Artist Bio Submission Thread

Agusti Fernandez

Over the course of his long and successful career, pianist Agustí Fernández has built up an international reputation, not only as one of Spain’s most outstanding performers, but as a reference in the world of improvised music. Fernández was born in Palma de Mallorca, where he studied piano, later continuing his studies in Barcelona, France and Germany. A professional musician since the age of just thirteen, his life changed completely when he discovered the work of Cecil Taylor and Iannis Xenakis when studying with the latter in 1978. Fernández’s career as a solo artist really began to take off at the II Biennial of Young Creative Artists in Thessaloniki, Greece, in 1987, since when he has performed at major festivals all over Spain and Europe, as well as composing for dance, theatre, cinema and television.

Co-founder and director of the Orquestra del Caos and director of the Big Ensemble del Taller de Músics in Barcelona, Fernández also co-founded the IBA (Improvisadors de Barcelona) Orchestra with Joan Saura and Liba Villavecchia, directing the impro ensemble until 2001.

Agustí Fernández collaborated regularly with fellow pianist Carles Santos, and took part with him in a number of shows from 1982 to 1998. He has also taken part in performances by the artist Jordi Benito, as well as composing music for the Catalan designer Antonio Miró and collaborating with the flamenco cantaor Miguel Poveda, puppeteer Joan Baixas and draftsman Perico Pastor.

Over the course of his career, moreover, he was worked with such outstanding contemporary dance choreographers as Àngels Margarit, María Muñoz, Ramon Oller, Tomás Aragay and Margarita Guergué, amongst others. He also accompanied the Merce Cunningham Dance Company when this renowned dance troupe presented Event in Barcelona in 2009.

In 1998, Fernández began a close artistic collaboration with choreographer and dancer Andrés Corchero, with whom he has created a number of shows over the years. In 1998, moreover, he formed the Trío Local with Joan Saura and Liba Villavecchia.

In 2003, Fernández became the first Spanish musician to record for the prestigious German label ECM, playing with the Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble (of which he has been a member since 2002) on the CD Memory/Vision. Fernández also joined the Barry Guy New Orchestra in 2002.

Three years later, in 2005, he formed the Fernández/Guy/López trio. The new ensemble made its debut at the Grec Festival of Barcelona to present the CD Aurora, which won unanimous worldwide critical acclaim.

Fernández was musical director of the TVE programme Glasnost in 1989-91, and co-director (with Barbara Held) of the Metrònom International Experimental Music Week in Barcelona in 1997-1999. From 2000 to 2006, he directed the Nous Sons contemporary music festival, organised at L’Auditori in Barcelona. Finally, he has curated the Music Nights season at the Joan Miró Foundation in the Catalan capital since the year 2000.

Agustí Fernández has also taught impro at ESMUC, the Catalan college of music, since 2000.

A prolific musician, he has recorded more than 50 CDs to date.

from artist's site

Vassilis Tsabropoulos

Born in Athens Vassilis Tsabropoulos, who is considered to be one of the greatest Greek pianists, started playing the piano from a tender age. A prodigy, was winning music competitions from the age of ten, and after graduating from the Athens National Conservatory, continued his studies on an Aristotle Onassis Scholarship at the Paris Conservatory, the Salzburg Academy and the Julliard School, with great teachers including Rudolf Serkin and Tatiana Nikolayeva.

Tsabropoulos was an early achiever, winning the UNICEF competition when he was only ten. His distinctions and awards are too many and many are his collaborations with Orchestras in Greece and Europe, performing an ever-expanding repertoire in both recitals and concertos. He has future as soloist with Orchestras such as the Czech Philharmonic, the Yuta Symphony Orchestra, the Budapest Chamber Orchestra, the Sofia Philharmonic, the Italy Radio Orchestra, the Athens Camerata, the Athens Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Color Orchestra, the Lyon Orchestra and the Huston Philharmonic.

Tsabropoulos has participated in many international festivals all over Europe and he has performed every season in the musical centers of the world, presenting an ever growing repertoire in recitals, concertos and chamber music. He has made the works of Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin and Bach central references in his performance repertoire but is also committed advocate of Russian music, frequently playing the works of Rachmaninov, Prokoviev and Scriabin. His playing combines intellectual probity with warm and musical feeling, which is marked by sensitivity to tone color and delicacy of finger work.

While Tsabropoulos began his career as a keyboard virtuoso playing concerto and solo pieces, he has since broadened the range of his activities quite considerably. He has reputation as a classical pianist, an interpreter of 19th and 20th century music, and there is an internationally growing recognition for both his composing and his very special improvising piano playing.

