Artist Bio Submission Thread

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Hijaz

Hijaz is a sextet that combines elements of world music with jazz. Hijaz is the name of an Arab musical motif, but the band’s name also holds a clear reference to jazz.The music of the group is based on the dialogue between Tunesian oud player Moufadhel Adhoum and pianist Niko Deman and started with the release of the record Rag Rag by Tunesian singer Zohra Lajnef on which Hijaz also performed. The record was released in 2004 in Tunesia only but laid the basis for further collaboration.

The group consist of aforementioned musicians plus Moroccan percussionist Azzedine Jazzouli, bass player Rui Salgado and drummer/percussionist Chryster Aerts, both jazz musicians from Belgium. This rhythm sections uses traditions from Morocco to India as influence for its adventurous and solid basis. Above this, oud and piano interact and create a mysterious athmosphere. Elements from the Maghreb, Middle East and western jazz are very strong in the music and create a European-Mediterranean sound. The band may have met in Belgium but their music instantly transports you to the calm inner courtyard of some shady house a stone's throw from the bustle of the market in some North-African town.

In May 2008 Hijaz released the debut Cd Dunes which was very well received in the press (see press section). On it you can also hear renowned Armenian duduk player Vardan Hovanissian who has recently become the sixth member of Hijaz.

Bio taken from http://www.zephyrusvzw.be/database/index.php?q=artists/hijaz/biography

Richie Beirach

Richard Beirach, 23 May 1947, New York City, New York, USA. As a child, Beirach studied both classical and jazz piano before attending the Berklee College Of Music and the Manhattan School of Music. He graduated from the latter in 1972, promptly joining Stan Getz. Shortly after this, he began a long-term and hugely productive association with Dave Liebman. In order to fulfil the broad-based musical demands of Liebman’s group, Lookout Farm, Beirach also began playing keyboards. Nevertheless, his preferred instrument remained the piano. Although this particular group of Liebman’s was soon disbanded, Beirach later became a member of the saxophonist’s group, Quest. In the meantime, he had formed his own group, Eon, and had worked with John Abercrombie’s quartet. Beirach has played and sometimes recorded as sideman with many other leaders, including Chet Baker, Freddie Hubbard, Lee Konitz and John Scofield. Musicians with whom he has collaborated as leader or co-leader include Abercrombie, George Coleman, Dave Holland, Jack DeJohnette and Liebman.

Throughout the 90s, Beirach had a highly productive working relationship with the French-born saxophonist Henrik Frisk. In his composing and playing, Beirach’s twin musical influences make their presence heard. The classical side is brought out in his compositions through intriguingly mixed echoes of late nineteenth-century romanticism and twentieth-century angularity. Beirach’s playing reflects an array of pianistic influences, notably the dazzling yet diverse styles of Art Tatum, Bud Powell and Bill Evans. Nevertheless, he achieves an exceptionally individualistic sound, partly through a near-classical pastoral impressionism, marking him out as a piano player of consequence.

Source: The Encyclopedia of Popular Music by Colin Larkin

Ambrose Akinmusire

Trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire is a forward-thinking musician with a bent toward atmospheric post-bop. Born in Oakland, California, Akinmusire showed early promise by his teens and gigged professionally while also playing in the Berkeley High School Jazz Ensemble. Early encounters with such luminaries as saxophonists Joe Henderson and Steve Coleman pushed Akinmusire to focus a keen eye on his own development. He earned his bachelor's degree from the Manhattan School of Music and later his master's from the University of Southern California. Along the way, Akinmusire studied with such trumpet luminaries as master teacher Laurie Frink, Lew Soloff, and Terence Blanchard. Akinmusire has appeared as a sideman on many albums, including works by saxophonist Coleman, pianists Aaron Parks and Vijay Iyer, trombonist Josh Roseman, bassist Esperanza Spalding, and others. In 2007 Akinmusire won the Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet Solo Competition and the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition. A year later he released his debut solo album, Prelude to Cora, on Fresh Sound New Talent. In 2011 Akinmusire returned with his sophomore album, When the Heart Emerges Glistening, on Blue Note Records.
Bio by  Matt Collar., Rovi, from www.starpulse.com

ASA TRIO

Verneri Pohjola

Froy Aagre

Saxophonist and composer Frøy Aagre is a rising Norwegian jazz star. Despite her young age she has developed a highly individual expression and her compositions are both imaginative and original. Reviewers have compared Aagre with saxophone legends such as Jan Garbarek, David Liebman and Wayne Shorter. Frøy Aagres recent album Countryside has received world-wide acclaim from critics and musicians alike. The album was rated as one of the top ten albums in 2007 by the Norwegian newspaper Dagsavisen.

Born on June 8, 1977 in Tønsberg, Norway, Frøy Aagre began playing saxophone at the age of twelve and later moved to England to study saxophone at Birmingham Conservatoire. Her fascination of tango music, resulted a semester as an exchange student at Conservatoiro Nacional Lopez Bouchardo in Buenos Aires. After receiving Bachelor of Music with Distinction at Birmingham Conservatoire, she moved to London to pursue a Masters degree at Middlesex University. Back in Norway, she studied Twentieth-Century Composition at Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo. In 2001, she studied with the world famous saxophonist David Liebman in New York.

