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Michael Formanek
Michael Formanek (born May 7, 1958) is an American jazz bassist born in San Francisco, California, United States, and associated with the jazz scene in New York City, New York. Career In the 1980s, Formanek worked as a sideman with Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, Dave Liebman, Fred Hersch, and Attila Zoller. His debut album as a leader was 1990's ''Wide Open Spaces'', featuring saxophonist Greg Osby, violinist Mark Feldman, guitarist Wayne Krantz, and drummer Jeff Hirshfield. In 1992 he released ''Extended Animation'' with the same ensemble, except with Tim Berne replacing Osby on saxophone. In 1993, Formanek, Berne and Hirshfield recorded as a trio on the album ''Loose Cannon''. Following this, Formanek led the septet of himself, Berne, trumpeter Dave Douglas (trumpeter), Dave Douglas, reed player Marty Ehrlich, trombonist Kuumba Frank Lacy, drummer Marvin Smith and pianist Salvatore Bonafede. That same year, Formanek began playing with Berne's ensemble, Bloodcount, through the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of California cities by population, fourth most populous in California and List of United States cities by population, 17th most populous in the United States, with 815,201 residents as of 2021. It covers a land area of , at the end of the San Francisco Peninsula, making it the second most densely populated large U.S. city after New York City, and the County statistics of the United States, fifth most densely populated U.S. county, behind only four of the five New York City boroughs. Among the 91 U.S. cities proper with over 250,000 residents, San Francisco was ranked first by per capita income (at $160,749) and sixth by aggregate income as of 2021. Colloquial nicknames for San Francisco include ''SF'', ''San Fran'', ''The '', ''Frisco'', and '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greg Osby
Greg Osby (born August 3, 1960) is an American saxophonist and composer. Biography Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Osby studied at Howard University, then at the Berklee College of Music. He moved to New York City in 1982, where he played with Jaki Byard, Jim Hall, Muhal Richard Abrams, Andrew Hill, Jack DeJohnette, Dizzy Gillespie, and Herbie Hancock. In 1985, he joined DeJohnette's group Special Edition. With Geri Allen, Steve Coleman, Gary Thomas, and Cassandra Wilson, he was a founding member of the M-Base Collective. Osby began recording albums under his own name for JMT Records in the mid-1980s, then signed with Blue Note in 1989. In 2007, he formed his own label, Inner Circle Music. He gave exposure to young pianist Jason Moran, who appeared on most of Osby's 1990s albums, including ''Further Ado'', ''Zero'', ''Banned in New York'' and ''Symbols of Light'', a double quartet featuring the addition of a string quartet to the band. He has also played with Phil Lesh and Fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dave Ballou
Dave Ballou is an American jazz trumpeter and associate professor at Towson University, in Maryland. Early life and education Ballou was born in Peace Dale, Rhode Island. He started playing the trumpet at age 11. Ballou received his bachelor's degree at Berklee College of Music in 1986 and his master's degree at the University of New Hampshire in 1992. Career He played in the Mingus Epitaph band and has worked as a sideman for musicians such as Rabih Abou-Khalil, Andy Biskin, Michael Formanek, Satoko Fujii, Jacob Garchik, Andrew Hill, John Hollenbeck, Sheila Jordan, Oliver Lake, Dave Liebman, Joe Lovano, Denman Maroney, Orange Then Blue, Tom Rainey, Maria Schneider, Michael Jefry Stevens, and Nate Wooley. His first album as a leader was issued in 1998. Ballou is currently associate professor of music at Towson University in Maryland. Discography Albums * ''Amongst Ourselves'' (Steeplechase, 1998) * ''Volition'' (Steeplechase, 1999) * ''The Floating W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Erskine
