Results for "World Jazz"

Suzie Telep

Suzie Telep is a French-Cameroonian vocalist and songwriter whose music weaves jazz, soul, gospel, and Afro-Caribbean rhythms into a rich tapestry of sounds. Singing in English, French, Basaa, Creole, and more, she takes audiences on a vibrant multicultural journey filled with joy, belonging, and self-affirmation. Inspired by legends such as Ella Fitzgerald, Dianne Reeves, Angélique Kidjo, and Miriam Makeba, she first enchanted the Parisian jazz scene at iconic clubs like 38 Riv’ and Péniche Marcounet, captivating listeners with her powerful voice and dynamic stage presence.

Dorota Piotrowska

Born: March 20, 1984

A jazz drummer, Dorota Piotrowska is one of the most distinctive Polish artists of her generation, active at the intersection of the European and New York jazz scenes. Since 2018, she has been based permanently in Poland, following eight years immersed in the jazz community of New York City. Her ensemble, Sound Circle feat. Greg Osby is an international collective of musicians in which neo-bop meets Latin, Nordic and Arabic influences, while inspirations drawn from dance and literature permeate the language of improvisation.

After studying classical piano from the age of seven to thirteen, Dorota discovered the freedom of the drums when a high school friend invited her to his band's jam session. She recalls sitting in a corner when the friend  handed her a pair of drum sticks and jokingly demanded she play. "I thought he was nuts but when I sat down at the drums, I discovered something new." - she said. "I found my voice within. It was natural and I had something to say that was different than when I played piano." - she continued. "I was converted."

Alekos Vretos

Born: May 11, 1976

EPK BIO – LONG

Alekos Vretos is an internationally active oud virtuoso, composer and bandleader whose work bridges jazz improvisation with Mediterranean, Arabic, Greek and contemporary music traditions. Known for redefining the role of the oud in modern contexts, he combines strong compositional thinking, orchestral awareness and cinematic narrative with deep improvisational language.

Originally trained as a pianist, he studied at Berklee College of Music, where he received the Outstanding Musicianship Award and the Philippós Nákas Scholarship. His early work was also recognized by the City of Boston with an Award for Community Service.

Batuhan Aydın

Born: July 14, 1991

Istanbul-born jazz musician and composer Batuhan Aydın is a pioneer of modern kaval performance. His music bridges Anatolia, the Balkans, and contemporary jazz, keeping traditions alive and open to new directions. Aydın reimagines the kaval as a global voice—open, expressive, and firmly rooted in the present.

Drawing from deep folk memory and embracing microtonality, improvisation, and cross-genre exploration, his art transcends stylistic boundaries. His music is neither backward-looking nor overly theoretical; it is alive, innovative, and firmly future-oriented

Bobby Rozario

Jazz / Rock / Fusion guitar virtuoso of Indian and Brazilian-Portuguese descent, based in New York City, Bobby Rozario is a third-generation musician mentored by his parents in genres of World music, and grew up learning music playing a variety of eclectic and World Jazz Rock and Blues. His blazing, idiosyncratic style interprets melodic lines of Ragas and blends them into captivating lines injected with Afro-Latin and Jazz / Rock / Fusion vocabulary.

Recently, Bobby completed production on his second solo album released by Origin Records named “Spellbound”, which features a diverse range of world-class Grammy winning musicians, including drum icons such as Dennis Chambers and Robby Ameen, and bass wizards Gary Grainger and James Genus, Melvin Gibbs along with Puerto-Rican Jazz pianist Edsel Gomez, Jazz organist Radam Schwartz and keyboardist Neil Alexander.

Jay-Lou Ava

Born: September 23, 1960

Jay Lou Ava (born Israël Jean‑Louis Ava in 1960, Yaoundé, Cameroon) is an internationally acclaimed guitarist, composer, arranger and multi‑instrumentalist, celebrated for his genre‑defying fusion of African musical traditions with jazz and world music — a style he defines as Progressive Afro‑Jazz (PAJ).