Tsabropoulos has composed works for Orchestra, string quartets, music for violin and cello and many solo piano works include the preludes which he wrote especially for Vladimir Ashkenazy. Since 2000 he is an artist of ECM Records label, and since then he has toured in Europe playing with Arild Andersen and John Marshal as a piano trio, and in piano solos with concerts in England, Germany, Italy, Austria, Norway, Denmark, France and Greece. Alongside his tight schedules of concert activities, Tsabropoulos has given master classes of compositions and piano and frequently he is a member of piano competitions.

Vassilis Tsabropoulos is considered as one of the most meticulous musicians of his generation. He lives with his family in Athens.

from www.mymusicbase.ru

By the way, his name is wrongly spelled - it should be Vassilis and not Vasillis

Lars Danielsson

The bassist Lars Danielsson is reknown and admired in the International Jazz world for his lyrical but groovy playing. Not least his capability to improve the appearance of the melody has brought him around the world in a number of various musical constellations.

Lars Danielsson was born in 1958 and was educated from the Music Conservatory in Gothenburg. Both on double bass, electric bass and cello - (his originally main instrument from the days at the conservatory) - he is an extraordinary soloist and accompanist, who gives the music edge and colourful temperament.

“Lars Danielsson Quartet” with former Miles Davis saxophonist David Liebman, pianist Bobo Stenson and legendary ECM drummer Jon Christensen has been receiving loads of recognition and awards during the 20 years in which the Quartet has existed. This Quartet has been a playground for Danielssons work as a composer and arranger, which he has extended to include both Symphony Orchestra and Big Band music. - During the previous years in co-operation with Danmarks Radios RUO Orchestra (a Symphony Orchestra) as a composer, arranger and producer. He was the conductor and composer of the Jazz Baltica Ensemble for two years.

Extracts from Lars Danielssons Discography: 8 solo-albums since 1980 both with “Lars Danielssons Quartet” and guests such as Alex Acuna and John Abercrombie,Bill Evans and Niels Lan Doky. Other notabilities whom Lars Danielsson has worked with is Randy and Michael Brecker, John Scofield, Jack DeJohnette, Mike Stern, Billy Hart, Charles Lloyd, Terri Lyne Carrington,Joey Calderrazzo,Gino Vanelli and Dave Kikoski. Lars Danielsson has also been a member of the “Trilok Gurtu Group” .

As a producer Lars Danielsson has been responsible for productions with Cæcilie Norby and The Danish Radio RUO Orchestra among others.

from Allaboutjazz..com

100NKA

Edited by andyman1125 - 03 Aug 2011 at 8:45pm

Mathias Eick

Got both.

Edited by js - 02 Aug 2011 at 4:17am

Lucian Ban

Twice nominated in 2005 & 2006 for prestigious Hans Koller “Best European
Jazz Musician Preis“Award, pianist, bandleader, composer & arranger LUCIAN
BAN is originally from Cluj, Transylvania, Romania. He currently lives in New
York City where is part of the next generation of performers & composers at
the forefront of contemporary modern jazz.
He leads several projects and writes innovative music that reinvents the idiom
of jazz music. His compositions are performed & recorded by other musicians
and ensembles.
Mr. Ban leads the super group ELEVATION featuring world renowned tenor
sax Abraham Burton, Nasheet Waits on drums and bassist John Hebert,
the ASYMMETRY Quartet feat. Jorge Sylvester (alto sax), Brad
Jones (bass) and Derrek Phillips or Gene Jackson (drums), and The TUBA
PROJECT a group featuring the famous Bob Stewart on (tuba), Alex
Harding (bari sax), Bruce Williams (alto sax) and Derrek Phillips (drums).
He co-leads with soprano sax great Sam Newsome “The Romanian-American Jazz Suite” group, a project
that presents Romanian Folk music from a jazz perspective. In 2008 their CD bearing the same name was released to critical acclaim to both US and European audiences, followed by successful tours on both sides of the Atlantic.
He also co-leads with bari sax extraordinaire Alex Harding the LUMINATION Ensemble a group that performs since
2002 featuring special guests such as: Sam Newsome, Art Baron, Jorge Sylvester, Josh Roseman, Bruce Williams and many more.
In 2003 the Lumination Ensemble featuring drum legend Barry Altschul was voted "One of the best shows of
2003 " by the All About Jazz Magazine NYC along with Cecil Taylor and Joe Lovano groups.
Mr. Ban has released 7 critically acclaimed albums as a leader for US and European based labels.
He performs and tours regularly with his projects and as a sideman in New York jazz clubs and Europe Festivals and between 2002 -2005 was a member of The BMI Composers Jazz Workshop. He also writes & arranges for Machito Orchestra and was commissioned by them to write a piece for their opening concert at Super Bowl 2002.
Lucian Ban also wrote music for more than 20 theater productions, film and ballet and for NYC Symphony Orchestra and in June 2001 he composed original music for the Theater/Dance Company MINUS. His original music for the theatre play “Philosopher Fox” produced by East River Comedia was nominated twice for the prestigious IT Awards in NYC. His last theatre score was for Saviana’s Stanescu ‘Waxing West” production at La Mama Theater in NY. Lucian Ban has received his degree in Contemporary Jazz Composition and Arranging from New School University in NYC. He also holds a degree in Philosophy from Bucharest University

from bio at artist's site


Edited by idlero - 02 Aug 2011 at 1:03am

added both, what is the source/author of Fonseca's bio?