Peter Erskine (born June 5, 1954) is an American jazz drummer who was a member of the jazz fusion groups Weather Report and Steps Ahead. Early life and education Erskine was born in Somers Point, New Jersey, U.S. He began playing the drums at the age of four. He graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan, then studied percussion at Indiana University. Career His professional music career started in 1972 when he joined the Stan Kenton Orchestra. After three years with Kenton, he joined Maynard Ferguson for two years. In 1978, he joined Weather Report, joining Jaco Pastorius in the rhythm section. After four years and five albums with Weather Report and the Jaco Pastorius big band's ''Word of Mouth'', he joined Steps Ahead. In 1983, he performed on the Antilles Records release ''Swingrass '83''. He toured the US in 1992 with Chick Corea. Erskine splits his time as a musician and a professor at the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern Californ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gerry Hemingway
Gerry Hemingway (born March 23, 1955) is an American drummer and composer. Hemingway was a member of the Anthony Braxton quartet from 1983 to 1994. He has also performed with Ernst Reijseger, Anthony Davis, Earl Howard, Leo Smith, George E. Lewis, Ray Anderson, Mark Helias, Reggie Workman, Michael Moore, Oliver Lake, Marilyn Crispell, Christy Doran, John Wolf Brennan, Don Byron, Cecil Taylor, and Cuong Vu. Hemingway received a Guggenheim Fellowship for his work in music composition in 2000, and was a student of Alan Dawson. He is a graduate of Foote School in New Haven. He has recorded on over one hundred albums for the labels Clean Feed, Enja, hatArt, Palmetto, Random Acoustics, and Tzadik. He owns his own label, Auricle. Discography As leader * 1979 ''Kwambe'' Auricle * 1982 ''Solo Works'' (solo) Auricle * 1983–94 ''Electro-Acoustic Solo Works'' (solo) Random Acoustics 1996 * 1984–95 ''Electro-Acoustic Solo Works'' (solo) Random Acoustics 1996 * 1987 ''Outer Brid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jim Black
Jim Black is an American jazz drummer who has performed with Tim Berne and Dave Douglas. He attended Berklee College of Music. Career His band AlasNoAxis includes Hilmar Jensson on electric guitar, Chris Speed on tenor saxophone and clarinet, and Skúli Sverrisson on bass guitar. The music is in some ways closer to post-rock than jazz, concentrating on rhythmic shifts and ensemble texture rather than featured solos. Since 2000 Winter & Winter has released several of the band's albums. Pachora includes Black, Speed, Sverrisson, and Brad Shepik on tambura and electric saz. This band plays music that is rhythmically diverse and inspired by Balkan rhythms. Black participated as drummer 12 in the Boredoms 77 Boadrum performance on July 7, 2007 at the Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park in Brooklyn, New York. He is also one-third of the group BBC (Berne/Black/Cline) with alto saxophonist Berne and Nels Cline of Wilco. The group released the album ''The Veil'' in 2011. Discography ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steve Swell
Steve Swell (born in Newark, New Jersey, December 6, 1954) is an American free jazz trombonist, composer, and educator. Music career Swell studied at Jersey City State Teachers College before moving to New York City in 1975 where he began his musical life, playing in top 40 bands, salsa bands, big bands (most notably those of Buddy Rich and Lionel Hampton) and performed on Broadway in Bob Fosse's ''Dancin' ''. He then became a member of Makanda Ken McIntyre's band which led to tours and recordings with Tim Berne, Joey Baron, Herb Robertson, Jemeel Moondoc, Anthony Braxton, Cecil Taylor, William Parker, Bill Dixon, Butch Morris, John Zorn, Dave Burrell, Elliott Sharp, Rob Mazurek, Perry Robinson, Ken Vandermark. He is greatly influenced by Roswell Rudd, with whom he studied in the mid-1970s. He was also a student of Grachan Moncur III and Jimmy Knepper. Swell has led a number of projects, including Slammin' the Infinite (w/Sabir Mateen, Matthew Heyner, Klaus Kugel), Fire ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Salvatore Bonafede
Salvatore Bonafede (born August 4, 1962) is an Italian composer and pianist. Early life Son of jewellers, Bonafede was born in Palermo on 4 August 1962. He started playing the piano at the age of four and became interested in jazz thanks to his father, Antonino Bonafede, a self-taught jazz pianist and a follower of Erroll Garner. His early experiences date back to the early 1970s at the Brass Group Jazz Club in Palermo, Italy playing in jam sessions with Dexter Gordon, Joe Albany, Woody Shaw, Irio De Paola and Giorgio Gaslini. In 1973 he made his first engagement as a jazz pianist in the Italian National Television Rai 1 program Sapere: Jazz in Italy conducted by Franco Cerri, followed by his participation in the television programs Chitarra and Fagotto (Rai 2, 1975), in which he performed with the RAI television orchestra, and Di Jazz in Jazz (Rai 2, 1978). He studied classical music at the Conservatory of Palermo from 1974 to 1981, where he currently holds the chair in jazz ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marvin Smith
