Results for "Progressive Jazz"

King Llama

Right out of the starting gate, it’s apparent that the eagerly awaited new King Llama album, fata implexis (translating to “fate intertwined”), is something special, commanding and category-elastic. The fiery and whip smart instrumental band’s tune “Lora Ky” packs an immediate and visceral punch, within its sophisticated changes, spidery guitar riffs, tricky unison lines and mosaic-like structure, built from material conjured up by guitarist-songwriter Ryan T. Bailey. The song serves as a prelude and on-ramp to the electrifying journey unfolding over six tracks—including the multi-sectional 11-minute epic “Sir Isaac.”

John Yao

Born: June 25, 1977

For almost twenty years, John Yao has been honing his talents as a trombonist, composer and arranger, and cementing his place on the New York City jazz scene. Yao’s lyrical soloing and expressive, round tone, combined with his relentless drive to push the boundaries of harmony and rhythm, have established him as a unique and forward-thinking jazz talent. Yao has earned wide acclaim. In April 2025 he was appointed to the 100th class of Guggenheim Fellows in the field of Music Composition. In 2023, Yao earned a place in both the Rising Star Trombone and Rising Star Big Band categories in the DownBeat Critics Poll.  Lucid Culture proclaims, “John Yao is one of New York’s elite trombonists,” and All About Jazz calls him “a strong compositional voice and effective band-leader able to use his 17-piece band to paint across a wide spectrum and infuse his complex writing with a thoughtful balance of audacity, structure, humor, and sonic might.”

Matteo Ciminari

Matteo Ciminari is an Italian composer, guitarist, and theremin player renowned for his genre-defying musical approach. His compositions seamlessly blend elements from various styles, resulting in a unique and personal musical language.

Cody Steinmann

Born: June 28, 1993

Cody Steinmann has been performing and teaching professionally for over 10 years. He attended Milwaukee Area Technical College where he completed an Associate’s degree in Music Occupations and later won a Rita Tallent Picken scholarship to attend the University of Wisconsin – Parkside. Cody has studied extensively with Steve Peplin, Russ Johnson, Solomon Parham, JD Allen, Jesse Catalino Montijo and James Crowley, DM. He has also taken lessons with Ari Honig, Johannes Weidenmueller, Scott Hesse, Pete McCann, and Aaron Gardner.

An outstanding improviser and composer, Cody has become a fixture on the Twin Cities jazz scene since settling in Minneapolis. Cody has performed with JD Allen, Solomon Parham, Javier Santiago, Russ Johnson, Chris Bates, JT Bates, Abinnet Berhanu, Anthony Fung, Max Gerl, Kevin Washington, Bryan Murray, Fode Bangoura, L.A. Buckner, Jake Baldwin, and Nelson Devereaux. In September 2019, under his producer name C0D3 7, he released his debut album 7 a musical chronicle of Cody’s youth. He then released his second album, Sightless Quartet Live, in May 2021. Sightless Quartet is the first group Cody formed upon moving to the Twin Cities, dedicated to exploring the intersections between jazz, metal, and hip hop.

Dag Magnus Narvesen

Born: January 3, 1983

Dag Magnus Narvesen is a drummer, percussionist and composer who is mainly working in the fields of free jazz, improvised and contemporary music. 

Emerging from the diverse and renowned jazz scene of Norway, leading bands like Sasquatch, co-leading Kitchen Orchestra and as a member of Gunhild Seim's Time Jungle, his current musical endeavors feature his highly acclaimed octet DAMANA, Schlippenbach/Narvesen Duo, Dag Magnus Narvesen kvintett, (the new) Schlippenbach Trio, Harri Sjöström's MOVE quintet and Up and Out, Didrik Ingvaldsen Orchestra and Aki Takase's Japanic, to name a few. In working with these and other bands, especially some tied to the Berlin scene, he has acquired a reputation as a highly skilled drummer and a trusted musical collaborator.

9 Horses

9 Horses is an improvising chamber ensemble featuring Joe Brent (formerly of Regina Spektor’s band) on acoustic and electric mandolin, 2018 GRAMMY nominee Sara Caswell (Esperanza Spalding) on violin and Hardanger d'amore, and Andrew Ryan (Kaia Kater) on bass. Featuring Brent's original compositions and the incendiary, genre-hopping virtuosity of all three members, the trio at the core of 9 Horses represents their vision of a musical future with no barrier between 'folk art' and 'fine art', and as an ensemble are capable of communicating this idea through musical canvases both great and small.

Roland Guerin

Born: November 15, 1968

With a new band and a new project entitled PROG:FUNK, New Orleans based singer-songwriter-bassist Roland Guerin is starting a new musical chapter. Drawing from a wide spectrum of genres, including American folk, blues, zydeco, rock and jazz, Guerin creates a singular style at the heart of which are stories told through multi-layered melodies, rhythms and expressive lyrics in the range of Steely Dan, Sting and Peter Gabriel. 

