Born
in Detroit, Michigan and raised in Queens, New York, Missy’s first real
memory of singing is at age six. Her mother entered Missy in a child
talent contest and everyday she practiced with her after school. It was
her favorite thing to do. For some reason the contest was cancelled and
her afternoon practice sessions stopped, but Missy was hooked from then
on. “Singing would always be my friend and I would turn to it whenever I
needed to express something I couldn’t find the words to say,” says
Missy.Her
parents had an extensive music collection that included lots of soul,
R&B, blues, jazz, and gospel. Her favorite songs were always the
ones that told a story. It wasn’t always the most popular song on the
album, but she would play them over and over and over. She listened to
Gladys Knight, Aretha Franklin, James Brown, The Staple Singers, Teddy
Pendergrass and a host of others. And like many before her, Missy
mimicked other singers until she found her own voice. Later she would
discover Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughn, and Billie Holiday and that
eventually lead her to O.V. Wright, Bobby Bland, Little Milton, James
Carr, Ray Charles, Ann Peebles, and Irma Thomas.Although
singing is her love, she had her first stab at the music business while
in her teens with the rap single, “Be For Real” under the moniker,
Denyce "Flip" Isaac. Although the record’s success was small, it still
led to her being the opening act for Cissy Houston in a string of club
dates. It wasn’t long before Missy turned back to singing, honing her
skills fronting local bands as well as doing studio sessions as a
background vocalist. Moving
to San Diego, California, she met local blues man, Earl Thomas in the
late 90’s. It was then that she became one of the original Juke Joint
Jezebelles, a gospel, blues, and soul quartet, who provided backup
vocals for Earl’s stage show. She played and toured with Earl for
several years hitting festivals and venues in the U.S. and Europe. Earl
Thomas and the Jezebelles shared the stage with Ray Charles, B.B. King,
Robert Cray, John Hammond, Keb’ Mo’, Kenny Neal, and The Meters. MISSY ANDERSEN
Christos Anestopoulos born in Patras,Greece in 1971.
He study classic guitar and he got diploma on the
instrument.
He study electric guitar and he got lessons and clinics from many great jazz guitarist.He is a teacher of Guitar.He has compose music for dance and theater,movies and he release two albums with his music``swinging over the surfaces`` and ``wish you could stay``There’s no avoiding the influence of Bill Frisell on this recording.
And considering that fellow-guitarist Anestopoulos names two separate
tracks “Friselland” indicates he’s fully invested in Frisell’s sound as
both musician and fan. As a huge Frisell fan, this album totally
floated my boat. There are tracks that sound eminently like Frisell
pieces. There are tracks that sound nothing like Frisell pieces, but
the use of electronics and looping and effects, and a strangely ominous
jazz-folk hybrid put it smack dab in the middle of Frisell territory. A
couple tracks incorporate some elements of Anestopoulos’ native Greece,
and nothing about that breaks the album’s cohesion. Kind of jazz, kind
of folk, kind of rock, all of them but none… music with personality and
dramatic expressionism. Not just for fans of Frisell. A series of
guests contribute to this album, on a variety of wind instruments,
strings, and percussion. Very cool. CHRISTOS ANESTOPOULOS
Jazz singer, songwriter and pianist Tamuz Nissim from
Tel Aviv in Israel has spent the last six years in Europe performing
with the most talented musicians in festivals and music venues, leading
her own projects as well as singing in different bands, theatre shows
and movie soundtracks.Her debut CD “The Music Stays in a Dream” (2013) featuring her original
compositions was presented in radio shows in Israel, the Netherlands and
Greece and in several festivals such as the Athens Technopolis Jazz
Festival, the Preveza Jazz Festival, the Montofoli Festival and the