Manu Katche

Emmanuel 'Manu' Katche was born in St Maur des Fossés, near Paris, in 1958, though his family roots go back to Africa's Ivory Coast. He studied piano from the age of 5, switching to drums at 14 and studying classical percussion at the Conservatoire National Supérieure de Musique de Paris. He has often said that his drum style is essentially an amalgam of African rhythm concepts and classical drumming, illuminated by the in-the-moment interaction of jazz. “When I play jazz I get called a 'rock drummer'. When I do rock projects, critics write about 'the jazz drummer Manu Katché'. But I'm just being myself, trying to be innovative as the music is played, and I guess that is more of a 'jazz' attitude.”

Music on ECM had been one of Katché's teenage inspirations: “I heard my first ECM album when I was about fifteen, and I remember I was amazed by the sound and by the way the music was played: big and bold but with a lot of respect for silence and a real musical balance between the instruments....” He was to arrive at the label by an indirect route, however. By the mid-1980s his floating beat had become one of the signature sounds of pop and rock, sup-porting singers from Joni Mitchell to Peter Gabriel. Manfred Eicher heard Katché playing on Robbie Robertson's untitled Geffen album and felt that his pulses and patterns, simultaneously modern and tribal, could easily be adapted to improvised contexts.

Invited to participate in ECM's 20th anniversary concerts in Paris in 1989, Katché played first in a trio with Jan Garbarek and Indian violinist Shankar in a concert at La Cigale. The encounter was to lead to Katché's membership of the Garbarek Group and his presence on a series of albums: I Took Up The Runes, Ragas and Sagas, Twelve Moons, Visible World, In Praise Of Dreams. Manu recently rejoined Jan's band for several months of live work with concerts which continue until the

end of 2007 in Germany, Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands, Turkey, Portugal and Switzerland.

from www.allaboutjazz.com

Tin Hat Trio

Transplanted from New York to the Bay Area, the chamber jazz group Tin Hat Trio consists of accordionist Rob Burger, guitarist Mark Orton, and violinist Carla Kihlstedt. The group's unique blend of structure, improvisation, and contemporary classical, folk, world, and jazz elements reflects each member's other performing experiences. Kihlstedt majored in classical violin performance at the Oberlin Conservatory and went on to become a prominent performer in both classical and improvised music, playing with artists like John Zorn and Roscoe Mitchell, and recording with Eugene Chadbourne, the Grassy Knoll, and Tom Waits. She also appeared on Philip Glass' series Music at the Anthology, sings and plays with another Bay Area band (Charming Hostess), collaborates with choreographer Jo Kreiter, and is a graphic designer/illustrator as well.

Orton started playing guitar as a child and eventually studied composition at the Peabody Conservatory and the Hart School of Music. Also a professional recording and sound engineer, Orton worked on sessions with Bill Frisell, John Zorn, and the Lounge Lizards, and engineered the sound at the Knitting Factory for two years. Orton plays banjo, lute, dobro, lap steel, and electric guitar with his other group, San Francisco's Old Joe Clarks, and has composed scores for independent films like Beverly Wachtel's Just Noticeable Difference.

Burger studied classical piano at Juilliard and explored different improvisational styles at the University of Massachusetts with Max Roach, Archie Stepp, and Yusef Lateef. He broadened his range to include Hammond organ and vintage keyboards like the Optigan and Chamberlin, toy pianos and keyboards, and the accordion. Burger has toured with Bill Frisell, Don Byron, and Joey Baron, and appeared on Frisell's Tales from the Far Side soundtrack. Since moving to the Bay Area, Burger has worked with artists as diverse as Tipsy and Mix Master Mike; he is also a member of the Oranj Symphonette, as well as his bandmate Orton's other project, Old Joe Clarks. As the Tin Hat Trio, they released their debut album, Memory Is an Elephant, on Angel Records in early 1999; Helium followed in spring 2000, boasting appearances from Tom Waits and an uncredited Mike Patton. Two years later, the ambitious The Rodeo Eroded showcased their own unique music as well as guest appearances from Phish drummer Jon Fishman and Willie Nelson. 2004's Book of Silk went in a more abstract direction; that year, Burger left the band, while frequent collaborators Ara Anderson and clarinetist Ben Goldberg joined the fold. Reflecting their new status, the group rechristened themselves Tin Hat for 2007's The Sad Machinery of Spring.

from www.allmusic.com