Results for "jazz"

Dré Matsumoto

Born: June 21, 1972

Dré Matsumoto (aka André Marcel Ajamu Akinyele) is an American-Canadian residing in Yokohama. The bassist and multi-instrumentalist is known for his jazz-fusion-funk. His inspirations include Herbie Hancock, Esperanza Spalding, and Ron Carter, to name a few. He was born in San Pablo, California as André Marcel Wilson, and changed his name to André Marcel Ajamu Akinyele in 2004. Why the name Dré Matsumoto? He stated that “Dré is half my name André, and Matsumoto is a Japanese name that I love the sound of.” A native of the San Francisco bay area, he currently resides in Toronto, Ontario Canada and Yokohama, Kanagawa Japan

Lawrence Welk

Born: March 11, 1903

Before he became a household name as the host of his own self-titled television show, Lawrence Welk was a hardworking bandleader shaped by the rural Midwest, European folk traditions, and the rhythms of early American dance music. Born in 1903 in North Dakota to German-Russian immigrants, Welk’s first musical instrument was the button accordion, and his early gigs were steeped in polka, waltz, and regional styles that prioritized rhythm and melody for the dance floor.

By the 1920s and '30s, Welk was leading bands across the Midwest, developing a style that would eventually be dubbed "champagne music" - smooth, tightly arranged, and bouyant. Beneath its polished surface, however, his orchestras absorbed the styles of the jazz music that was evolving around them. While his band didn't swing in the way that Goodman or Basie's did, they found great success in foxtrots, rumbas and even jazz standards, bended to match their smoothness.

Jimmy Reno

Toby Wren

Born: April 3, 1975

Toby Wren plays jazz guitar and writes music. He was trained at the QCMGU in composition and contemporary improvisation. He won the 1997 DIGF composers competition for his guitar piece 'nebbish' and was twice selected for the Australian Composers Orchestral Forum. He has been performed by most of Australia's orchestras, written arrangements for rock bands, given lectures on Australian music, written instructional materials and essays and recorded two CDs of original compositions. Toby also plays with the Trevor Hart Quartet.

UMLAUT, The Toby Wren Trio (due for release, July, 2006)FAT LIP 81, Babel (2000).

Stolen Moments - Jazz Music of the American Songbook

Active since: 2024

Stolen Moments champions the timeless jazz music of the American Songbook for the Hopewell Valley i n Mercer County, New Jersey.

VOODOO DRUMMER

Born: February 28, 1970

>The Afro-Dionysian VOODOO DRUMMER duo    

Weird Cello and Balafon melodies on top of original odd rhythms and African percussion, inspired by the Greek Drama, especially by Dionysus!

For more than 30 years he has appeared at festivals, theaters and venues all over the world, such as the Rouge Cabaret Festival (Paris), Villa Celimontana Jazz Fest (Rome), Odeon of Herodes Atticus (Athens), Secret Garden Fest (U.K.), and the Doha Jazz Festival (Qatar) - his own highlights, though, are gigs in New Orleans and jamming at a funeral in Benin, West Africa!

He had performed and recorded with the cult British trio The Tiger Lillies, New Orleans singer Meschyia Lake, Greek singer-songwriter Dionysis Savvopoulos, the great American Jazz saxophonist Alex Foster (Miles Davis, Charles Mingus), the Balafon master Mamadou Diabate (Burkina Faso), Blaine L. Reininger from Tuxedomoon (U.S.), Marc Collin from Nouvelle Vague (FR) and Xavi Turull from Ojos de Brujo (SP).

Will Bradley

Born: July 12, 1912

Wilbur Schwichtenberg, born on July 12, 1912, was a popular American trombonist and bandleader who rose to fame in World War II, at the height of the swing era. After playing trombone in New York for various dance orchestras during the 1930s, in 1939 he changed his name to Will Bradley and co-founded his own big band with drummer and singer Ray McKinley. Their orchestra became renowned for popularising African-American boogie woogie rhythms and incorporating them into hits like "Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar" and  "Scrub Me Mama, with a Boogie Beat." Despite his personal preference for ballads, Bradley's collaborations with McKinley and pianist Freddie Slack helped his band briefly become known as one of the most distinctive hard-swinging outifts in the country

Reginald Lewis

Born and raised in Camden, New Jersey, Dr. Reginald Lewis was given an alto saxophone, from his grandfather, Philadelphia Jazz Legend, Robert “Bootsie” Barnes when he was in the 10th grade at the age of sixteen.

Dr. Reginald Lewis is a Cannonball Musical Instruments Artist and Educator. Dr. Lewis is the current Director of Jazz at Illinois Wesleyan University. Dr. Lewis also teaches Jazz Improvisation at Chicago State University. Dr. Lewis graduated from Jackson State University with his Bachelor of Music Degree, Master of Music Degree from the University of Manitoba in Canada, and his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Illinois Urbana - Champaign. Dr. Lewis is also the current president of AAJC (African American Jazz Caucus).

Jaromir Rusnak

Born: November 24, 1996

Jaromir Rusnak is a Polish double bassist, electric bassist, and composer born on November 24, 1996, in Krakow. Currently based in Milan, he is an artist whose work blends the lyricism of Slavic traditions with the expressive depth of jazz and contemporary music. 

He began his musical journey with piano at the age of eight and soon entered music school for accordion in Krakow. After a brief pause during his teenage years, he returned to music through classical double bass, which eventually led him to explore electric bass as well. This shift opened the door to Krakow’s vibrant rock and jazz scenes.

Bruno Elisabetsky

Born: October 3, 1984

Born in São Paulo (Brazil) and based in New Orleans (USA), the composer, guitarist (6 and 7 string guitar) and singer explores the dialogues between the Brazilian musical tradition in conjunction with jazz and classical music, as recorded in his three works as a composer and performer released so far: Quarteto Quadrantes: Passos Largos (2013) and Sinuosa (2016) with Quarteto Quadrantes. These first two works feature participation from renowned figures in Brazilian music such as Joyce Moreno, Naylor Proveta, Toninho Ferraguti, Teco Cardoso, among others.: “traditional tales of music dominate this recording, but these musicians live for the love and danger of modern art. The passions of the underbelly of Brasilian culture inflame their work. Bruno Elisabetsky, the quartet’s composer fashions these narratives from silken melodies about the pleasures and realities of urban life. But the dusty shuffle of traditional (rural) rhythms is never far away. The gripping forms of the idiomatic tradition of Brazil run parallel to the contemporary, abstract impressionistic art” . The artist’s most recent release as a composer/guitarist is entitled "Xadrez", from 2019, recorded on a guitar trio instrumentation. “Bruno Elisabetsky is part of a Brazilian Guitar legacy of which I also belong to. He is one of the heirs of the fusion that took place within the last decades between the universe of Guinga and the Minas school of Toninho Horta, the rhythmic guitar of Baden Powell and the subtlety of João Gilberto. Bruno etches his own voice in beautiful and mature compositions, securing a place among the outstanding figures of Brazil’s contemporary guitar scene.” – guitarist and music producer Daniel Santiago on the album “Xadrez”.