Besides being leader for Offbeat, Frøy has performed with such musicians as Pee Wee Ellis, Mike and Mark Mondesir, Kris Davis, Jeff Davis, Annette Aguilar, Eivind Opsvik, Michael Bates, Thomas Strønen and Bjørn Kjellemyr. Aagre has toured in Europe, USA and Africa and played at festivals like Copenhagen Jazzfestival, Aarhus Jazz Festival and Prague Jazz Open.

She has received numerous prizes and scholarships. In 1999 she received the annual jazz prize from the Norwegian Association of Jazz and in 2005 she received the prestigous 1-year Composition Scholarship from the Norwegian Government.

Bio from http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/musician.php?id=2268

Nik Bartsch

Keyboardist Nik Bärtsch (at times spelled "Baertsch") is a player, composer, and improviser very much in the European classical-oriented style of jazz, but has created a language that transcends these basic categories. A native and resident of Zurich, Switzerland born in 1971, he began his nine-year piano studies at age nine, and also briefly took up clarinet. Listening to blues, jazz, and string quartets, Béla Bartók, Igor Stravinsky, and ethnic musics from Japan, Greece, Romania, and Sweden have all shaped his personalized music. Initially influenced by Chick Corea, Bärtsch attended the Zurich Musikhochschule, then studied philosophy, linguistics, and musicology at the University of Zurich. It was then that he was listening to modern 20th century composers John Cage, Morton Feldman, and Steve Reich, thus fusing the multiplicity of disciplines. In 1980 he first met drummer Kaspar Rast, who is a rhythmic fixture in his ensembles, Mobile and Ronin. He performed and toured with the European guitarist Harald Haerter before performing and recording solo and trio efforts, leading to his initial small ensembles for the Swiss based Tonus label. When Mobile evolved into Ronin by 2001, Bärtsch established his distinct and unique ritual groove music, playing every Monday night at the night club Montags in Zurich, and attracting attention and an audience for his spiritual, minimalist, ethnic, rhythm & blues elevated music that has generally been termed "Zen funk". Occasionally Mobile, featuring Rast and marimba player Mats Eser, regroup to perform. As Bärtsch describes his sound, "to me, music is an art of motion, and thus akin to dancing, an ecstatic groove and an ascetic awareness of form and sound in composed music are not mutually exclusive. They can form combinations that take our senses by surprise." Over the years, Bärtsch has retained that regular early week gig while touring greater Europe, reaching Canada and the U.S. in 2007. ECM records owner Manfred Eicher recognized not only Bärtsch's original approach, but its similarity to the music the label has championed since the early '70s, and signed them, beginning with the revelatory CD Stoa. Ronin expanded to a quintet, with stalwart Rast, percussionist Andi Pupato, bassist Björn Meyer, and saxophonist/bass clarinetist Sha. "The band," says Bärtsch, "has simply reached a much higher level of playing, and as an organism is much further developed."

bio by Michael G. Nastos on www.allmusic.com

Avishai Cohen- trumpet

Avishai Cohen is a leading figure on the international jazz scene and one of the most sought-after players of his generation — “an assertive and accomplished trumpeter with a taste for modernism,” according to Nate Chinen of The New York Times. Though deeply rooted in the bebop and post-bop tradition, Avishai is taking jazz in new directions, making waves as an improviser, composer and bandleader. Originally from Tel Aviv, he began performing at age 10. He toured the world with the Young Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra and went on to become the trumpet player of choice for many leading jazz, rock, pop, studio and television projects. He received a full scholarship to attend the Berklee College of Music in Boston, and in 1997 he placed third in the prestigious Thelonious Monk Jazz Trumpet Competition.

Avishai came of age as part of the fertile scene at Smalls, the storied New York jazz club, where he developed his artistic vision alongside such friends and colleagues as pianist Jason Lindner, bassist Omer Avital and vocalist Claudia Acuña. Here the imperatives of jazz tradition and innovation were not in conflict, but rather merged into one powerful creative stream. Avishai flourished in an environment where hard-driving swing, open-ended funk, Latin and Middle Eastern rhythms, complex extended forms and free improvisation converged under one roof, drawing enthusiastic audiences. All of Avishai’s diverse work, as a leader, co-leader and sideman, is informed by this broad-minded legacy, which has given jazz new vitality and relevance in the 21st century.

Avishai made his debut as a leader in 2003 with The Trumpet Player, a burning straightahead session with bassist John Sullivan (Roy Haynes), drummer Jeff Ballard (Chick Corea, Pat Metheny) and special guest Joel Frahm on tenor. His second album, After The Big Rain, is the last part of “The Big Rain Trilogy,” a series of recordings that is now nearing completion. The trilogy also includes Before The Rain (part one), a large-group outing, and Flood (part two), a trio encounter with Yonatan Avishai on piano and Daniel Freedman on percussion. Avishai’s music is alternately moody and joyous, richly atmospheric yet beat-driven and grooving, suffused with compositional depth, inspired improvisation and a profound world-music influence. Avishai plays open and muted trumpet but also routes his horn through electronic effects that range from the dreamy to the snarling and distorted. He’s been developing these sounds over the course of the last decade. “When I play effects, I play a different instrument,” he says. “The whole concept changes.”