Tinos Jazz Festival. Her performances won warm reactions from the
audience and the press, describing Tamuz as a “very charismatic artist”
(BHMagazino), “a voice that caresses your soul” and “a proof that jazz
is a living art and that stars are still being born” (Athens Digital).Tamuz grew up in an artistic family; her mother is a dancer and a
choreographer and her father is a writer. Both of them play an
instrument and have a great love for classical and jazz music. She
started playing classical piano at the age of 6. She started to sing
when she was 14 and she was accepted to the Jazz music department of the
Ironi Alef High School of the Arts. Her high school band appeared twice
at an open stage at the Tel Aviv Jazz Festival. At this time she won
twice a scholarship from the American Israeli Art Foundation. By the age
of 16, Israeli jazz giants such as Ofer Ganor, Amos Hoffman and Shay
Zelman had recognized her potential and performed with her. In 2005 she
sang in the soundtrack of Ilan Heitner’s movie ‘Bruno in Love’. At this
time she also worked with a group of dancers and composed the music to a
dance show, her mother’s adaptation of ‘A Street Car Named Desire’.She moved to the Netherlands in 2007 to study at the prestigious Royal
Conservatoire of Den Haag; from there she received a Bachelor’s degree
in Performing Arts. In the Netherlands she met musicians from around the
world and started collaborating with the guitarist Giorgos Nazos, the
bassist Vassilis Stefanopoulos and the pianist Francesca Tandoi, with
whom she recorded her debut CD. In 2012 she played the main role in a
Jazz Musical “One doubt Arose in the mind of a noble Vigilante” The
performances ware fully booked and well accepted.Tamuz spends her time travelling between Greece, Israel and Holland,
performing with her band and as a guest artist in music venues and
festivals. She leads two versions of her quartet, one in Greece and one
in Israel, both with the guitarist Giorgos Nazos, with whom she has been
playing for the last 6 years. She also performs with other influential
artists such as the Greek singer Martha Mavroidi; their project of voice
improvisations was presented in 2013 at Women’s Festival in Israel. TAMUZ NISSIM
Dave Douglas is a prolific trumpeter, composer and educator from New York City.His unique contributions to improvised music have garnered distinguished
recognition, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, an Aaron Copland award
and two Grammy nominations. Douglas has developed his work for several
unique ensembles with whom he’s currently active, including his new
quintet, an electric sextet (Keystone),
duo with Uri Caine, Brass Ecstasy, Riverside, and the Soundprints
Quintet (co-led with saxophonist Joe Lovano). His new quintet released
its debut recording, Be Still, in September 2012 with singer Aoife
O’Donovan, the first time Douglas has featured a vocalist on a
recording. The follow-up to that critically-acclaimed recording, Time
Travel, released April 2013.Since 2005, Douglas has operated his own
record label, Greenleaf Music, releasing his own recordings as well as
albums by other artists in the jazz idiom. Douglas has produced over 50
records, including all titles at Greenleaf. Through his artist-friendly
approach and innovative practices, he continues to prove himself a
pioneer in new music marketing and delivery methods for the jazz world
and among artist-run labels.Douglas has held several posts as an
educator and impresario. From 2002 to 2012, he served as artistic
director of the Workshop in Jazz and Creative Music at The Banff Centre
in Canada. He is a co-founder and director of the Festival of New
Trumpet Music, which celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2012. In 2013,
he begins his second year as International Jazz Artist in Residence at
the Royal Academy of Music in London and launches his own Jazz Workshop,
dedicated to enriching the musical experiences of younger players. DAVE DOUGLAS
Generation Blues Experience was co-founded by dedicated 12-year old
singer and guitar virtuoso Ray Goren in 2012 in South Central L.A.
