Artists - Mila Art Agency

OUR ARTISTS

Biography

Matthew Alec

Matthew Alec is a jazz and popular music saxophonist, founder and Executive Producer at Cleveland Time Records, and bandleader for the high-energy jazz fusion group Matthew Alec and The Soul Electric.

Nominated as “Cleveland’s Best Horn Player” by Cleveland Scene Magazine in 2009, Matthew has performed for over 20 years and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Music from Kent State University. He has toured nationally and has opened for a number of A-list acts including Earth, Wind, and Fire, Incubus, Robert Randolph and The Family Band, Keane, Average White Band, Lupe Fiasco, OAR, Ozomatli, Bret Michaels, Rusted Root, and others. He has performed with former Saturday Night Live Musical Director, CBS Orchestra member, and Blues Brothers bandsman Tom “Bones” Malone, internationally-acclaimed bassist Victor Wooten and his brother Roy “Futureman” Wooten, Saturday Night Live trombonist Steve Turre, Kenny G bassist Vail Johnson, Grammy-winning Ohio Players alumni Billy Beck, and Parliament-Funkadelic bassist Ben Powers, Jr. He has recorded with Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Parliament-Funkadelic and Talking Heads member Bernie Worrell and aforementioned Tom “Bones”Malone.

His debut album as a leader Cleveland Time (which features Malone) was released in 2021 and charted for several weeks on the NACC Jazz Radio Chart, peaking at #13, and received international press from Jazziz Magazine, All About Jazz, JazzMonthly.com, SoulTracks.com, Broadway World, WBSS Media (UK), Glide Magazine, Cleveland.com, and many others. The hard bop blues “Blues for McCoy” (written by Matthew) off the album was a Semi-Finalist in the International Songwriting Competition for 2021 as well as one of All About Jazz’s most “Popular Jazz Songs” of 2021.

At Kent State, he studied both 20th century classical music and jazz with Grammy-nominated saxophonist Greg Banaszak and longtime Cleveland Jazz Orchestra trombonist and composer Chas Baker. He is also a two-time attendee of the highly exclusive Inside / Outside Retreat for professional saxophonists held at Wooten Woods just south of Nashville, Tennessee. There he studied music, nature, and life in general with the “who’s who” of world-renowned jazz virtuosos, including saxophonists Bob Reynolds, Bob Franceschini, Joshua Redman, Jeff Coffin, Kirk Whalum, and Steve Wilson, pianist Aaron Goldberg, bassist Victor Wooten, and drummer Roy “Futureman” Wooten.

Matthew is also a founding member of “Cleveland’s Best Original Band,” Winslow. The original soul and funk outfit earned the moniker from both Cleveland Scene Magazine and Cleveland’s Fox 8 News. For nearly 10 years until the group parted ways he performed in many cities across the United States and recorded two full length albums as a soloist with the group: Crazy Kind of Love (2008) (which featured Bernie Worrell) and Left of the Right Direction (2013), the latter of which he co-produced. Both drew national critical acclaim, features on AOL.com, MSN.com, and Reverbnation.com, and many radio spins across the U.S.

As of 2020, Matthew also founded Cleveland Time Records, a record label that records, distributes, and promotes jazz artists from the city of Cleveland. Cleveland Time was its aptly-titled initial release.

Matthew is proudly sponsored by DeJacques straps and Remic microphones.

group Matthew Alec & The Soul Electric. The five piece ensemble boasts a roster of highly talented and accomplished musicians with very diverse backgrounds. With influences including David Sanborn, Stevie Wonder, The Meters, Steely Dan, The Brecker Brothers, Van Morrison, and many others they combine the technical artistry of jazz with the lively and easy-going nature of popular music.

Biography

Srdjan Vukasinovic

For an incredibly interesting and refreshing performace of Srdjan Vukasinovic can be said that it has strenghtened him among the leading performers on accordion in the world today. His fresh and innovative approach to music provided him an excellent reputation as a great concert master, who can always satisfy the needs of different kinds of audience. He is always bringing new ideas and methods in his performace, based on improvisation and mixing of different musical genres with a lots of influence of jazz and world music sound. On the other hand, he is an established performer of classical and contemporary classical music. This is evidenced by numerous cooperations with a lots of contemporary composers of classical music.