Avishai’s other credits range from touring with the celebrated French-American singer-songwriter Keren Ann, to sharing the stage with the great Bobby Hutcherson in the all-star San Francisco Jazz Collective. In addition, Avishai is the co-leader of Third World Love, with Omer Avital, drummer Daniel Freedman and pianist Yonatan Avishai, a group with four recordings to its credit. He also leads a funk-oriented band with bassist Me’shell Ndegeocello and drummer Adam Deitch, and continues to perform extensively with the 3 Cohens, which he formed with his sister Anat and brother Yuval, both gifted reeds players. With his incredible instrumental skill and world-spanning musical interests, Avishai, in the words of critic Ben Ratliff, “has all the power and tenacity he’s going to need.

bio taken from artist's site http://www.avishaicohenmusic.com/html/about.php

Monty Alexander

In a career spanning five decades, pianist Monty Alexander has built a reputation exploring and bridging the worlds of American jazz, popular song, and the music of his native Jamaica, finding in each a sincere spirit of musical expression. In the process, he has performed and recorded with artists from every corner of the musical universe and entertainment world: Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Ray Brown, Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, Clark Terry, Quincy Jones, Ernest Ranglin, Barbara Hendricks, Bill Cosby, Bobby McFerrin, Sly Dunbar, and Robbie Shakespeare, among others.  

Born on D-Day (June 6, 1944) and raised in Kingston, Jamaica, he took his first piano lessons at age six, although he is largely self-taught.  As a teenager, he witnessed concerts by Louis Armstrong and Nat “King” Cole at Kingston’s Carib Theater. These artists had a profound effect on Alexander’s aspirations. He formed Monty and the Cyclones in the late 1950s and also recorded on sessions with the musicians who would catapult Jamaican music to international recognition as The Skatalites (Bob Marley’s first backing band). 

Alexander and his family came to the United States at the end of 1961. Less than two years later, while playing in Las Vegas with Art Mooney’s orchestra, he caught the eye of New York City club owner Jilly Rizzo and his friend, Frank Sinatra. Rizzo hired the young pianist to work in his club, Jilly’s, where he accompanied Sinatra and others. There he met Modern Jazz Quartet vibraphonist Milt Jackson, who hired him and eventually introduced him to former Charlie Parker collaborator and legendary bassist Ray Brown. Alexander recorded and performed with the two jazz giants on many occasions. Jazz’s greatest luminaries welcomed Alexander to their “musical fraternity” in the mid-1960s. Among these earliest enthusiasts for his playing were none other than Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Miles Davis. 

To this day, Alexander maintains an active touring schedule, from intimate jazz clubs to concert halls and jazz festivals around the globe. His collaborations span multiple genres, styles, and generations.  His projects have been as varied as assisting Natalie Cole in her tribute album to her father, Nat “King” Cole in 1991 (the resulting album, Unforgettable, won seven Grammy awards), performing George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” under the direction of Bobby McFerrin at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland, and recording the piano track for the film score of Clint Eastwood’s Bird, a movie about the life of jazz titan Charlie Parker.  

In August 2000, the Jamaican government awarded Monty Alexander the title of Commander in the Order of Distinction for outstanding services to Jamaica as a worldwide music ambassador.  In Hal Leonard’s 2005 book The Fifty Greatest Jazz Piano Players of All Time, Alexander was listed among the top five Jazz pianists of all time. 

With the invitation and encouragement of Wynton Marsalis, Alexander conceived and directed the acclaimed program Lords of the West Indies at Jazz at Lincoln Center in 2008, broadcast nationally on BETJ. Alexander returns to Jazz at Lincoln Center in the Fall 2009 with a new program Harlem Kingston Express. 

As a leader, Monty Alexander has recorded over 60 albums to date.  His 1976 Montreux (Switzerland) Jazz Festival performance with drummer Jeff Hamilton and bassist John Clayton has become one of the most celebrated live recordings in contemporary jazz.  His most recent albums on the Telarc label include trio sessions, such as Impressions in Blue, and the live concert recording Goin’ Yard.  In the late summer of 2005, Alexander traveled to Bob Marley’s Tuff Gong Studio in Kingston, Jamaica, and teamed up with top Jamaican session players to record Concrete Jungle, a set of twelve Bob Marley compositions reinterpreted through Alexander’s jazz piano-centered arrangements. The resulting union of musical perspectives digs deep into the Marley legend and brings together the two worlds that Alexander most treasures, building the musical bridges that are the very essence of his craft.  As a testament to his versatility, The Good Life, on Chesky Records is a collection of songs written and popularized by one of his all time favorite artists and good friends, Tony Bennett. His current release on Chesky is Calypso Blues, a tribute to his hero Nat Cole.

Bio taken from artist's site http://montyalexander.com/bio.shtml