together with veteran blues septuagenarian, Sammy Lee, and octogenarian,
Jamie Powell. A true product of his “generation,” Goren learned from
YouTube videos of the legends and was playing blues guitar in gigs
before the age of 10. But together with Powell and Lee the band has
busted age and musical barriers, resulting in landmark recordings of
blues power.Jamie Bluesboy Powell is an 80 year-old guitar player with an
unforgettable blues shouting vocal style, who has been playing the local
blues scene in South Central LA for years. His friend, harmonicist
Sammy Lee. is well known in Watts for the lonely train whistle sounds of
his harp as he sways with the relentless shuffle beat of his Louisiana
blues upbringing. Known to the locals at Bell’s Blues Workshop as the
Odd Couple, their conversations take on a Jack Lemmon/Walter Matthau
quality making much ado about nothing, and having fun doing it!Ray Goren is a 14-year old musician, who began as a jazz pianist but
migrated to the blues guitar at about 8 years old. He’s acquired quite a
reputation despite his tender age, playing on opening night at the Main
Stage of the Chicago Blues Festival, at Doheny Blues Festival and
walking onstage with Buddy Guy at the Greek Theatre. Playing at the NAMM
conventions, he draws crowds of seasoned musicians. Recently Ray has
recorded an EP of his original music which was produced by Eddie Kramer
(Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Kiss) and sits in on gigs with Robbie
Krieger of the Doors.These three came together two years ago when a well-meaning fan asked
Ray’s father if he’d like to meet some of the old men from Watts, who
really knew how to play the blues – the Real Deal. And that’s how they
first came to meet at Bell’s Blues Workshop – a residential juke joint
in South Central LA (an old drummer’s converted garage) that hosts a
blues jam every Sunday evening. Far from the festival and club scenes
Ray found a bustling sub-culture where the soul food is hot off the
stove, the laughter is loud and pure blues is in the air. When the three
next stepped onto the stage at a blues jam in a fashionable Burbank
club, magic was in the air. Electricity filled the room and everyone saw
the torch being passed from one generation to another. Generation Blues
Experience was born.The three of them bonded and became best of friends with age, color and
lifestyle boundaries all blurred. Blues became their language, They
landed a gig opening at the Golden State Theatre in Monterrey,
California for B.B. King in early 2013. “A band came out on stage to
open for the legend, B.B. King, and this kid – 12 years old – comes out
to front on lead guitar and vocals. What was more surprising is the
gifts that this musician possesses. He is a real phenomenon, and you sit
there not believing what you are seeing and hearing…. It was really one
of the most unbelievable moments I’ve experienced at any concert.” Rock
Subculture.With two albums already recorded - the first within 2 weeks of the
formation of the band and the second recorded live at their residency
gig at Lucy’s 51 in Toluca Lake - they decided it was time to create
their own music. Ray began writing songs – writing one specifically for
Jamie. Sammy wrote about his home state’s troubles with Hurricane
Katrina, and other band members wrote songs that Ray modified with his
own style while staying true to the blues shuffles and slow blues
melodies. These collaborations have resulted in “Private Angel” released
August 2014. GENERATION BLUES EXPERIENCE
An honors graduate of Humber College’s Jazz and Contemporary Music
program, where he was awarded the Gordon and Anne Wragg Music
Scholarship for academic and performance achievement, Shafton has also
studied privately with iconic Canadian bass player-composers such as
Chris Tarry, Rich Brown, Kieran Overs, and Mike Downes.He maintains a busy freelance schedule performing and recording in
support of numerous groups and artists from wide-ranging genres
including jazz, R’n’B, rock, folk, hip hop, country and musical theatre
and has shared the stage with eminent jazz artists such as David
