Results for "lyrical"

Chris Kelsey

Born: June 5, 1961

In the 1990s, soprano saxophonist Chris Kelsey was a fixture on the Downtown New York scene, his fiery yet lissome horn lighting up the neighborhood’s bars and galleries—most notably the Knitting Factory, then the world’s epicenter of experimental music. He also chronicled the scene as a journalist, writing and reviewing for Cadence, Jazziz, JazzTimes, and more. His pen was as fearless as his music.

Then, in the early aughts, Kelsey stepped away.

The cultural aftershocks of 9/11 were a devastating blow to the Downtown scene. Venues like the Knitting Factory wilted and died. Kelsey’s live appearances became rare. By the late 2010s, he had stopped writing about jazz entirely. Many assumed he’d left the music behind.

Stefan Sirbu

Strasbourg-based pianist and composer, Moldovan-born Stefan Sirbu has made both sides of the Rhine and the Atlantic his creative lab. Classically-trained since the age of 6 and composing since the age of 10, Stefan Sirbu has been drawing inspiration from jazz greats and contemporary artists, hip-hop, Latin-American and European classical music alike.

Dedicated to the art form, while pursuing a career in law, he has been sharing his music with audiences internationally for over twenty years. His compositions have been broadcasted on various radio stations worldwide such as Swiss Radio Jazz, France Musique, Radio România Cultural, Canarias Radio and others.

Gerry Wall

Born: July 26

Gerry Wall is a contemporary singer/songwriter in the style of Paul Simon, Ron Sexsmith and Marc Jordan.  Wall has just released his eighth album (Back Seat Fame), to follow up on his previous releases: The Early Dreams (2019), Mind Alone (2014), World (2010), ex Patriot’s Day (2007), Winter Grass (2006), Returning Fire (2004) and Tobermory (2000).  Reflective, accessible, with a touch of jazz/roots charm, some of the music that you might most treasure is by artists you don’t yet know; so please give a listen!

Chris Cody

Born: December 21, 1964

Chris Cody is one of Australia’s foremost jazz pianists and has performed and recorded around the world. He began his musical career as a classical pianist in Australia, after being a finalist in the Roger Woodward Piano Scholarship at the age of 14. He performed at venues including the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Town Hall. He gained a Bachelor’s Degree in music from the University of Sydney, and the Licentiate of Trinity College, London, with high distinction, for classical piano performance.

His musical versatility found expression in a wide variety of work situations, including playing with some of Australia’s leading jazz musicians such as James Morrison and Don Burrows. He formed his own jazz quartet playing in local clubs, festivals and for Australian television and radio. He played and composed for numerous musical productions in Sydney, and he also wrote and directed the popular jazz cabaret 31 Celestial Flavors, that enjoyed repeat sell-out seasons in Sydney.

Great Aunt Ruth & the Saucy Cats

It all began when aspiring singer-songwriter Kathryn Joy met veteran pianist Joel Scott at a jazz bar on a cruise ship somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.  Scott, who had worked with such notables as the Jackson 5, Aretha Franklin, Lou Rawls, Dionne Warwick, Marlena Shaw and O.C. Smith, heard not only the enthusiasm of Ms. Joy but saw a great deal of potential in both her songs and her voice.  He became her mentor.

Thus began an important–if sadly short-lived–musical collaboration.  Together, they formed Great Aunt Ruth & the Saucy Cats and recorded four of Kathryn Joy's songs.  But just six days after their last recording session in 2015, Joel Scott passed away.  

Fortunately, he left the songwriter in good hands.  Rahn Coleman, a notable vocal coach, arranger and keyboardist, became her producer.  She was also joined by trumpeter-recording engineer Nolan "KatDaddy" Shaheed.  Coleman and Shaheed have been invaluable contributors to Kathryn Joy's career and the recording of their EP All About the Music in Your Heart. 

"The Ballad of Kitty Bandit" (2022) is the group's theatrical follow-on to the Django hot jazz style single "On Ne Sait Jamais" (2021).  It blends a 1920s New Orleans feel with 1950s Dixieland blues and a few modern touches and features Nolan "KatDaddy" Shaheed's colourful trumpet with a swinging band.  

Andrew Richards

Born: August 21, 1994

Contemporary vocalist, composer, and songwriter. Born and raised in Vermont, he now resides in New York City. With a large portion of his repertoire coming from American Traditional Music, Richards cites Jazz, Folk, and Blues as great influences upon his work.

His original music is a careful study of the human experience. Vibrancy of Andalucia, the intimate chaos of NYC, and rich traditions of a folk & mountain heritage, an intention to transcribe humanity into sound.

E.G. Phillips

E.G. Phillips is a San Francisco based songwriter who creates lyric driven songs with his own special blend of whimsy and cinematic imagery which he uses to give a wry take on dealing with the longings of the heart and the madness of existence. In possession of a degree in Geography, he comes from a country called the Midwest and his favorites include Bob Dylan and The Kinks as well as Duke Ellington...and that crowd. When it comes to his stage presence, there's a touch of satirist Tom Lehrer in the mix. As for the inspiration for his lyrics, he readily admits an unusually outsized influence by long running British sci-fi show "Doctor Who." E.G

Felipe Mendoza

Born: May 23, 1988

Músico nacido el 23 de Mayo de 1988. Su incursión a la música no es la usual. A pesar de estar inmerso en ella desde pequeño con los discos de música clásica, boleros, música colombiana y demás que había en su casa y de tomar ocasionalmente clases de piano y guitarra en escuelas de barrio, no descubre el jazz, específicamente a John Scofield, hasta cuando entró a la universidad estudiando otra carrera. En el 2009 conoce al maestro Óscar Acevedo quien por un tiempo le ofrece guía en el género, y que posteriormente le presenta al maestro Enrique Mendoza, con quien estudia durante la mayor parte de su carrera en la Javeriana, iniciada en el año 2012

Fred Tompkins

Born: May 26, 1943

Fred Tompkins was born in St. Louis in 1943. After high school he played tenor saxophone in and around his home town for several years before beginning the formal study of music at the St. Louis Insitute of Music, in 1964. By this time his strongest influences were jazz artists such as John Coltrane, Art Blakey, and the Jazz Messengers and the M.J.Q., and classical composers such as Paul Hindemith and Béla Bartók.

His earliest compositions, as originally recorded on the album, Compositions of Fred Tompkins, showed a natural tendency to combine those genres into his own style. Some of the pieces tended to exploit a dramatic contrast between genres, but soon the transitions became smoother and the styles more synthesized. The best of those early pieces and the best pieces from his subsequent and more fully developed album of 1975, Somesville, can now be heard on the compilation CD, FANFARE 8, The Early Works. [NOTE: The videos uploaded on AAJ represent Tompkins' free improv style of performance; to hear samples of his compositions, please visit the CD page on his website: http://www.tompkinsjazz.com/albums/]

Kamil Abt

Kamil Abt is a Polish-Australian jazz guitarist, composer, band-leader and arranger. He is a graduate of the prestigious Elder Conservatorium of Music and has been performing internationally – in Australia, Japan and Europe – for over twenty years. His musical career started in Australia, in Steve Mooney’s hard bop quintet, “Fifth House”. It was there that he also led his own jazz formations: Mosholu Parkway, Jazzyowski and SpeciaL K, also working with musicians such as Adam Page, Daniel J. Ross, Constantinos Koutsouliotas and John Wilson. In Japan he worked in renowned alto saxophone player Hiroshi Yaginuma’s quintet as well as with the Atsushi Matsunaga quartet, while also leading his own quartet