On the other hand, he is an established performer of classical and contemporary classical music. Starting from his early years when he was singled out in one of the most important competitions for accordionists, he took the first prize in the World-Trophy competition for accordion in Spain in 1999. From then on Srdjan has participated in many successful performances, appearing as a soloist and as part of various ensembles, such as Arte Diversa, Chaarts Chamber Artists, Klassik Nuevo Orchestra, Zürcher Kammerorchester and many more. In recent years we have seen Srdjan successfully performing with leading musicians worldwide, such as the legendary violinist Gilles Apap, pianist Fazil Say, and flamenco and jazz bassist Carles Benavent. He has formed an exciting and unusual duo with Taylan Arikan on baglama (anatolian lute) called Meduoteran, which
specialises in World Music.
Upcoming performances include his performance in various festivals in Switzerland and abroad, such as Klassik Nuevo Festival, Lucerne Festival, Gstaad Menuhin Festival, Cully Jazz Festival, along with SoNoRo Festival Romania, Kronberg Academy Festival Germany, I Suoni delle Dolomiti Italy, Akkordeonfestival Wien Austria, and Witten Days for New Chamber Music Germany. You can see performances on our page concerts. Srdjan’s explosive energy and his original approach to classical music, alongside the breadth of jazz influences and improvisation skills make him stand out as one of the top players in the world. His virtuosity, power and charm has captivated audiences around the world and justifies the win of ‘best accordionist in the world’, a title he won in his youth. Srdjan is an alumnus of Zuricher Hochschule der Kunste, Switzerland from 2001, where he got his master degrees in Music Pedagogy and Concert Performance in 2005. Since then he has also been teaching Balkanmusic at the Zuricher Hochschule der Kunste Music Department.

Srdjan has invented the first quarter tone accordion in the world. With this multituning accordion it is possible to play 24 tones in one octave. Also, there is a possibility to combine many different tunings at the same time (for baroque, modern, oriental music etc.). One more of Srdjan’s innovations is his new accordion brand ’’Carboneon.“ This innovative instrument is the first one made from carbon fiber, which renders Carboneon the lightest accordion in the world.

Biography

Alberto Conde

Alberto Conde is an award-winning pianist and composer from Galicia, born in Caracas (Venezuela) on April 1, 1960. He commenced his studies at the Conservatory for Professional Music in Ourense, Galicia (Spain), graduating in classical guitar under the guidance of maestro Tomás Camacho in 1978.

In the years 1980 and 1981, he had his initial exposure to jazz at renowned jazz seminars in Banyoles (Catalonia), organized by the Taller de Musics of Barcelona, featuring masters such as Thad Jones, Chuck Israels, Bill Dobbins, Steve Brown, Sal Nístico, Ben Riley, Jim McNeely, Claudio Roditi, and Hal Crook. It was with the latter, acclaimed American trombonist and composer, that he pursued studies in 1982 at the San Diego School of Performing Music (California), earning an honorary recognition certificate from the maestro. In 1983, he founded the Baio Ensamble School in Vigo, the first jazz school in Galicia. Already with the piano as his instrument and leading ensembles derived from this school, in 1986, he secured the second prize at the International Jazz Festival Competition in San Sebastián (Donostia-Euskadi) and became a finalist in the First National Jazz Exhibition of INJUVE in Palma de Mallorca.

In 1987, he reached the final of the Composition Competition for Contemporary Jazz Orchestra organized by the Plató Foundation of Madrid and SGAE. Three years later (1990), he received the RNE (National Radio of Spain) Critic’s Award for the album “50th Anniversary of Los Satélites de La Coruña,” where he participated as a musical director, composer, and arranger.

In the following decade, he dedicated his time to researching traditional Galician music created and developed in various formats ranging from classical and symphonic orchestras to jazz trios fused with traditional Galician instrumentation. This musical fusion is documented in two innovative discographic works, referred to as “Muiñeira-Jazz” by the RNE program Diálogos 3. In 2002, he composed and premiered the symphonic work for classical guitar and orchestra, “Sounds of Logbook,” lasting 45 minutes and based on a journey from Central Africa to Galicia. It was interpreted by guitarist Tomás Camacho and conductors Miguel del Castillo and Fernando Arias, resulting in a total of seven concerts between Galicia and Portugal.

Between 2004 and 2006, following the fusion styles of Galician and Iberian music with jazz, he developed new compositions and arrangements recorded on two albums in a jazz trio formation with bassist Baldo Martínez and drummer-percussionist Nirankar Khalsa, titled “Entremares” and “Andaina”; the latter featuring collaboration with flamenco guitarist Jesús Alonso Pimentel “Cuchus” and singer-songwriter Maite Dono. In 2007, he obtained the chair of jazz piano, composition, and arrangements at CSMus in A Coruña, Galicia (Spain), where he continues to teach. He also served as the director of the Big Band from 2018 to 2021, with whom he recorded several albums, including the notable DVD “Jazzliza,” featuring compositions by classic Galician authors, Pablo Beltrán, and his own students, set to historical texts of Galician poetry chosen by academic Afonso Vázquez Monxardín and poet Luís Cuntín; sponsored by the Xunta de Galicia and the City Council of A Coruña.

