Results for "Los Angeles"

Jordan Proffer

Based out of Dallas, Texas, Jordan Proffer is an accomplished multi-instrumentalist with a history in both performing and teaching a variety of musical genres. In 2022, Jordan was chosen as the 2022 Yamaha Young Performing Artist Drumset Winner as well as one of ten finalists for the 2022 PASIC Drumset Competition. He has toured with Nick Finzer and German-based guitarist Peter Autschbach. During his time at the University of North Texas, Jordan was a member of the Grammy award winning One O’ Clock Lab Band, and deeply studied the jazz tradition with Quincy Davis, as well as Brazilian and Afro-Cuban drumming with Jose Aponte, and Indian drumming with Poovalur Sriji. 

Mauricio Morales and Adam Hersh: Between Dreams and Twilight

by Neil Duggan
December 19, 2025

Between Dreams and Twilight marks the first joint collaboration between Mauricio Morales and Adam Hersh. The pair became friends when Hersh gave Morales a lift home from the Continental Club in Los Angeles. Their album features nine pieces: three written by bassist Morales, three by pianist Hersh and three co-written. The duo keep excellent ...

Gordon Goodwin

Born: December 30, 1954

Even for a successful composer and arranger in Hollywood, Gordon Goodwin’s numbers are impressive: A 2006 GRAMMY Award for his Instrumental Arrangement of “Incredits” from the Pixar film The Incredibles, three Emmy Awards, and thirteen GRAMMY nominations.

Here’s another impressive number to add to the list: eighteen. As in the number of musicians in Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band, one of the most exciting large jazz ensembles on the planet. Populated by L.A.’s finest players, the Big Phat Band takes the big band tradition into the new millennium with a contemporary, highly original sound featuring Goodwin’s witty, intricate, and hard-swinging compositions in a veritable grab bag of styles: swing, Latin, blues, classical, rock and more.

Nicolas Gachot

Nicolas Gachot is a drummer and composer currently living in Los Angeles. He began taking piano lessons at the age of six and classical percussion lessons at nine at the Zurich Conservatory in Switzerland. During this time, he performed in several symphony and chamber orchestras throughout Switzerland. In 2017, he won first prize in the percussion category at the Eastern Switzerland Solo and Ensemble Competition. Throughout his studies, Nicolas was also a member of various jazz combos and big bands at the Zurich Conservatory.

He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Jazz Drums Performance in 2023 from the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, where he studied with Gerry Hemingway, Norbert Pfammatter, Marc Halbheer, and Dominik Burkhalter.

Rin Nagaya ('123'): A Global Voice At The Edge Of Electronic, Pop, And Jazz

November 27, 2025

In January 2025, at The NAMM Show in Anaheim, a crowd pressed toward AlphaTheta’s booth as a compact instrument called ChordCat purred to life. At the center was Rin Nagaya, who performs with the stage name “123." She is a Japan-born vocalist, composer, producer, and DJ and at AlphaTheta's booth, she was stringing harmony into motion, ...

Lara Somogyi

Lara Somogyi is a Los Angeles-based harpist and contemporary classical performer-composer.  Known for her work with electronics and pedal fx her work is focused on forging a new artistic identity for the harp. Born and raised in Kauai, Hawaii and New York, Lara is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music in London, and in 2018 was awarded as an honorary Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM) for her contributions to her field.

Years of sculpting her sound and developing her set of contemporary expressions on the harp led her to write compositions for solo harp and electronics.  Finding company and comfort in vast sonic expanses and exploration ushered her to a renewed clarity of expression and identity with the instrument. Her debut full-length album ! was released in 2022 via Mercury KX, an imprint of Decca Records & Universal Music, which Pitchfork praised for "combining the mundane and the fantastical."

Nathan Schneider

Born: August 11, 2009

Mellon Awards $6.5M to Institutions Advancing Jazz Scholarship and Storytelling

November 12, 2025

The Mellon Foundation today announced over $6.5 million in grants dedicated to expanding jazz scholarship and strengthening its cultural infrastructure as part of the Foundation's $35M commitment to preserving America's first original art form. At the center of this latest round of funding for Mellon's jazz initiative is a $5.8 million grant to support the work ...

Alan Hampton's 'Little White Lies' New Single Captures Spontaneous Take

November 7, 2025

Alan Hampton's “Little White Lies"—Pasadena Studio Session Captures Spontaneous Take on American Song Multi-instrumentalist, composer, and singer Alan Hampton returns with a new single: a stripped-down, heartfelt rendition of the 1930 American song “Little White Lies." Recorded in a single sitting at his Pasadena studio, Hampton performed the song in two live takes—guitar and vocals, then ...

wessmithjazz

Born: 1984

Wes Smith is an in-demand musician who has performed with legendary names like Stevie Wonder, Justin Timberlake, Booker T Jones and Poncho Sanchez.  He has recorded commercially for artists like Pharrell Williams, Robin Thicke, Jennifer Lopez and Zendaya.  His woodwinds can be heard frequently in the Film/TV world.

Smith’s musicianship has taken him around the globe - from the Hollywood Bowl, to palaces in Udaipur, to the beautiful Gold Coast of Australia.  One of his noted career highlights was performing at the White House in Booker T Jone’s band with President Barack Obama and the First Lady Michelle Obama in attendance.  He was also featured in the finale of the Academy Award winning feature film, ‘Whiplash.’