Results for "Groove"

Josh Warren

Born: March 6, 2004

Rooted in the jazz tradition but drawing influences from all over the map, Josh Warren is an award-winning Canadian bassist, composer, and arranger originally hailing from Victoria, BC. Since moving to Toronto to study with Canada’s finest, he’s shared the stage and recorded with a plethora of Grammy-nominated and JUNO award-winning musicians (including Ingrid Jensen, Jeremy Ledbetter, Rich Brown, Allison Au, and Joaquin Nunez) and performed all across the country, playing at iconic venues and major festivals from coast to coast. 

His debut album “The Path”  (engineered and mixed by JUNO award-winner Patric McGroarty) will be out everywhere on August 22nd, 2026, and features an award-winning cast of young lions on the Canadian jazz scene, and blends the jazz tradition with shades of Pat Metheny, Stevie Wonder and Snarky Puppy

Marcel Vallès

Marcel Vallès is a Barcelona-based guitarist, composer and producer blending jazz with Brazilian and global influences. His musical language was shaped through a period of immersion in South America, with a strong focus on rhythm and melodic lyricism.

He maintains an ongoing collaboration with Mirla Riomar, producing her work and performing internationally, and has also collaborated with artists such as Omar Sosa, Letieres Leite and Julito Padrón.

His debut album Boas Lembranças, recorded in duo with Steve Shehan, features original compositions and an intimate dialogue between guitar and percussion.

Mike Bruzzese

Born: October 31, 1996

An active figure in Montreal’s vibrant music scene, Mike performs regularly both as a bandleader and a sideman. He has also appeared at prominent jazz venues across Canada. His performance and recording credits include collaborations with acclaimed artists such as Louis Hayes, Lenny White, Ben Solomon, Davis Whitfield, Miki Yamanaka, Emilio Modeste, Adam Arruda, Terry Clarke, André White, Kevin Dean, Ira Coleman, Caity Gyorgy, and Laura Anglade, among many others.

Mike assembled a talented quartet for his debut album, Even When I’m Dreaming. It features Gentiane MG, Ira Coleman on bass, Michel Lambert on drums, and special guest vocalist Caity Gyorgy. Through this project, Mike continues to find new ways to bring his music to life.

Jack West

Born: October 20, 1968

A prolific musician, composer and bandleader, Jack West is a singular guitarist with an immediately recognizable sound. His early career saw the release six albums that received widespread critical acclaim, and included steady performances at leading festivals and venues including SXSW, Atlanta Jazz Festival, High Sierra Music Festival, and The Freight in Berkeley. In parallel with his music career, West is also an inventor and has patented various new musical instruments and solar technologies, pursuits that have born impressive fruit. Jack has recently ramped up his musical output with multiple projects, including two new albums and supporting tour dates in early 2026.

Erez Aviram

The Erez Aviram Ensemble is a unique group consisting of eight versatile musicians from New York City led by composer and pianist Erez Aviram. The ensemble, combining traditional orchestral instruments with a powerful rhythm and horn sections, creates a bridge between the written and the improvised, skipping flawlessly between genres and modes to produce intellectual and emotive music.

Since its inception, the ensemble has become a rising force in the chamber jazz scene, performing in New York City.
Following the recording and filming of their debut EP, the ensemble delivered a sold-out performance at the 2023 Rochester Jazz Festival, and were picked to perform at Chamber Music America's Showcase in Times Square, NYC on January 2024.

Threegonos - Modern Jazz Unity

Threegonos – Modern Jazz Unity was founded around 20 years ago by bassist Toni Armetta, initially as a trio, and has evolved over the years into its current sextet formation.

Toni Armetta began studying music at the age of 12 and took up the double bass at 14, graduating in 1983 from the G. Rossini Conservatory in Pesaro. From an early age, Armetta was inspired by diverse musical forms and genres, which led him over the years to deepen his studies in electric bass, harmony, composition, arrangement, jazz, improvisation, and more. Along the way, he participated in a vast array of professional experiences, ranging from chamber and symphonic orchestras to jazz, Latin jazz, big bands, fusion, pop, and recording studio sessions.

Aiskander

Born: September 12, 1973

AISKANDER is a Polish jazz composer, arranger, reharmonizer, guitarist, improviser, and music producer. He is the founder of the Wrocław-based vocal and instrumental ensemble Mistrz Allegro and the creator and owner of the independent Polish record label illumination Music. His artistic activity focuses primarily on instrumental jazz-funk, jazz fusion, and world music.

Driven by a constant desire to refine and expand his creative process, Aiskander began developing original material early in his career. In mid-2009, he released his debut solo album Tysięczna część radości. The opening tracks—Róża wiatrów, Fantazja, along with twelve other compositions built around the melodic sound of the classical guitar—outlined a musical direction he would continue to explore in subsequent releases.

Ryan Cohan

Born: June 6, 1971

Throughout his critically acclaimed recordings as a leader and as a collaborator with numerous leading jazz figures and world-class ensembles, Ryan Cohan has masterfully walked the line of writer and player, proving himself time and again to be a composer of rare vision as well as a highly versatile, powerfully expressive pianist

Recognized for his “ingenuity and virtuosity” (Chicago Tribune), Cohan’s expansive oeuvre ranges from solo piano pieces to works for symphony orchestra and scores for independent films. He has produced six albums of original compositions: Real World (Real World Music); Here and Now (Sirocco Jazz); One Sky (Motéma), named one of the year’s best recordings by the Chicago Tribune and a number of jazz publications; Another Look (Motéma), hailed as “a model for modern jazz piano albums” by ICON magazine; and The River (Motéma) which features Ryan’s sixty-minute suite inspired by his travels in Africa.

OJT

OJT builds on the classic organ jazz trio by mixing old school Kansas City jazz with blues and a modern funky groove.  Ken Lovern on Hammond organ, Kenny Watson Jr. on drums, and Brian Baggett on guitar play equal parts in balanced arrangements with outstanding improvisations. OJT has been a band for more than 20 years and it shows.  Kenny Watson Jr. has been with the group for just over two years, and he brings a fresh groove to the old school organ jazz jams.  

OJT is: 

Ken Lovern:  Hammond Organ

Brian Baggett: Guitar

Kenny Watson Jr.: Drums

Ken Lovern

Born: November 20, 1965

Ken Lovern is the hammond organist and composer that drives the bus that is OJT. Ken was born in the Kansas City area on November 20, 1965, and he has been a professional musician most of his adult life. Even before graduating from the Conservatory of Music of the University of Missouri at Kansas City in 1989, Ken went to work with legendary Kansas City vocalist, Ida McBeth. Ken currently plays at the Green Lady Lounge most nights in any given week. OJT plays there every Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night.   Ken also plays with Guitar Elation, featuring legendary guitarist Danny Embrey, on Thursday nights.