Biography

Gwen Sampé

Gwen Sampé is a jazz singer for whom the art of improvising is an integral and indispensable part of her musical soundscape. Born into a family of singers in Houston, Texas her approach to jazz singing is rooted in the past yet unapologetically modern.

Nurtured on John Coltrane and Betty Carter, she brings surprise and daring to her performances. Her artistic background is rich and diverse. As well performing on the jazz circuit, she has also performed in, and directed, contemporary jazz inflected mixed media theatre pieces, including a self-produced one woman show, “From the Fields to the Concert Hall,” first performed in Italy.

Gwen studied dance with Yolande Burke and Bill Louther in London, and with Elsa Wolliaston in Paris. Upon receiving her AGSM from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London, Gwen immediately started performing in jazz venues in and around London. She also directed and composed the music for Turnings, a theatre piece based on Wole Soyinka’s A Shuttle in the Crypt. In 1990 she took the role of God in Benjamin Britten’s Noye’s Fludde, the first woman to play the part. In 1994 she joined Ariya opera-company and played the part of ‘Spirit’ in Henry Purcell’s opera Dido and Aeneas. Yet through all of these wonderfully diverse experiences she continued to concentrate on her main musical interest, jazz, performing in clubs and festivals in England, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, and Germany, releasing her first album, Water Gazing, in 2002, a mixture of her own compositions as well as songs from the standard repertoire.

Gwen has worked with many musicians and artists over the years, from pianists to kora players, flutist to cellists, dancers and plastique artists, such as John Betsch, Peter Giron, Bobby Few, Jobic Le Masson, Harry Swift, John Stevens, Dudu Pukwana, Bheki Mseleku, Aldridge Hansberry and Mehdi Farajpour among others. Her duo project with pianist Jobic Le Masson resulted in an album the Conversions, released the fall of 2014. The album, a mix of compositions and standards “revisited,” is a reflection of the improvisational work they do together, a reflection in her belief in the ephemeral nature of sound and its transformative powers. While continuing her work with Jobic, she is also involved with other projects — a duo with the bassist Harry Swift, “Flowers for Strayhorn,” the songs of Billy Strayhorn, the African Jazz Quartet with José Pendje and the eponymously named Gwen Sampé Quartet

Biography

Susanna Lindeborg

Susanna Lindeborg, piano and keyboard, started her professional musical career at the middle of the 70th. From her classical upbringing she turned into work with jazz and improvisation, which showed to be her right element. The thing you first think of together with Susanna Lindeborg is her work with the mix of acoustic and electronic instruments, which has been known most of all through the group MWENDO DAWA, which she is the leader of together with saxophone player Ove Johansson. Mwendo Dawa has been succesfully touring in 22 countries in Europe, North and South America and China performing at festivals like Montreux, Northsea and Montreal.

The past few years she has been regularly visiting USA and Canada with Mwendo Dawa. Susanna also writes a lot of the repertoire for the group. Besides Mwendo Dawa Susanna Lindeborg toured a great deal with the female jazz group Salamander during the beginning of the 80th. Salamander arouse a lot of attention on the European continent and in USA and Susanna came to tour a lot internationally with these two groups.

Today you can also hear her in the Lindeborg/Johansson Duo and Natural Artefacts. Susanna has been touring with Natural Artefacts and LJDuo with performances both in the world of improvisation music as well as the world of electro acoustic music. She also is doing solo improvisations together with her computers doing electroacoustical backgrounds.

Susanna Lindeborg writes her own music and some of this got profiled when she released her first soloCD 1989. The CD got a lot of attention and gave her some work for instance in Germany with some radio and TV recordings.

Pressvoices:

Susanna with her blonde appearance showed to hide a volcano under the surface. Where can you today hear piano better played than this?

Folket, Sweden
There are few keyboard players that approach the synthesizer with such a power as Susanna Lindeborg.

Nye Takter, Norway
Susanna Lindeborg showed not to be only a superb instrumentalist but she also shows to be a magnificent talent of composing.

Jazz Podium, Germany
It is great that she – a lone woman – can create just that supplement of sounds and harmonics which she thinks the (very beautifully recorded) good old sounds of grand piano shall be accompanied by. It is lovely to receive noble analogue nice sounds together with the machines keeping other colourings in the background, or the opposite.

Anders Kirkegaard, JazzSpecial Denmark
Susanna Lindeborg is a refreshingly original voice that easily holds the listener´s attention for a full-length solo album: not an easy feat.

