Results for "Traditional Jazz"

Marisa Balistreri

Born: July 26, 1972

Marisa Balistreri is a Madison, Wisconsin-based vocalist. A former professional Italian opera singer with an international career, Marisa currently collaborates with her songwriter-guitarist husband, Stefan Hall on original jazz tunes inspired by music from around the world. Marisa's group performs as a duo, trio or quartet and plays jazz standards, Latin jazz and originals in several languages. They play music to make people feel hopeful about humanity.

In the Madison Area, The Marisa Balistreri Quartet recently played at Festa Italia and for a Jazz at Five fundraiser. Additionally, The Marisa Balistreri Trio has had a months-long residency at Cafe Coda, and have played as either a duo, trio or quartet at The Cave of the Mounds, Harmony Bar and Grill, North Street Cabaret, Pyramid Event Venue and many other great venues. Marisa and Stefan have also played at the Weidner Center 6:30 Concert Series, Art Street and Blue Opus in Green Bay, DeJaVu and Gibson Music Hall in Appleton and the Bremen Cafe in Milwaukee with various jazz ensembles. The Marisa Balistreri Duo was recently featured on Channel 3000, Neon Jazz, and Live in the Lair on Max Inc, Radio

Cobby Brzeski

Active since: August 22, 2015

ABOUT

Cobby Brzeski is a San Diego-based jazz vocalist, flutist, and songwriter originally from Naples, Florida. Her project, The Vintage Girl in a Modern World (VGMW) Swing Band, blends the elegance of the 1930s and 1940s with fresh, contemporary energy. A magna cum laude graduate of Berklee College of Music, Cobby and the VGMW Band perform timeless swing standards, original compositions inspired by the Golden Age of Jazz, and modern songs reimagined in vintage style. Whether experiencing a more intimate ensemble or the ful band, VGMW creates an immersive, high-energy experience that delights jazz lovers, swing dancers, and new audiences alike.

Paul Taylor Trombone

Paul Taylor writes and performs as a solo artist in a project known as Trombone Poetry.

He has published a wide-ranging series of poetry books with Redriff Press. 

He works as a freelance musician (performing, recording, composing, arranging, directing, compèring) in jazz, Latin music and free improvisation and runs two trios: Click Beetle and The Blowpipes Trombone Trio. 

He is a founding member of Roland Perrin's Blue Planet Orchestra.

Funky Butt Club

Sunny Side

Active since: January 1, 2014

Sunny Side is a New Orleans-based jazz band inspired by early jazz greats like Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Nat King Cole, and Fats Waller. The band takes its name from the 1930 jazz standard “On the Sunny Side of the Street” by Fats Waller and Jimmy McHugh—a fitting tribute to the joyful spirit they bring to every performance.

Formed in 2019, Sunny Side consists of seasoned musicians who have been playing together in various New Orleans jazz projects since 2017. They deliver a New Orleans-style jazz experience featuring rich 3-part harmonies, a driving rhythm section, and a dynamic vocalist and dancer who brings the music to life. Their shows are immersive and high-energy—audiences are encouraged to dance, sing along, and soak in the joyful atmosphere that defines their hometown.

Paul Tafoya

Born: June 3, 1990

Award winning trumpeter, composer, band-leader, and arranger.

Paul Tafoya is a talented trumpeter, composer, and bandleader with a decade of professional experience in the music industry. He developed a passion for music in his pre-teen years, later being awarded "Marine Musician of The Year" in the MARFORPAC band in the Marine Corps, where he honed his skills while travelling abroad performing. After his time in the military, Paul attended college and studied with some of the most renowned musicians in the industry, including Lew Soloff, Jeremy Pelt, Ralph Alessi, Ingrid Jensen, Jon-Erik Kellso, and more. 

Jim Shearer

Born: April 5, 1964

Jim Shearer holds a D. M. A. in Performance and Literature and a Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY. He teaches tuba, euphonium, music history, and music appreciation to graduate, undergraduate, and honors students at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, where he holds the joint titles of Regents Professor of Music and Distinguished Achievement Professor. In addition, he presents concerts, master classes, and lectures as a Yamaha Performing Artist. An active classical soloist, Dr. Shearer has appeared throughout the United States as a guest artist with various wind ensembles and orchestras and in solo and chamber recital performances in The Great American Tuba Show and The Great American Trio. In the early 1990s, he traveled to Switzerland as a participant in the 47th Concours International d'Exécution Musicale, the first time this prestigious competition included the tuba as a solo instrument. He has toured Japan as a member of the Eastman Wind Ensemble, playing concerts and recording a compact disc for the Sony Classical label. In 2006, Shearer toured Colombia with the NMSU Faculty Brass Quintet and Wind Ensemble for the United States Department of State. While in Colombia, he performed for over 25,000 people at the national band festival and gave educational classes in Bogotá and Paipa. He is a former Principal Tubist with the El Paso Symphony Orchestra, the current Principal Tubist for both the Roswell and Las Cruces Symphony Orchestras, and a former member of El Paso Brass, with whom he released three commercial recordings. His playing can also be heard on blues artist Eric Bibb's CD Diamond Days on Telarc Records. During a regional broadcast on NPR, Saint Paul Sunday host Bill McGlaughlin referred to Shearer and his tuba playing as the "lowest of the low brass!" (We think he meant it as a compliment.)

Halley Shoenberg

Jazz artist Halley Shoenberg has been a dynamic presence in the greater Washington, D.C. area for several decades. In addition to leading her own exciting ensembles, she is hotly in demand performing and recording on saxophone and clarinet with other top shelf groups in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. 

She has earned a fine reputation as a performer, arranger and composer, conversant in presenting musical styles from traditional to contemporary jazz, entertaining listeners in venues ranging from intimate clubs to huge ballrooms and festivals. She is a Maryland State Arts Council Touring Artist and on the roster of Jazz Beyond Borders. 

Melissa Pipe

Melissa Pipe is a baritone saxophonist, bassoonist, composer and arranger who lives in Montreal. 

As well as leading her own quintet and sextet, she performs regularly with jazz, hip hop, indie, and classical ensembles as a freelancer. A versatile player and writer, she has written for small group, chamber ensemble, big band and symphony orchestra.

Stéphane Mercier

Born: June 6, 1970

Coming from a family surrounded by music and musicians, Stéphane Mercier studied different instruments early on before focusing on the saxophone and the flute, composition and arrangement. After studying at Berklee College of Music in the mid-90’s, he intensively toured with Mark Turner, Seamus Blake, B.Connection, Exile Society...then moved to Brooklyn, NY (95-02), where he played and/or recorded with a.o. Aaron Goldberg, Chris Cheek, Avishai Cohen, Randy Brecker, Jeff Ballard, Ingrid Jensen, Matt Penman,… Stéphane moved to Paris for a couple of years before Brussels, where he currently resides