Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Alan Plachta was born on November 30, 1981 and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Recently recorded in NYC his last album “Un viaje” in collaboration with Richard Nant, featuring Luis Perdomo on piano, Sam Sadigursky on reeds, Satoshi Takeishi on drums and Matt Pavolka on bass.
As a composer, arranger and conductor he has worked with the Boris Big Band, Orquesta Sudamericana, Kai de Raiz, and Orquesta de Cuerdas Elvino Vardado in collaboration with Juan Pollo Raffo.
Alan has played and/or recorded with numerous South American musicians such as Roberto Taufic, Hugo Fattoruso, Urbano Moraes, Daniel Maza, Robert Vincs, Alex & Nilusha, Alexandre Ribeiro, Ana Luiza and Luis Felipe Gama, Nicolás Ospina, Celeste Carballo, Ligia Piro, Liliana Herrero, and Cecilia Pahl among others.
A leader or co-leader, he has recorded five albums, the first in 2005. A prolific arranger and producer Nussbaum has collaborated as guitarist and guest arranger for Cambrio de Estacion, Roma, Soy Una Tarada, Desmesura, Este Tiempo, Ensamble Real Book Argentina, and Y De Amor No Supe Nada.
As a guitarist he has recorded ninetten albums and his compositions are included in Real Book Argentina. His educator role has Adam teaching ear training, arrangement, harmony and guitar. He is in charge of the Musical Language´s Technichs at the Tecnólogo en Jazz y Música Creativa career at UTEC.
Guitarist, composer, arranger and educator Alan Plachta continues to explore his music and his teaching.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Michel Portal was born on November 27, 1935 in Bayonne, France into a musical family and home filled with several instruments growing up. His interest in jazz began after hearing it on the radio after World War II. He studied clarinet at the Conservatoire de Paris and conducting with Pierre Dervaux.
Gaining experience in light music with the bandleaders Henri Rossotti and with Perez Prado in Spain in 1958, Michel performed with drummer Benny Bennett, Raymond Fonsèque, Aimé Barelli and for many years, the singer Claude Nougaro.
Portal co-founded the free improvisation group New Phonic Art. During 1969, he played on a recording of Karlheinz Stockhausen’s Aus den sieben Tagen.
He began scoring music for films in the 1980s. He won the César Award for Best Music Written for a Film three times. Playing both jazz and classical music and is considered to be “one of the architects of modern European jazz.
Composer, saxophonist, and clarinetist Michel Portal continues to perform and record.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Jon De Lucia was born on November 26, 1980 in Quincy, Massachusetts. He is predominantly a student of jazz, but also has a deep interest in the folkloric music and instruments of Cuba, Japan, Ireland and Italy. He has performed on a variety of ethnic flutes, drums and stringed instruments.
Having led his groups and played as a sideman in Boston, Massachusetts, New York City and all over Japan, he has worked with Tommy Crane, David Tronzo, Bob Moses, Bob Gullotti, John Lockwood and Thomas Morgan among others.
He leads the Jon De Lucia Group, and the baroque improvising Luce Trio. Saxophonist and composer Jon De Lucia, now based in Brooklyn, New York, continues to compose, perform and teach full time at BMCC in Tribeca, New York.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Rainer Brüninghaus was born on November 21, 1949 in Bad Pyrmont, Lower Saxony, Germany. From the age of nine he was educated in classical piano and founded his first jazz trio when he was 16. He studied sociology at the University of Cologne and music during the same time. In 1970, he founded the experimental jazz rock group Eiliff, which recorded two albums and one single.
In 1973, he joined the band of German jazz guitarist Volker Kriegel. From 1973 until 1985, he was a frequent guest in the jazz ensemble and the big band of Hessian Broadcasting Corporation. In 1975, with bassist Eberhard Weber and Charlie Mariano, he formed the band, Colours. Rainere played duo concerts with Manfred Schoof and in his quintet and big band.
In 1976, Brüninghaus first played a piano solo concert at the Heidelberg Jazz Days Festival. At the German Jazz Festival Frankfurt of 1978, he performed a suite of pieces lasting 50 minutes, which he composed as commissioned work for the festival.
The Eighties saw Brüninghaus working mainly as a bandleader, putting effort into his own projects, Freigeweht with Kenny Wheeler and Jon Christensen. He alsoe founded his own trio in which Markus Stockhausen and Fredy Studer played until the end of 1984.
John Abercrombie and Trilok Gurtu joined the band in 1985, and for some of the performances, Charlie Mariano, Hugo Read, and Jo Thönes played in the band. In 1988, Rainer began a long association with Jan Garbarek. He has written music for symphony orchestras, big bands, small ensembles, and solo piano, as well as for film and television.
He has also worked with Carla Bley, Bob Brookmeyer, Gary Burton, Bobby McFerrin, Jim Hall, Manu Katché, Albert Mangelsdorff, Paul McCandless, Alphonse Mouzon, Archie Shepp, and Steve Swallow.
He taught piano and music theory at the Akademie Remscheid, at the University of Cologne, and from 1990 to 1993 at the Hochschule (University) for Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts. He has published essays on music theory and was a member of the artistic advisory board for the Union of German Jazz Musicians.
>Pianist, composer and university teacher Rainer Brüninghaus, who has performed solo Grand Piano conerts, continues to perform and record.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Joe Alterman was born November 16, 1988 in Atlanta, Georgia and graduated from New York University with both a Bachelor’s and Master’s in Jazz Piano Performance.
He has performed at iconic venues including the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Birdland, and Blue Note, sharing stages with jazz greats like Houston Person, Les McCann, and Ramsey Lewis. He also had the privilege of opening for Dick Gregory at the Kennedy Center.
He leads his trio or performs solo with a deep groove, bluesy touch, and an exuberance that’s hard to resist, his playing is both deeply rooted and refreshingly modern. He has recorded eight critically acclaimed albums to his name, including the 2023 release Joe Alterman Plays Les McCann: Big Mo & Little Joe, Alterman continues to evolve as a recording artist while honoring jazz’s deep traditions.
His creativity extends to his cultural leadership and writing. As the Executive Director of Neranenah, an Atlanta-based Concert & Culture series, he celebrates Jewish contributions to music and the arts. His writing has also garnered acclaim, he has penned liner notes for three Wynton Marsalis and Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra albums. Alterman was the subject of Nat Hentoff’s final piece on music and in 2025, he was featured on President Jimmy Carter’s Grammy-winning album, Last Sundays In Plains: A Centennial Celebration.
Pianist, composer, writer, and cultural curator Joe Alterman continues to record and swing with style all over the world.
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