Steven Loewy, Cadence, USA

Biography

Simon-Mary Vincent

Awarded in 2021 an Artist Respond Award by the St. Hugh’s Foundation for the Arts, Arts Council England support for the 2017 Stations of the Cross Solo Piano Tour and nominated in 2014 for a Paul Hamlyn Award for Artists, Simon-Mary Vincent is an Anglo-Hungarian performer and composer of acoustic and electronic music, who has been challenging the boundaries of genre and musical expression with a highly personal political and spiritual language since the early 1990’s.

“Visionary and expressive”, “rich and surprising”, “incredibly individual”, “masterful compositions”, “an immersive experience”, Simon-Mary’s music has attracted praise and radio play from critics as varied as Fran Wilson, Lauren Redhead, Ben Watson, Julian Cowley, Nick Luscombe, Robert Hugill, Massimo Ricci, and Gilles Peterson, and has been reviewed in publications including The Wire, International Piano, Jazz Journal, De:Bug, and Avant Music News.

Active for many years in the UK’s improvised and experimental music scene, she was also resident DJ in the Cookin’ Room at LTJ Bukem’s Progression Sessions, releasing compositions and performances on Erstwhile Records, EMANEM, L’innomable, Good Looking Records, as well as her own label Vision of Sound to critical acclaim with trumpeter Tom Arthurs, The Occasional Trio featuring bassist Roland Fidezius and drummer Kay Lübke, and Ten Trees Conversations with percussionist Tumi Mogorosi, sound interventionist Robert Machiri and spiritual philosopher Kupawashe Mtata.

She went on to found and direct the EMW Experimental Orchestra at the University of Applied Sciences in Potsdam, premiering works in Berlin at Club Transmediale, Tresor and the Akademie der Künste and has lectured in subjects ranging from acousmatic composition, audio installation and interdisciplinary performance art to urban musical and sonic political/cultural theory (socio-acoustics), afrofuturism, sound design, feminist performance art, and network and game theory.

Her unique work has led to appearances worldwide at the Tallinn Music Week, TechFestival Copenhagen, Erased Tapes Sound Gallery, Glastonbury Festival, Akademie der Künste (Berlin), ICA London, Club Transmediale (Berlin), Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Internationale
Ferienkurse für Neue Musik (Darmstadt), Visiones Sonoras (Mexico City), Q-02 Brussels, as well as on Resonance FM, BBC Radio 3, and Ministry of Sound Radio among many others.

Having completed a commission from RPO Principal trombonist Matthew Gee for 3 electroacoustic miniatures, BBC Radio 3 Late Junction’s Nick Luscombe, The Richard Wagner Museum’s ‘Amor Mundi Festival’, as well as the ‘Bayreuth Blättert’ Literature Festival, she is currently performing and recording
a new album with electro-acoustic trio Nàdair (with Dave Pullin and Chris Dowding) and composing 2 substantials new works for percussion with 4-channel electronics, and piano with 5-channel electronics.

Biography

Andrew Nevala

Director of Jazz Studies at Jacksonville State University, Dr. Andy Nevala currently directs the Downbeat Award Winning Jazz Ensemble I (2015), Jazz Ensemble III, Jazz Ensemble IV, the Latin Ensemble, oversees the Jazz Combo program, produces the annual Jazz Festival (in it’s 11th year), and teaches Jazz piano lessons. As Director of Jazz Studies, he has overseen the JSU Jazz program more than double in size during his time at JSU, with performances in the community, at regional and international festivals, and Middle and High Schools in the Southeast region.
Andy has been recognized by Downbeat magazine on 10 different occasions, winning individual Downbeat Music Awards for composition (2002), arranging (2003), and performing/directing (2000, 2001, 2002, 2015).
Andy has recorded on over 20 CDs released in the US, Japan, and South America, most recently New West Records “Big Band of Brothers”, which debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Jazz Charts, and “Three Times Two”, released on the Girod record label out of New Orleans.
Andy’s YouTube Channel can be found here
The newest JSU Jazz CD, “First Circle”, was released in January 2018, and features Jazz Ensemble I, the JSU Steel Band, and the JSU Latin Ensemble. The first CD “Everything In It’s Right Place” was released in 2015 and was recognized in Downbeat Magazine for “Outstanding Performance, Undergraduate Jazz Ensemble”.
Professionally, Dr. Nevala has toured with the Glenn Miller Orchestra (US Touring Orchestra, 1 Tour of Japan, 2 tours of Canada), Steve Lippia (2 US tours, Fresno CA Symphony, Las Cruces NM Symphony, Corpus Christie TX Symphony, Mobile AL Symphony), Eddie Turner (3 tours of Europe), The ProJazz Trio (Bassist Gonzalo Teppa, Drummer Tyer Hornby; two Venezuelan tours, tour of Canada), and his own groups (Denver, CO, Boise, ID, Boulder, CO, Aspen, CO). He currently can be seen with the Atlanta Latin Jazz Orchestra, Orchestra MaCuba (Atlanta, GA), and his own groups. He has performed with the Pensacola Symphony (vocalist Dee Daniels), Mazacote (San Francisco, CA), Orquesta Borinquen (San Francisco, CA), Conjunto Colores (Denver, CO), Nelson Rangell (Denver, CO), Mart Avant and Nightflight (Birmingham, AL), and many more.

