Results for "Latin Jazz"

Brett Reed

Alonso Gonzalez & Jazz Latino

Alonso González Considered by critics as a benchmark for Latin music and Latin jazz in Asia. Born in Cartagena, Colombia on January 26, 1980. Music has been part of his life from an early age, at the age of eight he began to take private lessons with renowned percussionists and musicians from the city, but when he was received by the traditional family of percussionists “Los Pintos”, Alonso began to develop amazing percussion skills. A little later, he would take classes at the Cartagena School of Fine Arts, where he not only studied drums and music with Professor Francisco Madarriaga, but also theater, painting, and pantomime. Alonso was part of the renowned Colombian children's orchestra "Energía Latina", they, for many years, shared the stage with other large groups in the country and Latin America, being considered child prodigies at that time. In his adolescence, he was part of several musical groups that worked in the best hotels in the city, performing different musical styles ranging from traditional Colombian music, salsa, merengue, Afro- Cuban music, Brazilian music, Jazz, Caribbean music, among others. It was there that he met great masters such as Jose Cabeza with whom he learned American jazz and Brazilian jazz, and Alejandro Páez who was the reference of Afro-Cuban music for Alonso, and many more with whom he had the opportunity to learn and work at the same time. After graduating from military school, Alonso began business administration studies at the Cartagena Institute of Administration and Finance. But this did not separate him from music, although it was one of the most complicated times, having to alternate studies with work at night. The first opportunity to travel to Asia as a professional musician was to Taiwan, where he worked for several months at the prestigious Formosa Hotel in Taichung. The band then travelled to Malaysia, where he met his wife and made the decision to stay in Kuala Lumpur. In Malaysia he had the opportunity to remain for around seven years, and he met wonderful musicians like Steve Thornton who is a great percussionist who has worked with great music stars like Mongo Santamaría, Miles Davis and many others. With Steve, Alonso worked with a project called AfroAsia, which consisted of 23 percussionists, piano and flutes, this project managed to travel throughout South East Asia performing at jazz and music festivals around the region. Alonso was also part of the Steve Thorntonʼs Latin Jazz Quartet, thus learning directly from the master while they worked. Other musicians such as Greg Lyons, who is a great British saxophonist, drummer Lewis Pragasan, guitarist Jose Thomas, Farid Ali, among others, were a great influence on Alonso's musical formation. In the last years of Alonso in Malaysia he created his own project which he called "Alonso Gonzalez & Jazz Latino", and record his first album "La Compostura", where he had the opportunity to work with incredible musicians from various parts of the world such as John Thomas on drums, Eric Lee on piano, Zailan Razak on bass, Eddie Wen on trumpet and many more who were part of the recording. After Malaysia, Alonso moved to Spain, there he had the opportunity to perform with local salsa bands such as José Luis Moran “El Gato Salsero”, MadridCaibo, as well as Latinos salsa artists that came to visit Spain like Andres Viafara y la suprema corte from Colombia. After three years in Spain, Alonso went back to Colombia with his family and decided to open a small jazz bar in Bogotá which he called “Maestros Jazz Bar”, many great musicians came to play at this venue

Rafael Greco

Born: January 24, 1967

Saxophonist, composer, singer and producer/arranger, Rafael Greco was born in Maracaibo, Venezuela. He graduated from the prestigious José Luis Paz Conservatory as an integral member of the National Youth Orchestra from his home state of Zulia and where he studied privately under Giuseppe Terenzio and Renzo Salvetti. He moved to Caracas in 1988 where he began his advanced studies under such masters as: Gerry Weil, Álvaro Cordero and Olegario Díaz. In Venezuela, Rafael Greco has enjoyed a distinguished and successful career as part of Venezuela’s most influential and important group, multi-Latin Grammy winners, Guaco

Kim Peralta

Kim Peralta is founder of the Jazzwomen, a collective of women jazz artists in the NY Metro area. She studied in Cuba with drummer Alejandro Aguiar Rodriguez at Havana Music School from 2018 - 2021. 

In 2021 she joined SUNY Jazz Ensemble under music director/pianist/composer Chris Parker. She left the ensemble in 2024 to nurture her own projects - the Jazzwomen and Blue Hearts Jazz Group. 

Dan Costa

Born: April 7, 1989

Dan Costa is a cosmopolitan jazz/ world music pianist, composer and producer, praised for melodic sensibility (DownBeat), rare and luxurious output (All About Jazz) and profound expression (Jazziz). His music reflects his mixed cultural background as well as his fondness for the natural environment, bringing together philosophical concepts, modern jazz colours and world music rhythms. It has been featured by Rolling Stone Magazine, Sky and the BBC, among others. As an educator, Costa has been a guest lecturer at institutions such as the Royal Academy of Music, Monash University, University of New South Wales and University of Auckland

Funk Elastic

Active since: January 1, 2009

Funk Elastic is mainly a studio project managed and led by saxophone player and composer Zdenko Ivanušić and focuses on original music spanning across several genres.

Besides being a studio project, Funk Elastic also performs live, with a repertoire of R&B, soul, funk, disco, house, latin/jazz standards as appropriate for particular occasions, from events to club dates. The band includes the best session players and singers (male or female) available, as needed to fulfill every possible occasion.

Erich Fischer

Gaute Storsve

Ava Lemert

Born: July 19

A native of Southern California, Ava Lemert was submerged in music from birth having a Mother and two elder sisters who were active musicians in the household to influence her. So, it was no surprise that by age 7, Ava was producing her own “radio programs” including her own DJ personna “Kay Kay Dee Jay” on her own cassette tape recorder. At age 11 Ava was writing music notation and submitting her compositions for voice, clarinet (her first school-taught instrument) and guitar to youth talent shows. In High School, Ava would record her keyboard parts, alto saxophone, drum machine, guitar and vocals into her make-shift ping-pong recording system, consisting of a boom box, 4 track cassette recorder and radio shack microphone. A unique lady of many talents, Ms

Dr. Andrew Nevala

Born: May 9, 1972

Director of Jazz Studies at Jacksonville State University, Dr. Andy Nevala currently directs the Downbeat Award Winning Jazz Ensemble I (2015, 2023), Jazz Ensemble IV, Combo I, Combo II, the Latin Ensemble, oversees the Jazz Combo program, produces the annual Jazz Festival (in it's 13th year), and teaches Jazz piano lessons. As Director of Jazz Studies, he has overseen the JSU Jazz program more than double in size during his time at JSU, with performances in the community, at regional and international festivals, and Middle and High Schools in the Southeast region. Andy has been recognized by Downbeat magazine on 10 different occasions, winning individual Downbeat Music Awards for composition (2002), arranging (2003), and performing/directing (2000, 2001, 2002, 2015, 2023)