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Christian Jacob
Multi-Grammy nominated pianist and arranger Christian Jacob first gained widespread exposure as music director for Maynard Ferguson and later as leader of the Christian Jacob Trio and co-leader of the Tierney Sutton Band. Christian is also the musical director for both Broadway legend Betty Buckley and American icon Jack Jones. He has performed around the globe, with many of the musical giants that inspired him since childhood. Flora Purim and Airto Moreira, Randy Brecker, Miroslav Vitous, Benny Golson, Bobby Watson and Bill Holman to name just a few.
Born in Lorraine, France, Christian Jacob fell in love with classical music at age 4 and discovered jazz at age 9. After graduating with “First Prize” from the Paris Conservatory, Jacob came to America to study improvisation at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. While attending Berklee Christian won a number of awards, including the Oscar Peterson Jazz Masters Award, the Great American Jazz Piano Competition and "Downbeat" magazine's distinction as Top Collegiate Jazz Soloist. He went on to teach at Berklee, tour with Maynard Ferguson, perform and record with a number of jazz legends and was listed by The Japan Times as one of the best-selling foreign jazz pianists in Japan. His extensive discography includes five critically acclaimed trio recordings and six Grammy nominations from his alliance with vocalist Tierney Sutton, drummer Ray Brinker and bassists Trey Henry and Kevin Axt. Christian also received a Grammy Nomination for his arranging work with The Phil Norman Tentet.
With his trio (featuring bassist Trey Henry and drummer Ray Brinker), Christian released several outstanding recordings. Styne & Mine, a collection of Christian’s originals and music by Jule Styne; Contradictions, a look at the original compositions of renowned pianist Michel Petrucciani; Live in Japan. The trio’s latest recording, The Originals, is a captivating story-like collection of original compositions. While this recording is truly all about jazz trio, a beautifully orchestrated string section adds depth to 8 of the compositions.
Christian’s solo piano recording, Beautiful Jazz: a private concert, is aptly titled as this intimate solo recording is a dedication to the music that drew him away from the classical world and introduced him to the beautiful world of jazz. Years in the making it is one of the works he is most proud of and was recorded in pure analog and available as a limited-edition vinyl LP.
While Christian performs year round, his arranging and orchestration skills are highly sought after. He has been arranging for the Swiss Youth Jazz Orchestra since 1990 and The Scottish National Jazz Orchestra since 2005, featuring such talented artists as John Scofield, Billy Cobham, Charlie Haden, Phil Woods, Joe Lovano, Ron Carter and Gary Burton.
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Ann Hampton Callaway: Finding Beauty. Originals. Volume 1
by Richard J Salvucci
"This is my most personal record," Callaway says. “Throughout my career, I've loved singing the great jazz classics and selections from the Great American Songbook, but I've always snuck my original songs on various projects. The pandemic made me think, 'I don't know if I'll live through this, but if I do, what's at the top of my bucket list?' And I realized that I wanted to tell my story and share the deepest part of me. What better way ...
Continue ReadingBrian Eisenberg Jazz Orchestra: Pain & Beauty
by Edward Blanco
A religious man at heart, composer/band leader and producer Brian Eisenberg leads an 18-piece big band (The Brian Eisenberg Jazz Orchestra) on a personal musical exploration on the meaning of love through the perspective of what may be beautiful, and what may seem hurtful on the very introspective and challenging Pain & Beauty. The album, as he writes, “is dedicated to that ideal of genuine love...painful yet, beautiful love." Eisenberg sets the musical bar quite high on such lofty and ...
Continue ReadingA Big Band Spectacular? You Bet Your Brass!
by Jack Bowers
On May 23, Betty and I flew to Los Angeles to attend the L.A. Jazz Institute's semi-annual ode to swinging, this one labeled Big Band Spectacular and slated for Thursday through Sunday, May 25-28. We rearranged our schedule to arrive a day early, even before Wednesday's “bonus" event, to attend the funeral of a longtime friend and colleague. As the service was held mid-afternoon Wednesday in Inglewood, we returned to the Westin LAX Hotel, scene of the week's events, around ...
Continue ReadingChristian Jacob: Beautiful Jazz: A Private Concert
by Dan Bilawsky
There was a time when pianist Christian Jacob thought he'd be making his mark as a classical pianist. That's perfectly understandable considering the fact that he was playing piano at age four and studying at the Metz conservatory at age six. By the time he was in college, studying at the Paris Conservatory, he was winning awards and prepping for piano competitions. Jacob was following the prescribed course that classical piano hopefuls typically follow, but his destiny ...
Continue ReadingChristian Jacob: On Respect and Knowledge of Jazz in Japan
by Wayne Zade
Christian Jacob was born in Lorraine, France, and began classical piano studies at the age of four. His early musical influences included Debussy and Ravel, as well as Oscar Peterson, whose approaches to improvisation impressed him the most. Having won First Prize in a piano competition at the Paris Conservatory, Jacob studied and then later taught at Berklee College of Music in Boston. Maynard Ferguson played an important role early in Jacob's career, giving the pianist a job in ...
Continue ReadingThe Christian Jacob Trio: Live in Japan
by Jack Bowers
Christian Jacob, surely one of the jazz world's most overlooked and underrated pianists, is enormously popular in Japan, where he was invited to perform a series of concerts in October 2007 with his working trio and to record selected numbers from each to comprise the album Live in Japan. Jacob, who can caress the keyboard as gently as a soft summer rain and swing emphatically at the drop of a hi-hat, brings all his impressive assets to bear in a ...
Continue ReadingThe Christian Jacob Trio: Contradictions
by Jack Bowers
As readers should know by now, I have deep admiration for pianist Christian Jacob, whose praises I have sung whenever the opportunity arose. He is, simply put, one of the finest jazz pianists on the scene, and those who've not heard him play have missed a thoroughly pleasurable experience. On Contradictions, Jacob salutes another marvelous pianist, Michel Petrucciani, whose life was ended far too soon by the effects of osteogenesis imperfecta, a rare bone disease that stunted his physical growth ...
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