He is widely in demand as guest conductor, performer, and clinician, with recent guest artist performances at the Dave Brubeck Institute (Stockton, CA), the University of the Pacific (Stockton CA), California State University, Stanislaus (Turlock, CA), Southeastern Louisiana University (Hammond, LA), and the University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa, AL). He has conducted the 2010 Campbell Union District Music Festival Jazz Ensemble in San Jose, CA, the Rome, GA District 7 Jazz Festival Big Bands (2012,2013), and was the 2013 Alabama Music Educators Association Gold All-State Jazz Ensemble Director. He served as a clinician at the Delta College Jazz Festival (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011), the Folsom High School Jazz Festival (2008, 2010), the CMEA Hanford Jazz Festival (2009), the Sacramento State University Jazz Festival (2008, 2009), the Manteca High School Combo Festival (2010), The Boise State University Gene Harris Jazz Festival (2003, 2008), and the Casper College Jazz Festival (2007). He has also presented at AMEA (2013, 2018), GMEA (2015), performed in the GMEA Sight-Reading Big Band (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018) and founded the AMEA Sight-Reading Big Band (2018, 2019).
An active arranger and orchestrator, Dr. Nevala has been commissioned to arrange for the Glenn Miller Orchestra, the Denver Brass, the Steve Lippia Big Band, and arrangements published by 3-2 Music Publishing. He has also orchestrated, conducted, and arranged music for the Malt Jupiter Theater in Jupiter, Florida, and arranges/orchestrates musicals for the COPA Conservatory. He also arranges for the Atlanta Jazz Orchestra, JSU Jazz Ensemble I, Orchestra MaCuba, and many others.
Having studied under Dr. John Davis, Chip Stephens, Art Lande and Pat Bianci, Dr. Nevala holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Jazz Piano Pedagogy from the University of Colorado, Boulder, a Master of Music degree in Music Theory and Composition from the University of Northern Colorado, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music from Boise State University.

Biography

Kristian Borring

Kristian Borring is a Danish guitarist who has made a name for himself on the European jazz scene.
He is known for his melodic approach to contemporary jazz and has worked with many notable musicians, such as saxophonists Tommaso Starace and Will Vinson, vibraphone player Jim Hart, as well as lyrical vocalists such as Polish folk diva Monika Lidke, and Australian jazz singer Chris McNulty.
Kristian is often described as an understated virtuoso with a deeply melodic approach, and a “strong
rhythmic urgency…a lot of discipline and a compelling drive to the playing” (Marlbank). Kristian is
also recognised as having a “contemporary edge whilst never losing his firm grip on the jazz guitar lexicon… a masterful exposition of jazz guitar and the small jazz combo” (Bebop Spoken Here).
He currently resides in Perth, Australia, and continues to tour with his British quartet, which has received much acclaim. The Danish Jazz Magazine, Jazz Special, described the group as delivering “hard swing, lively postbop and mellow Nordic melancholy to edgy jazz-rock fusion…with great force and a controlled ferocity which suits the quartet well”, and BBC Radio 3 presenter Julian Joseph recognised the group as “a band exercising a strong sense of control and empathy”.
Kristian has released several albums. His latest, Out of Nowhere, (2021) was album of the week on both ABC jazz Australia as well Danish Radio Broadcast P8jazz. It was reviewed as being “creative
contemporary jazz at its very best” by Jazz Views, and British jazz reviewer Ian Mann described it as: “A typically classy, intelligent & sophisticated offering from Borring”.
Kristian has released several albums. His latest, Out of Nowhere, (2021) was album of the week on both ABC jazz Australia as well Danish Radio Broadcast P8jazz. It was reviewed as being “creative contemporary jazz at its very best” by Jazz Views, and British jazz reviewer Ian Mann described it as: “A typically classy, intelligent & sophisticated offering from Borring”. He has also collaborated with several musicians both as a leader and sideman. He founded his own record label Cool it Records in response to the decrease in global touring due to the pandemic.
Kristian also works as a lecturer in jazz guitar, composition, and performance at the Western Australian
Academy of the Performing Arts.

