of great jazz singers and instrumentalists of the last century. Yet her sound represents an informed departure from the tropes and fixations of earlier generations of improvisational musicians. In fusing the spirit of contemporary folk, rock, and pop composition and performance stylings, Addleman’s style blossoms with a freedom from genre restraint, while maintaining a consistent and cohesive sound that still maintains an obvious reverence for those who came before. Addleman earned a B.M

Skinny Hightower

Born: November 12, 1985

A music producer with a solid background as a multi-instrumentalist jazz musician, Skinny Hightower emerged in 2017 with his self-released label debut Emotions which boasts a number one Billboard single in Taboo. He holds three total top 10 jazz Billboard singles to his name with One Way Street and Sample That following respectively from his follow-up release Retrospect in 2018. As an artist, he has performed at various events and jazz festivals to include the Seabreeze Jazz Festival and Catalina Island Jazztrax Festival. His full-range production style has earned him a reputation as a formidable artist in jazz, but his plans have shifted from that of an artist to a well-rounded and established record producer, evident in his involvement in many parallel projects for other artists.

Simon Lasky

Born: May 10, 1975

Inquisitive, provocative, blessed with the polished skill of balancing the musical idioms that have shaped his unique musical personality, British pianist Simon Lasky has been dazzling audiences on both sides of the Atlantic throughout his career. As a classically trained composer with a lifelong fascination with improvisation, Simon has forged his engaging signature sound from a love of 20th and 21st century symphonic music, the genius of bands like Steely Dan and Weather Report, and the venturesome nature of contemporary Jazz.

After winning the 2018 Ivors Composer Awards for his song ‘Close To Ecstasy,’ Simon moved from England to Tampa, Florida to study with five time GRAMMY nominated Jazz composer Chuck Owen at The University of South Florida. Since then Simon has thrived as an educator, lecturer, radio host and leader of the eight piece Simon Lasky Group. Relentlessly curious, Simon’s attention to detail, compositional sophistication, and intricate musicality, invites listeners to embrace his distinctive artistry, one that excites, enchants, and educates throughout every song, album and concert he brings to life.

Alec Castro

Born: May 17, 1986

Alec Castro is a Mexican pianist, composer and arranger established in the city of New York since 2010. He is an active member of the music scene in the New York area. He has performed in important venues such as Dizzy's Coca Cola Club, Jazz at Lincoln Center atrium, Minton's, Aaron Davis Hall, Shea Center for the Performing Arts​, Shapeshifter Lab, Tutuma Social Club, Bonafide Club, Trumpets Jazz Club, among others. Moreover, he has participated as guest conductor and arranger for the jazz orchestras One More Once Big Band, The WP Jazz Orchestra featuring Joe Lovano, Ventspils Jazz Orchestra and CCNY Large Ensemble

George Caldwell

Victor Dey Jr.

Born: December 7, 1980

Victor Dey Jr - named after his father - is a Ghanaian Jazz pianist, composer, producer, arranger and … teacher. Together with his partner in crime, saxophone player {{m: Bernard Ayisa = 117027}}, he is the driving force behind the growing Jazz scene in Ghana’s capital Accra with new talents emerging under their inspirational guidance. Dey started nurturing his talent from a very early age onwards, as his father insisted he learned music keeping him away from distractions as TV and Games. Music has always ruled his life, for as long as he can remember. Dey has become somewhat of a celebrity in Ghana and even outside