Marvin "Smitty" Smith (born June 24, 1961) is an American jazz drummer and composer. Marvin Smith was born in Waukegan, Illinois, where his father, Marvin Sr., was a drummer. "Smitty" was exposed to music at a young age, receiving formal musical training at the age of three. After graduating from Waukegan East High School, Smith attended Berklee, graduating in 1981. Smith has recorded 200 albums with various artists, as well as two solo albums. He has toured with, among others, Sting, Dave Holland, Sonny Rollins, Willie Nelson and Steve Coleman. He is a former member of The New York Jazz Quartet, and was the drummer for the ''Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' band, led by Kevin Eubanks, from January 30, 1995 until the show's end on May 29, 2009. Smith was also the drummer for the '' Jay Leno Show'' band in 2009-10. Discography As leader *''Keeper of the Drums'' (Concord Jazz, 1987) *''The Road Less Traveled'' (Concord Jazz, 1989) As sideman With Michel Camilo ('' One More Onc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kuumba Frank Lacy
Frank Lacy (born August 9, 1958, Houston, Texas) is an American jazz trombonist who has spent many years as a member of the Mingus Big Band. Career Lacy's father was a teacher who played guitar with Arnett Cobb, Illinois Jacquet, and Eddie Cleanhead Vinson. His mother was a gospel singer. When Lacy was eight, he started learning piano. In his teens, he played trumpet, tuba, and euphonium before switching to trombone. He got a degree in physics from Texas Southern University. In 1979, he went to the Berklee College of Music in Boston, studying trombone and composition. His classmates included Branford Marsalis, Greg Osby, and Marvin Smith. Lacy moved to New York City in 1981. In 1986, he played with Illinois Jacquet's big band, and a couple years later he was musical director for Art Blakey. He released his first album as a band leader in 1991 with his father on guitar. He has also worked with Lester Bowie, Marty Ehrlich, Michael Formanek, Slide Hampton, Roy Hargrove, Rufus Reid, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marty Ehrlich
Marty Ehrlich (born May 31, 1955) is a multi-instrumentalist (saxophones, clarinets, flutes) and is considered one of the leading figures in avant-garde jazz. Biography Though born in St. Paul, Minnesota, the portion of Ehrlich's youth spent in St. Louis, Missouri, was particularly important. As a high school student at University City High School in nearby University City, the teenager came into contact with the influential Black Artists' Group (BAG, 1968–72) which was modelled after the AACM in Chicago. Later, during formal studies at the New England Conservatory, Ehrlich developed a particularly close relationship with pianist Jaki Byard. It was here that he was most deeply schooled in traditional jazz forms, as well as Western European classical music. During these formative years, Ehrlich was exposed to the cultural, political and musical workings of radical African-American art, and was mentored by such legends as Julius Hemphill and Oliver Lake. Often associated wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dave Douglas (trumpeter)
Dave Douglas (born March 24, 1963) is an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and educator. His career includes more than fifty recordings as a leader and more than 500 published compositions. His ensembles include the Dave Douglas Quintet; Sound Prints, a quintet co-led with saxophonist Joe Lovano; Uplift, a sextet with bassist Bill Laswell; Present Joys with pianist Uri Caine and Andrew Cyrille; High Risk, an electronic ensemble with Shigeto, Jonathan Aaron, and Ian Chang; and Engage, a sextet with Jeff Parker, Tomeka Reid, Anna Webber, Nick Dunston, and Kate Gentile. He has won a Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, an Aaron Copland award, and received Grammy Award nominations. As a composer, Douglas has received commissions from the Trisha Brown Dance Company, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, Norddeutscher Rundfunk, Essen Philharmonie, The Library of Congress, Stanford University and Monash Art Ensemble, which premiered his chamber orchestra piece ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