The Danish/Australian trio Number Junky is an inventive jazz group to come out of the Southern Hemisphere. They play provocative rhythms and odd-time signatures while retaining a focus on both lyrical melodies and lush harmony. The group is led by Kristian Borring with the rhythm section of Zac Grafton on double-bass, and Peter Evans on drums. Their new album Earth Matters was released in 2022 on Coolit Records to international acclaim by publications such as Jazziz, Jazz Halo, The Australian,
and Jazz Journal. The album’s maturity and appeal has beenpraised for “its lustrous sound and its melodic and harmonic qualities combined with the exploration of skilful rhythms” (Jazz Mania), while Borring was hailed as being a “post-bop wizard” (Vintage Guitars). Number Junky plays original compositions by Borring and modern interpretations of jazz standards. The trio collaborated with the piano virtuoso Fabian Almazan on ‘Earth Matters’ and have recently joined forces with British saxophonist Will Vinson for their next album.

Biography

Kesivan Naidoo

Kesivan Naidoo’s music has been hailed by critics as “majestic playing, mind-blowing listening” and “the birth of a new South African jazz sound”. When he performs, venues are packed with eager ears and excitement. Born in 1979 in East London, South Africa, Kesivan was one of the first non-white students in a formerly white school. He fell in love with jazz at the age of 10 and started performing professionally at 14. Born into the generation of “freedom children”, he used music to celebrate the liberation his elders fought so hard to achieve. Kesivan’s sound is rooted in the art of improvisation, in rapturous expression and radical invention—and most importantly, in listening.

Over the past 25 years, he’s forged relationships across the world. He’s performed in Africa, Europe, Asia, and America with jazz luminaries including: Dave Liebman, Danilo Perez, Joe Lovano, Tarus Marteen, John Patitucci, Maria Schneider, Miriam Makeba, Bheki Mseleku, Zim Ngqawana, Feya Faku, Rene McLean, Jimmy Dludlu, Judith Sepumba, Hotep Galeta, Steve Newman and Carlo Mombelli, Bruce Cassidy, Winston Mankunku and more. He’s also honed his diverse musical vocabulary anchoring innovative groups including Tribe (traditional jazz), Golliwog (funk), Closet Snare (electronic jazz), Babu (world music) and Beat Bag Bohemia (Swiss-Southern African collaboration of four drummers, contemporary classical music).

Kesivan graduated from the University of Cape Town with a BA in Music. In 2000 he won the SAMRO Overseas Scholarship Competition which gave him the opportunity to spend one year studying under Prof. Sanjoy Bandopadhyay in India.

As the Creative Director of Silent Revolution Music, Kesivan is also a music activist and has composed for feature films and documentaries. In 2001 he won a SAFTA (South African Film and Television award) for Best Music Composition in a Feature Film. The following year, he won the UCT Honors (University of Cape Town) counsel scholarship. In 2009 he was the winner of the prestigious South African Standard Bank Young Artist of the Year. In 2010 he released his first album “Instigators of the Revolution” with his band “Kesivan and The Lights”. The album was nominated for a SAMA (South African Music Awards).

In December 2011 Kesivan co-founded the jazz club Straight No Chaser. As a popular live performance space in Cape Town, it was voted one of the 150 great jazz venues of the world by Down Beat Magazine. In October 2014 Kesivan and The Lights performed to standing ovations at the international launch of the album Brotherhood at Carnegie Hall. In 2016 (with the Oppenheimer Memorial trust scholarship), Kesivan graduated with his Master’s degree from Berklee College of Music, Global Jazz Institute in Boston, USA under the supervision of Grammy-winning pianist Danilo Perez in 2016. Kesivan now lives in Basel, Switzerland. In his latest project, Kesivan arranged 10 of his compositions for big band, premiered by the Swiss Jazz Orchestra (commissioned by Pro Helvetia) in November 2022. In 2023, Kesivan took this project with a Swiss-German-South African big band on tour in South Africa. Later that year, he was commissioned to arrange Amapiano tunes for big band which he and his band performed with popular Amapiano artists Boohle and Ch’cco in Johannesburg and Cape Town. Kesivan has been an endorsee of Zildjian cymbals for the past 14 years.

Biography

Pat Belliveau

Pat Belliveau is a JUNO Award nominated and 3-time YYC Music Award nominated saxophonist, and, has an extensive performing background which has involved numerous performances at international jazz festivals and venues in Victoria, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Montreal, Montreux, Switzerland, and Boquete, and Panama City, Panama. In addition, he has toured throughout North America, Europe, and Japan, with numerous groups, including, the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, Vic Damone/Diahann Carroll, the Mills Brothers, “Jazz Vibraphonist” Terry Gibbs, Maureen McGovern, and Mel Torme.

