Results for "Toronto"

Luke Vajsar

Born: May 17, 1979

Luke Vajsar was born in Prague, Czech Republic on May 17, 1979. In 1989 he immigrated to Hamilton, Canada with his brother and parents. When given the opportunity to play music at the age of 10 in elementary school, he immediately became interested. Even though he selected bass as his instrument he was given the trombone by his teacher and developed his skills on the instrument to a level where he was an important part in the best of big bands in his city and neighboring regions; winning national and provincial awards through to 1999. Also, he began playing guitar at this time and kept playing till finally he got his hands on a bass at the age of 13

Anthony Michelli

Born: November 22

Born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, and currently based in Toronto, Anthony has been involved in music since a very young age.  Starting off on the accordion, on to the alto and tenor saxophones but being driven by the ever-present urge to want to play drums from the very beginning, Anthony built his own drum set and played from ear for years throughout his youth. He attributes a strong influence to having heard classical, cultural and popular music performed by his older sister on the piano and brother on the guitar as a part of his early musical development.

For over three decades Anthony has been active in international performance, recording, production and teaching career paths. He has collaborated with a vast number of distinguished composers and performers from all styles of music primarily focused on original music.  For a number of years he led the Anthony Michelli Bass-less Trio (SSR002), which features some of his original compositions.  Anthony was also an active contributing member of The Secret Quartet with two recorded releases (Basho and Edition records UK) and the Piero Tucci, Quartet CANUK (U.K./CAN).

Anthony’s discography includes recordings in collaboration with several distinguished artists where he can be heard on over one-hundred internationally released recordings in the contemporary jazz, original composition, popular, creative and world music genres spanning from the year 1995 to the present.

Jef Kearns

www.jefkearns.com A new voice has entered the urban music scene:the flute. Jef Kearns, soul flautist, is transforming the reputation of the instrument from band geek to urban chic through his signature flute sounds and urban sense of style. Tom Coyne (mastering engineer for Michael Jackson, Ne-Yo, Sade, Beyonce, and countless others) says, “His compositions and beats are both really strong. Beautiful flute performance on really good quality pop music. Not only the smooth Jazz listeners, but also R&B music fans would enjoy his songs.” Consisting of all original tracks, Jef’s debut album On the Level unleashes a quiet storm of flute-focused R’n’B grooves that cross genres from modern soul to hip-hop to classic Motown

Lee Wallace

Born: May 21, 1981

Lee Wallace was born in Toronto and began playing guitar at the age of six, learning from his father, Steve Wallace, a Toronto based jazz bassist. As a teenager he studied improvisation and harmony with Mark Eisenman and guitar with David Occhipinti. He later continued his jazz studies at Humber college and Barry Harris workshops. Professionally he has performed in major cities throughout North America and abroad, and has appeared with many top Canadian and international musicians, including Mike Murley, George Evans, Mark Eisenman, Pat Labarbera and Scott Hamilton. He can be heard regularly in Toronto, both in an accompanying role, and as the leader of his trio.

Noam Lemish

Born: May 3, 1982

Noam Lemish has never felt inclined to pick a lane. Maybe his hyphenated identity as an Israeli-American- Canadian has helped inspire his multiplicity and general disinclination to follow stylistic guidelines. Whatever the reason, over the course of two decades of intensive musical study and creation he’s always sought to expand the scope of his exploration, often blurring or ignoring deeply etched boundaries between genres, peoples, and traditions. He’s a jazz artist and a classical composer of chamber works, an improviser and an accompanist, an intrepid cross-cultural investigator and an interpreter of contemporary composition. He contains multitudes.

Jon Maharaj

Born: January 13, 1981

Jon Maharaj is one of Toronto's busiest bassists. He has performed and or recorded with Reg Schwager, Mike Murley, Christian Scott, Matt Stevens, Dione Taylor, and many others. He's appeared on dozens of recordings crossing a number of genres. He graduated from the University of Toronto's Jazz studies program. He lived in New York on a Canada Council grant, where he had the opportunity to study with Drew Gress, Ben Street, Scott Colley and Matt Brewer. He writes music. He plays music. He recently got really into reading "watchmen".

Fariborz Lachini

Born: August 25, 1949

Fariborz Lachini has been creating music for more than three decades. While in his twenties and just before the revolution, Lachini had already achieved success in the world of pop music, creating music for some of today's Persian pop icons as well as music for children. Most kinds of music were banned in Iran after the revolution, so Lachini moved to France to study music and computers.

Living in Europe and studying at "Universite de Paris - Sorbonne" added a European flavor to Lachini’s music and influenced his style to become a distinctive and beautiful fusion of contemporary Persian and European styles. He also mastered the technology to create exotic sampled Middle Eastern instruments, immediately putting him in a unique position when he entered the world of film music. The score for the Berlin Special Mention winner, Snake's Fang (1991), is an example of this. Variety comments: "...The exceptional music is a computerized version of traditional southern Iranian percussion. Soundtrack sets the pace and signals both danger and action throughout the film."

Margaret Stowe

guitarist Toronto. Stay tuned for more or find everything at www.margaretstowe.com or www.myspace.com/margaretstowe

Alexis Baro

Born: July 3

Cuban-Canadian trumpeter, composer, and bandleader Alexis Baró is an internationally recognized artist at the forefront of contemporary Afro-Cuban jazz. Combining virtuosic trumpet performance with sophisticated large-ensemble writing, Baró has built a global reputation for delivering high-impact concerts that bridge the energy of Latin music with the precision and depth of modern jazz.

Born and trained in Havana, Baró studied at the Amadeo Roldán Conservatory and the Instituto Superior de Arte. He began his professional career performing with leading Cuban ensembles, including the National Radio and Television Orchestra, and collaborating with internationally acclaimed artists such as Omara Portuondo. This foundation continues to inform his authentic approach to Afro-Cuban music and improvisation.

Bob Brough

Born: 1948

Bob Brough was hot, hot, hot back in 1982, with the trio Timewarp, on the CD Time Warp when it was given a Juno nomination. And Bob was hot, hot, hot back in 2003 with Richard Underhill's Quintet on the CD Tales from the Blue Lounge, when Richard’s CD won a Juno-award. Now, in 2008 Bob is hot, hot, hot following a 3-year-long adventure with the most recent version of The Bob Brough Quartet which has culminated in the release of a new CD, Time Away, celebrated officially at the Rex Jazz and Blues Bar on November 7, 2008. At the CD-release engagement, Bob Brough on tenor saxophone, Adrean Farrugia on piano, Artie Roth on bass, and Terry Clarke on drums, played two rousing sets comprised of jazz standards and original compositions by Bob or Adrean