Results for "spiritual jazz"

Griffin Woodard

Born: September 27, 1998

Griffin Woodard is a composer, bass clarinetist, and bandleader who believes in the transformative power of music.

As an instrumentalist, Woodard’s primary focus is playing the bass clarinet in a jazz context. He has dedicated years of study to acquiring an in-depth understanding of the rich historical lineage of jazz clarinetists and bass clarinetists from Johnny Dodds to Eric Dolphy.

He hopes to honor the profound contributions of the masters by pushing his instrument to new frontiers of personal expression.

Woodard’s compositions have been performed by a variety of esteemed ensembles and soloists, including the New England Conservatory Jazz Composers’ Workshop Orchestra, the Bach Festival Orchestra of Bethlehem, the Allentown Symphony Orchestra, concert pianist Michelle Cann, and organist Stephen Williams. In 2022, Woodard was awarded the ASCAP Foundation Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award for his piece, “Kyrie”.

Mike Mol

Born: September 20, 1998

Mike Mol (September 20, 1998 –) is a flugelhorn player, percussionist, music producer, and composer from Breda, Netherlands. Known for blending spiritual jazz, ambient, and electronic elements, Mol has performed internationally and collaborated with renowned figures such as Wim Hof[1] and James Nestor[2]. His innovative approach to music, combined with his therapeutic expertise, has earned him recognition in the breathwork and wellness communities as well as in the contemporary jazz scene.

 

Early Life and Musical Beginnings

Will Pethick

Born: September 27, 1998

Will Pethick, hailing from Perth, Western Australia, started playing jazz at the age of ten. After completing his bachelor's degree at the James Morrison Academy of Music and the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts in 2021, he performed with jazz luminaries like Wycliff Gordon and Joey DeFrancesco. Moving to Germany in 2023, he became a fixture in Berlin and Hamburg's music scenes. In 2024, he launched his electric jazz group, 'Intelligent Design.' Currently pursuing a Master of Music at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg, Will continues to leave his mark on the international jazz scene.

Phil Raskin

Born: June 10, 1957

Phil Raskin is a world-renowned drummer, percussionist, and producer with over four decades of professional experience. His impressive career has taken him to more than 30 countries worldwide.

Hailing from Cleveland, Ohio, Phil began working in the music industry as a teenager, mentored by legendary guitarist Bill DeArango. He became a member of the house band at The Smiling Dog Saloon, a renowned jazz mecca in Cleveland, where he performed with talented musicians who would later become internationally acclaimed, including Joe Lovano, Billy Drewes, Skip Hadden, Jamey Haddad, Abe Laboriel, and Kenny Werner. 
Phil has shared the stage with some of the greatest performers in jazz history, such as George Benson, Kenny Burrell, Roy Ayers, Pharaoh Sanders, Stan Getz, Gary Burton, and Weather Report.

Yosef Gutman Levitt

Born: January 29, 1979

ABOUT

Yosef Gutman's palette flourishes from the vast world colors which influenced his artistic development. Whether composing and recording new music or collaborating with high-caliber instrumentalists to explore the world of Nigunim (melodies from the heart), Yosef Gutman strives to foster connections that stimulate the imagination through music performed from the soul.

EARLY LIFE

Yosef Gutman was born in 1979 in South Africa. He grew up in a farming area known as Knoppieslaagte. He began music lessons at an early age, but abandoned the piano in favor of skateboarding at age 11. Life on the farm was quiet, chickens, geese, and horses roamed the property. This provided much time for kickflip practice on the bricked surfaces around the farm house.

At age 16 Yosef reshifted his passion back to music. Inspired by Weather Report, he picked up the bass guitar. The same quietude that afforded him uninterrupted skateboard practice was a perfect environment for many hours of bass exploration. At 18, Yosef submitted a recording of his arrangement of the South African National Anthem to Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA who subsequently invited him to study on a scholarship.

Ascetic

Active since: 2019

Ascetic is a band founded in 2019 on the initiative of clarinetist and saxophonist Mateusz Rybicki, accompanied by Tomasz Kaczmarek (piano), Ju Ghan (double bass) and Jan Słowiński (drums). "After years in which the main area of my musical search was free improvisation and free jazz, I felt the need to explore simplicity and tonality. It also overlapped with the time of my spiritual search. I wanted the music I play to draw from those experiences, bring peace and solace to the audience and was a form of contemplation and prayer. I invited musicians who's sound and personality were the most suited to this concept" - recalls the musician. The sound of Ascetic is very characteristic, in the band's work you can hear the fascination with many genres and the desire to create music clearly going beyond the jazz idiom. "I think that the main direction and the underlying idea of this music is a certain self-limitation in striving for maximum mindfulness and searching for a deep, spiritual charge. This is true both at the level of our intentions and purely formal procedures - most of the songs are based on modal scales and trancy repetitive grooves. We also wanted a certain universalism and reaching the widest possible audience," the artist continues. The group's main inspirations include the John Coltrane quartet, the music of Hildegard of Bingen, Gregorian chant, American minimalists such as Steve Reich and Terry Riley, as well as the band The Necks. Most of the songs on Ascetic's debut album grew out of ideas and sketches proposed by Rybicki, but the final shape of the composition is the result of intensive work of the entire line-up: "I am very grateful to my bandmates for their commitment and the possibility of such systematic and in-depth work both on the arrangement and sound level. We put a lot of work and time into the creation of this material, looking for different forms of expression and testing arrangement solutions. There are also several songs on the album that were born during improvisation in the studio" - sums up the musician.

Kannon

Active since: 2022

Kannon is a 4 piece spiritual jazz/ rock band if Alice Coltrane played in Mogwai.

Mervin Toussaint

Born: January 17, 1996

Mervin Toussaint is an emerging saxophonist and composer making waves as both a performer and educator in the Philadelphia area. A Haitian American, Toussaint grew up in the Haitian church which provided an important incubator for his musical voice. Since moving to Philadelphia in 2016 Mervin has embraced the musical influences around him including Jazz, RnB, Neo-soul, and other contemporary styles into his own voice. He has presented his music as a leader in a wide array of venues and spaces, including South Jazz Kitchen, Chris’ Jazz Cafe, Paris Bistro, and the MAAS building. He has also performed as a soloist at a variety of churches, including the historical Tindley Temple United Methodist Church. As a side musician, Mervin actively collaborates with rappers, poets, and spoken word artists and incorporates those mediums into his original compositions; his five-song debut EP, Another Name for Everything reflects his diverse musical language creates a beautiful preamble to his first full-length release in the fall of 2022.

Lisa Marie Simmons

Lisa Marie Simmons is a multi-disciplinary storyteller raised in Boulder Co. based in Italy. She is a singer/songwriter (Ropeadope Records), essayist (Huffington Post, Boston Globe, Family Stories Project, Kweli Literary Journal), and published poet

Phil Dawson

Versatile UK-based guitarist who combines straight-ahead, African and Brazilian, sonic experimentation and improv influences in his playing and composing.