As well, Pat has done numerous concert performances with many artists and groups including; Bob Mintzer, Randy Brecker, Herbie Hancock, Harry Connick Jr., Bobby Shew, Clark Terry, Pat LaBarbera, Rob McConnell, Phil Woods, Bill Watrous, Mike Tomaro, Jeff Jarvis, Kenny Wheeler, Doc Severinsen, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, The Temptations, Joan Rivers, Bernadette Peters, David Foster, Colin James, The University of Calgary Jazz Ensemble, The University of Lethbridge Jazz Ensemble, The Brandon University Jazz Ensemble, The Abilene Christian University Jazz Ensemble (Abilene, Texas), The Canadian “rock group” Lighthouse, The Canadian Tenors (Now “The Tenors”), The New York casts of A West Side Story and

A Chorus Line, The Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, and The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra among others.

In addition, he is presently on faculty (teaching saxophone, improvisation, and jazz ensemble director) at Ambrose University in Calgary, is a former faculty member of the University of Calgary Music Department (1995-2008), teaching jazz saxophone, jazz harmony, and jazz improvisation. As well, Pat has been a private saxophone instructor since 1986, has several private students, and is active as a clinician/adjudicator for festivals, schools, and various adult groups throughout Canada. He can be heard on over 55 recordings as a sideman and leader, and has been heard on numerous television and radio jingles.

Pat is an Artist/Clinician for “Yamaha Canada Music Ltd.” endorsing the Yamaha “82Z Custom Mark II” design professional tenor and soprano saxophones, and the “875EX Custom” design alto saxophone, for “BG Woodwind Music Products” (France), for “Theo Wanne Saxophone Mouthpieces”, and for “Marca Saxophone Reeds” (France).

Biography

Andrew Lamb

Andrew Lamb, also known as The Black Lamb, is a versatile musician renowned for his mastery of saxophones, flutes, clarinet, oboe, and woodwind instruments from various indigenous societies. Lamb is not only a virtuoso performer but also a distinguished composer, celebrated for his unique style and personal narrative. Originally from North Carolina, he was primarily raised in South Jamaica, Queens, New York. Lamb pursued his education at State University Of New York S.U.N.Y. Old Westbury and Chelsea Performing Arts Studio WIS. He refined his saxophone skills under the tutelage of the legendary AACM charter member Kalaparusha Ara Difda (formerly known as Maurice McIntrye) and the esteemed woodwind instructor and performer JD Parran.

In the mid-1970s, Lamb emerged onto the esteemed Loft Jazz scene and avant-garde community of New York City, solidifying his presence over the years in the vibrant Bedford–Stuyvesant arts scene, particularly during the 1990s through 2004. His contributions to the arts have been recognized with awards such as the Brooklyn Arts Council Regrant Awards and the New York State Council for the Arts Individual Artist Award in 2008 and 2023, respectively. Lamb leads several musical ensembles including The Andrew Lamb Quartet, The Andrew Lamb Trio, The Moving Form, and The Dogon Duo. Additionally, he currently heads his multi-disciplinary ensemble, Andrew Lamb’s Circadian Spheres Of Light, which aims to provide healing through music for individuals with Autism, Dementia, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

As a composer, Lamb’s work is characterized by its organic nature, drawing inspiration from personal experiences and moments of transcendence. He has released compositions on esteemed record labels including Delmark, C.I.M.P, Engine, and No Business, the latter producing “Andrew Lamb/Rhapsody In Black,” which received Honorable Mention for Record of the Year in 2012 .

After 2012, he also released “The Night of The 13th Moon” on LFDS records in 2019.

Lamb’s musical journey has taken him across the United States and Europe, including performances in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Notably, he has collaborated with bassist Henry Grime’s Sublime Communications Trio.

Lamb ardently believes in the transformative power of music and the arts, viewing them as essential components for healing and restoring balance to humanity and the universe at large. His mission is to continually introduce new and innovative music to the global stage, enriching the lives of audiences from all walks of life.

Biography

Anders Helmerson

Anders was born and raised in Sweden with parents both being pianists. He was early compelled to pursue that carrier himself but it was not just straight forward. To be a successful pianist you need an extraordinal talent but also the energy to spend many hours a day practising. In his early teenage he tried to give it a go and spent a lot of time practising. Being a fan of classical music, jazz and contemporary rock his music taste was of an omnivore. The result of his ambitions was mixed as he missed out on school. He studied music on a lower level but never manage to be enrolled to the higher music institutions and at the same time he got an interest in composing. He started working on an epic project at 18 years of age which resulted in in his first album called “End of Illusion “3 years later. This album was a mix of jazz rock fusion, world music and progressive rock and produced at the major recording studio Decibel in Stockholm. He played Keyboards and invited many other musicians.

