Results for "Oakland"

Laura Klein

Mary D'Orazi

Mary D'Orazi’s warm, lyrical, mezzo soprano voice can color melodies across various genres. She possesses a crystalline tone, strong rhythmic sensibility and thoughtful phrasing. On a rhythmically complex, highly syncopated Brazilian song, her vocal lightness and flexibility come into play. In vocal harmony, singing jazz or pop, she has the aural sensitivity to blend, nuance and dance with other voices. Brazilian music has become a solid landing place for Mary, who has sung various styles throughout her life, and it seems to be a natural fit for her in terms of feel and expression. Over the past decade, Mary has devoted most of her practice to learning an expanse of Brazilian repertoire, with Rio-born pianist/composer Marcos Silva as her mentor

Marcos Silva

Multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger and educator Marcos Silva performs worldwide. Nominated for a Grammy, he has toured with many world-renowned artists, including Paquito D’Rivera, Bud Shank, Dori Caymmi, and many others. He was musical director for Flora Purim and Airto Moreira for 23 years. Marcos has written arrangements for Dizzy Gillespie’s band and replaced Gil Evans as arranger-composer of Airto’s Spiritual Mass in Germany. He is sought after as a producer of CDs, including two of his own. Marcos heads the Brazilian Music Department at the California Jazz Conservatory in Berkeley.

Steve McQuarry

Composer, Arranger, Orchestrator and Keyboardist, McQuarry has performed with distinguished artists such as the late Dizzy Gillespie, Clare Fischer, Louie Bellson, Red Rodney (Charlie Parker), Tom Scott, the late John Cage, Laurie Anderson, Vinnie Colaiuta (Sting, Herbie Hancock, Frank Zappa), Nathan East (Eric Clapton, Herbie Hancock, Bob James), Bill Rich (Jimi Hendrix, Buddy Miles, Taj Mahal) and the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. Currently, McQuarry performs and records on his indie label, Mandala Records, with his Jazz ensembles, Echelon, Mandala Orchestra, Mandala Octet, Resonance, Pangaea and Zazen, the Electronica group, Synsor and the new age group, Agharta

George Cotsirilos

Originally from Chicago, George Cotsirilos has been a member of the San Francisco Bay Area jazz community for many years and has performed with a wide variety of artists, from San Francisco jazz fixtures like Eddie Marshall, Mel Martin, Pharaoh Sanders and Mark Levine to internationally recognized blues singer Etta James, Bill Evans bassist Chuck Israels, and the jazz/soul vocal group, The Whispers. His 2022 quartet CD, Refuge, has received wide acclaim, is a Downbeat  Editors' Pick and Downbeat named it one of the best albums of 2022. His 2018 quartet CD, Mostly In Blue, recieved equal acclaim and Downbeat  named it one of the best albums of 2018. Cotsirilos's earlier trio CD's, On The Rebop, Past Present and Variations have also been well recieved: for example, Washington Post  jazz critic, Royal Stokes named the 2013 trio recording, Variations one of the most notable recordings of 2013.

Tony Malfatti

Born: December 7, 1967

Tony took to music naturally and, with his grandfather’s assistance, began playing trumpet at the young age of three. He began playing clarinet at age 10 and added saxophone at age 11. Tony’s musical foundation was blessed by an excellent private woodwind instructor, Ed Heney, one of the lead saxophonists of the world renowned John Philip Souza Marching Band. Mr. Heney honed Tony’s technique, tone and confidence. Tony began to play professionally at age 15 all over northern California in the R&B band “Streetwise”, arranging and playing in a 3-piece horn section. The fruits of Tony’s labor paid off in his final year of high school when he placed first in the Northern California Étude Competition (Classical) and obtained the lead alto chair in both the California State Jazz Band, and the prestigious Monterrey Jazz Festival High School All Star Band. After high school, Tony was offered an opportunity to join a recording project for Warner Brothers Records, and ultimately recording at the acclaimed Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, CA

Carrie Jahde

Born: March 16

     Carrie Jahde has earned national awards and a great deal of notoriety over the past decades for her versatile, passionate, and unique approach to drumming. Currently based in the San Francisco Bay Area, she maintains a full-time touring, recording and teaching schedule, working with musical groups ranging in style from jazz to Latin to funk to R&B. Strongly committed to creative, improvised music, she also composes for her longtime jazz trio NoCoasters, which performs regularly throughout the West Coast.