Gilmore, Robi Botos, Waleed Abdulhamid, Daniel Barnes, Michael and
Gordon Webster, and Jamie Reynolds.In addition to driving Shafton Thomas Group’s quest to conquer the
world, Shafton also maintains a busy gigging schedule performing with
Newfoundland-grown hip-hop up-and-comers Large LIVE n’ Direct;
Regina-based piano-pop sensation Jeffery Straker Band, former Mike
Bullard Show House Band guitarist Mark Patterson’s Trio Project and
recently held the bass chair in Angelwalk Theatre’s Dora-nominated
production of I Love You, Because at Toronto Centre for the Performing
Arts. SHAFTON THOMAS GROUP
Melbourne pianist-composer Jex Saarelaht, best known as the leader of a
long-running trio, debuted his quartet with saxophonist Julien Wilson at
the 2007 Wangaratta Jazz Festival. Since then the personnel has settled
to include Jonathan Zwartz (bass) and Niko Schäuble (drums).Since the mid ‘80s, Jex has performed and recorded with an impressive
list of Australian and international musicians, from Dale Barlow and
Bernie McGann to Vince Jones and Chris Wilson, from Renee Geyer and Kate
Ceberano to Sheila Jordan and Steve Lacy. Key international
performances include the Edinburgh Festival, Birmingham International
Jazz Festival, London’s Jazz Café and Southbank, and the Aarhus
International Jazz Festival, Denmark.A founding member of legendary Melbourne bands, Dianna Kiss and Doug de
Vries’ New Tango Quintet, Jex has also led his own bands, including the
Jextet in the mid ‘80s. His trio played its first gig in 1993 with the
same line-up (Philip Rex and Niko Schäuble) remaining to this day. They
released a superb 2-CD set, ‘Fridays, Late’ (Bennetts Lane) in 1999. JEX SAARELAHT TRIO
Born in Aarhus, Denmark, in 1964. Tenor saxophonist and composer.
Also plays soprano and alto saxophone, clarinet and bass clarinet.Associate professor at the Royal Academy of Music, Aarhus, Denmark.
Teaches saxophone, jazz ensemble, ear training and entrepreneurship.Has studied at Berklee College of Music, with Herb Pomeroy, George Garzone, Hal Crook, Joe Viola, and Jerry Bergonzi.Has performed with Lars Jansson, Aaron Parks, Ben Street, Jeff
Ballard, Hal Crook, Alex Riel, Audun Kleive, Silje Neergaard, Per
Jørgensen, poet Peter Laugesen and the bands Pauseland, Must and Den
Danske Salmeduo. Has toured with his own band in Denmark, Norway,
Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Greenland, Iceland, England and Germany.Has recorded 15 albums as leader or co-leader; and over 50 albums as sideman.“Vuust’s mature tenor playing is delightful”Jazz Special (Scandinavia’s leading jazz magazine)“Christian Vuust has a masterful and soulful tone”Ingmar Glanzelius, Dagens Nyheter (Swedish national daily newspaper)“Vuust’s playing exudes an unobtrusive authority which, in concert
with his smooth rhythmic sense, he creates an ideal balance between
statements and expressions.”Boris Rabinowitsch, Politiken (Danish national daily newspaper) CHRISTIAN VUUST
“Soulful and exuberant” (Time Out) vocalist Mark Jennett has been a
regular on the London jazz scene for several years with appearances at
Ronnie Scott's, the Vortex (“regulars lapped it up” – Evening Standard)
and other leading venues. He has performed throughout the UK with his
own trio, and makes appearances with a number of big bands.Mark's second album Everybody Says Don’t (Jazzizit Records), produced by
Geoff Gascoyne, is a set of sophisticated reinterpretations of 20th
century standards from writers as diverse as Cole Porter and Randy
Newman. It is due for release in September 2014 but you can here some of
the tracks here in the meantime.As well as being in great demand as a musician, Geoff Gascoyne is well
known for his production and arranging work with Jamie Cullum and
others. Most recently he produced Jacqui Dankworth’s acclaimed Live To Love album. The stellar band includes Rob Barron (piano and
keys), Geoff Gascoyne (bass), Sebastiaan de Krom (drums) Martin Shaw
(trumpet) and Andy Panayi (saxes and flute). Anita Wardell says - “Mark Jennett is a unique story teller and,
regardless of genre of song, his interpretation is always fresh, new and
exciting. Wonderful, compelling listening.” MARK JENNETTT