Raised in a musical family – his father was a great lover of jazz and classical music, his mother, a blues and zydeco bass player – Guerin began playing bass at the age of 11. Throughout his formative years, Guerin was strongly influenced by pop, rock and R&B music of the 70’s and 80’s. Bands and artists such as Cameo, Dazz Band, Rush, the Brothers Johnson, Gerry Rafferty, America, and Booker T & The MG’s seeded his love for great songs and inspired him to write music of his own. 
  
While studying Marketing at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Guerin joined legendary jazz educator Alvin Batiste’s Band, The Jazztronauts. Having inherited much of Batiste’s musical innovations and concepts, Guerin developed ways to bring his own musical voice to life. The jazz genre became his avenue toward success. Over the course of his career, Guerin toured and performed with legendary musicians, such as George Benson, Jimmy Scott, Frank Morgan, Vernel Fournier, Gerry Mulligan, Allen Toussaint, Dr. John, John Scofield, Mark Whitfield, Ellis Marsalis, Marcus Roberts, and Paul Gilbert. He also participated in the recording of numerous albums, including the Blind Boys of Alabama’s Grammy Award winning album Down in New Orleans, Marcus Roberts’s Grammy Award nominated recording of George Gershwin’s classic Rhapsody in Blue, and Allen Toussaint’s album Connected. 
  
As a member of the Marcus Roberts Trio from 1994 to 2009, Guerin performed at the head of symphony orchestras across the world, among which the Berlin Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony, the Chicago Symphony, and Seiji Ozawa’s New Japan Philharmonic. From his collaboration with Ozawa and Roberts, Guerin developed a deeper understanding and appreciation of orchestration and arrangement, both of which carry great importance in his own musical composition. 
  
In 1998, Guerin released his first album, The Winds of the New Land, featuring Peter Martin on piano, Nicholas Payton on trumpet, Donald Edwards on drums, and Mark Whitfield on guitar. The record was acclaimed for its innovative style of composition and arrangement. JazzReview called it "a literal piece of art", while the New Orleans Magazine named Guerin a Contemporary Jazz All-Star. He followed up with an album from the Roland Guerin Sextet, Live at the Blue Note, released by Half Note Records, and Grass Roots on Louisiana Red Hot Records. Guerin performs with his own band at major venues and festivals worldwide, such as the Blue Note in Tokyo and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. 
  
Guerin joined the Allen Toussaint Band in 2008, touring and performing with Toussaint until his passing in 2015. Soon thereafter, Guerin joined the band of legendary Dr. John, becoming his last Musical Director. During his time with Toussaint and Dr. John, Guerin found his way back to his musical roots. Integrating American folk melodies, blues, zydeco, African rhythms, and rock with jazz soloing and orchestral arrangements, Guerin creates an entirely new and singular musical experience.

J. Kimo Williams

Born: January 8

On June 1, 1969, J. Kimo Williams was captivated as he witnessed Jimi Hendrix's spellbinding performance of "Spanish Castle Magic" at a Waikiki Shell concert in Hawaii. This transformative experience solidified his unwavering commitment to a life devoted to music. Subsequently, on July 4, 1969, he enlisted in the Army and was deployed to Vietnam. His service in Vietnam and departure from Sunset Beach, Hawaii, led J. Kimo to embark on a journey that saw him pursuing his musical aspirations at Berklee College of Music in Boston. 

While at Berklee, his inspiration expanded as he encountered the music of the Jazz-Fusion ensemble Mahavishnu Orchestra. This encounter steered him toward honing his skills in music composition. 
An educational milestone came in the form of a pivotal class titled "Styles and Analysis," where the classical compositions of Mussorgsky and Messiaen entranced him. This encounter introduced him to yet another avenue for musical expression.

Javier Rosario

Guitar virtuoso, composer, bandleader, educator and recording artist, Javier Rosario is the first ever Michel Camilo Scholarship winner. The scholarship was an initiative of the Dominican born, Grammy, Latin Grammy and Emmy Award winning pianist. It has been the first scholarship of its kind in the history of the Dominican Republic, where Javier was born in Santo Domingo. In 2006, Javier attended Berklee College of Music with full scholarship, graduating with the highest ratings ever given to a guitarist. In 2009, he performed at the Berklee Jazz and Blues Guitar Night: a concert which only featured the very top players of the entire school. In 2010, Javier decided to further his studies at the Longy School of Music of Bard College with a master’s degree. There he was awarded a Presidential Scholarship and was acknowledged by his guitar teachers as possibly the highest-level guitarist ever to enter the jazz program. 

Mario Castelberg

Born: April 12, 1995

Mario Castelberg (*1995, from Grub AR, CH) is a Swiss guitarist and composer. Castelberg studied at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts under Kalle Kalima and Frank Möbus, earning a Master of Arts in Music Jazz Performance and Composition under Ed Partyka, and graduated with the highest honors. Since then, he has been living in Lucerne and working as a freelance musician and instrumental pedagogue. He moves musically between modern jazz, free improvisation, psychedelic rock, and ambient and skillfully mixes these genres. He plays and composes for the Lyft Trio, and in 2018, he released their debut album "Traveller," which he founded