     Carrie's musical background began with classical piano at the age of 8. By the age of 13 she had added singing and trombone into her life, and began performing locally. It was not until the age of 24, however, that she discovered her love for drumming. Carrie immediately exploded onto the Northwest music scene, recording her first full-length album only six months after purchasing her first drum set. Though initially self taught, Carrie later studied with Alan Tarpinian and Alan Jones, and attended the University of Oregon as a percussion performance major.

Biggi Vinkeloe

Born: March 8, 1956

Born in Germany. Studied and lived in France from 1974 to 1988. Since then lives and works in Sweden. Working bands: Trio REV, with Lisle Ellis and Donald Robinson / Duo Robinson—Vinkeloe / Trio Chris Brown, Donald Robinson, Biggi Vinkeloe / She performs as a soloist as well. Biggi Vinkeloe has performed in Sweden, France, Germany, England, Finland, Italy, Denmark, Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic, Canada, USA , with Peeter Uuskyla, Barre Phillips, Peter Kowald, Cecil Taylor, Ken Filiano, Steve Swell, Joel Futtermann, Alex Cline, Chris Brown, Jacques Veille, Giancarlo Locatelli, Alberto Braida, Filippo Monico, Roberto Bellatalla, Paul Plimley, Jackson Krall, Joachim Zoepf, Georg Wolf, Gino Robair, Gianni Gebbia, Jerome Bryerton, Wayne Lopes, Paul Obermayer, Rex Casswell, Peter Friis Nielsen, Perry Robinson, Lotte Anker, Sylvie Degiez, Vinny Golia, Harris Eisenstadt, Damon Smith, Mark Weaver, Mischa Feigin, Marco Eneidi, Mary Oliver, Miya Masaoka, Donald Robinson, Lisle Ellis, Rashid Ali, Jackson Krall, Daniel Carter, Hamid Drake, Amy Bormet, Tina Raymond, Anders Kjellberg, Thomas Gustafsson, Annika Törnqvist among others. She has performed with musicians from other boards, such as heavy metal bass player Magnus Rosén and drummer Anders Johansson; organ player Karin Nelson; mezzo soprano Maria Forsström; singer Indian singer Rumi Harish or New Music accordion player Marie Wärme; different choirs with music ranging from Saint Birgitta to modern music. Collaboration with dancers and choreographers, such as Inka Tiitinen (FIN), Tommy Kitty (FIN), Katie Duck (NL), Carmen Olsson (S), Katharina Eriksson, (S, USA) / with visual artists, Jake Tilson (GB), Andrew Cowie (GB), Ebbe Pettersson (S), Gilda Previn (USA). She has initiated and produced major projects:

• Over the Ocean, October 2000, Sweden, with visual artists, dancers, poets and musicians from Hamburg, Gothenburg, New York, London.
• Echoes, ‘events in the exhibition’, Sweden, music series with international musicians, since 2001, at the Art Space ‘Röda Sten’ in Gothenburg (rodasten.se).
• European Echoes / United Nations, multi/media projects with artists from different countries

Andrew Reissiger

Born: December 15, 1975

Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Andrew Reissiger is a composer/performer on the electric and nylon-string guitar as well as the charango, a small Bolivian stringed instrument purportedly from the highest city in the world. For a decade, he has helped to bring the charango, a traditional Andean instrument, into the world of jazz, chamber music, African and Balkan styles. His colorful music has been heard in between news stories on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered and featured on NPR's live performance radio show Mountain Stage. He is a co-founder of the experimental world music ensemble Dromedary, described as a guitar-lover’s delight by The All Music Guide and hailed for its “sheer effortless audacity” by “All About Jazz.” He has appeared on critically acclaimed recordings by Puerto Rican Nueva Trova hero Roy Brown, Americana artist Jonathan Byrd, and Tao Rodriguez-Seeger.

Andrew is also an award winning radio producer and filmmaker

Jésus Diáz

Born: 1962

Cuban born percussionist and vocalist Jesus Diaz arrived in the United States from la Habana in 1980. He quickly identified the Bay Area music scene as the grounds to establish his new home. His local and worldwide performances in collaboration with world renowned and acclaimed artists, are recognized for their contributions to the richness of an ever expanding musical genre worldwide.

Jesus Diaz has performed, toured and recorded with such artists as, Carlos Santana, Andy Narrell, Dizzy Gillespie, Bobbie Womack, Steve Coleman, Caribbean Jazz Project, Planet Drum, Talking Drums, Pete Escovedo / Sheila E, José Luis Quintana "Changuito", Giovanni Hidalgo, Rebecca Mauleón & Round Trip, Omar Sosa, Columna "B", John Calloway, and Conjunto Céspedes among many.

As an educator, he has participated on several prominent clinics and workshops, including the Stanford Jazz Workshop and Jazz Camp West,