This multi genre was not very appreciated in the academic circles. Anders with his new skill of music production kept him working as a producer but at age of 24 he changes course and enrolled medical school. The End of Illusion was a flop and did not sell, and selling music was important in that time – the analogue days. During his time at university he was more or less detached from music.

Years later when being a doctor he learned that End of Illusion had become a cult album and was being highly appreciated by prog music fans. He signed contract with the label Musea and got a great lump sum of money. He was then working as a ships doctor and when he got the news he disembarked in Brazil in order to work with his next album.

It was about the millennium as he started to work on his second album “ Fields of Inertia” which was released on the Brazilian label Som Interior. But he was not aware that the music industry had changed. The digital recording technique was easier and faster to use and the music market had become more fragmented and it was not monetizable anymore.

After that he settled in London. Here he spent times looking for inspiration to write music. He tried collaboration with different musicians and when being in contact with some very talented ones (Marco Minnemann and Bryan Beller) it was like turning on a tap and the inspiration started to flow. He released the album Triple Ripple with them in 2011 and made a few gigs in Brazil and Europe with his stack of keyboards.

Later Anders changed the synths for a grand grand piano. In 2016 he released “ Quantum house project” an album with French Christian Grassart and Thierry Conand on drums and bass. This was the first album with piano trio, After this Anders lead his own trio and started to play live in much more frequent. In 2021 – the middle of the pandemic Anders released his fifth Album Opus I As soon as the pandemic was over he started touring with his new trio including Juan Mejia on drums and Simon Fagerstedt on bass he recruited from Berklee.

They where touring in South America in 2022 and 2023 and in the same year a UK tour. They also played a Rio Montreux festival in October 23.

Since then Anders had continued to write music for piano trio in his own jazz prog way.

Biography

Martin Marinchak
AMC Trio

AMC Trio is a distinguished Slovak jazz ensemble, renowned for its versatility and innovative musical approach. While often described as a piano trio, this characterization does not fully capture their dynamic range, as they frequently expand beyond traditional trio formats. This exceptional group, comprising Peter Adamkovič on piano, Martin Marinčák on bass, and Stanislav Cvanciger on drums, has established a formidable presence in the global jazz scene, collaborating with illustrious musicians such as Randy Brecker, Philip Catherine, Bill Evans, Ulf Wakenius, Mark Whitfield, Michael ‘Patches’ Stewart, and many others.

With a career spanning over two decades, AMC Trio has crafted a unique musical language that blends mainstream jazz with a multi-genre sound. Their compositions are deeply emotional and narrative, drawing inspiration from various sources including popular and classical music, Eastern Slovak folk melodies, nature, literature, and spirituality. This eclectic influence allows them to transcend cultural boundaries, creating music that resonates on an international level.

AMC Trio operates as a collective of three equal members, each bringing their distinctiveness into a harmonious and cohesive unit. This equality fosters a creative environment where their mutual likeness and closeness are accentuated, allowing their individual talents to shine collectively.

Their discography boasts six critically acclaimed studio albums. Notably, “One Way Road To My Heart” received the Radio_Head Award for Best Jazz Album in 2013. Their latest release, “Ad Fontes,” features arrangements of Slovak folk tunes in collaboration with the Folk Band of Stano Baláž, and won the Public Prize for Best CD at the 2017 Esprit competition.

The AMC Trio has been praised for their ability to convey compelling stories through their music. As Randy Brecker noted, their compositions and improvised phrases carry a unique narrative quality that deeply connects with audiences. Ulf Wakenius commended them for their originality and beautiful East European-flavored melodies, emphasizing their musical integrity in a world full of imitators.

AMC Trio’s profound storytelling through music and their innovative contributions to the jazz genre make them an exceptional ensemble, captivating audiences worldwide and leaving an indelible mark on the contemporary jazz landscape.

Endorsements:
Randy Brecker: The AMC Trio are amazing musical storytellers. Each and every composition and improvised phrase has a narrative thought behind it. It is that quite unique gift which communicates their music so well to their many fans!

Ulf Wakenius: The AMC Trio is a very original piano trio from Slovakia. They have an extraordinary talent for writing beautiful melodies with an East European flavor. In a world full of copycats, AMC stands out with their musical integrity. I have enjoyed tremendously working with them for some years now. I find our cooperation both enjoyable and creative. There is a huge audience waiting for AMC Trio’s beautiful music.

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Martin Marinchak
AMC Trio