Early Life and Musical Roots

Jay Lou Ava grew up in a musical household in Yaoundé. His father was a church organist and gospel composer, whose hymns deeply influenced Jay Lou’s early musical sensibilities. His older brother introduced him to jazz legends such as Duke Ellington and Wes Montgomery, planting the seeds of his lifelong love affair with jazz.

East of West

Julie Slim

Born: July 12, 1960

Julie is a multilingual, multicultural vocalist who sings in Arabic, French, English, Portugese, and Spanish. With a focus on jazz and world music, Julie brings forth her cultural influences in her music, reviving American and international jazz and pop standards between the 1920's and 1960's with her unique arrangements and rich, warm vocals, while also mixing in her own compositions. She currently lives in Austin, TX.

Julie Slim & RendezVous is the project closest to her heart, a collaborative quintet with Austin musicians, specializing in French, American and international standards from the 1920s to the 1960s. Julie is honored to feature special arrangements by jazz legend, Dr. James Polk. The band premiered in 2013 to a sold out house at Esquina Tango in Austin, TX with Dr. James Polk on keyboards, Roberto Paolo Riggio on violin, Michael Stevens on bass, Michael Maddux on accordion and Ethan Vlah on percussion. Since then, RendezVous has performed widely and become a meeting place for many talented local musicians and budding friendships. Julie has self-produced a 3-song EP, a five-song live EP recorded in Austin, TX, and a full length album, Promenade Sentimentale, an 11-track journey through the many faces of love from loss to discovery. Over the years, Julie has revisited her Lebanese roots, expanding her musical repertoire to include Arabic music. Julie began her musical life in Musical Theatre in Allentown, PA. In 2009, she cofounded Layalina with oud player, Sari Andoni. Julie has also collaborated with Austin's 1001 Nights Orchestra, Ojàla, Indimaj, and Atlas Maior and has appeared on stage with Ann Hampton Callaway. She is a member of Swan Songs, an organization that fulfills musical wishes for senior citizens. She is also a member of the Threshold Choir, an international volunteer organization of women who sing for patients on their final journeys, locally at Hospice Austin's Christopher House where she and her Threshold Choir sing every Tuesday morning.

Omar Sosa

Born: April 10, 1965

Composer-pianist-bandleader Omar Sosa was born in 1965 in Camagüey, Cuba's largest inland city. At age eight, Omar began studying percussion and marimba at the music conservatory in Camagüey; in Havana, as a teenager, he took up piano at the prestigious Escuela Nacional de Música, and completed his formal education at the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana. Among his influences, Omar cites traditional Afro-Cuban music, European classical composers (including Chopin, Bartok, and Satie), Monk, Coltrane, Parker, Oscar Peterson, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, Chucho Valdés, and the pioneering Cuban jazz group Irakere. Moving in 1993 to Ecuador, Omar immersed himself in the folkloric traditions of Esmeraldas, the northwest coast region whose African heritage includes the distinctive marimba tradition. He relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1995, and soon invigorated the Latin jazz scene with his adventurous writing and percussive style.

Daniel Meron

Through his music, Brooklyn based pianist and composer Daniel Meron awakens listeners' deepest desires and feelings. Born in Israel to a family of Egyptian and Syrian descent, Meron integrates his love for improvisation into original compositions that are both sophisticated and lyrical, rich with influences from Jazz, Middle-Eastern and Latin American music. Meron’s multiple records have gained rave reviews from music critics and radio stations around the world.

For his new record entitled Pendulum (2024 Pinch Records), Daniel has gathered some of New York’s most innovative and distinguished jazz musicians: Drummer Mark Whitfield Jr. (Kenny Garrett, Kurt Rosenwinkle), bassist Tamir Shmerling (Terri Lyne Carrington, Kevin Eubanks), flutist Itai Kriss (Pedrito Martinez, Avishai Cohen) and tenorist Jonathan Greenstein (Omer Avital, Itamar Borochov). Having performed together over the past year, the band further explores that elusive and magical balance between the power of clarity and the excitement of spontaneity. Listening to Meron’s enchanting compositions played by such heavy-weight jazz improvisers provides a captivating experience both live and on the record.