Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Nicole Rampersaud was born on December 17, 1981 in Toronto,Canada. Studying trumpet through high school she then went to earn an undergraduate degree from the University of Toronto in Jazz Performance. From there a scholarship led her studies to the New England Conservatory, where she earned her Master’s Degree in Jazz Studies. While at the Conservatory, Nicole studied with Danilo Perez, John McNeil, Jerry Bergonzi, Joe Morris, Herb Pomeroy, Joe Maneri, and Bob Moses. She also studied composition with Michael Gandolfi and Ken Schaphorst.
Developing her singular voice that intersects with a broad range of musical practices and traditions, Nicole has become a sought-after collaborator with a host of artists. A few of his contemporary musicians are Anthony Braxton, Joe Morris, Ra-kalam Bob Moses, Sandro Perri, and many more.
Rampersaud’s primary groups include Brass Knuckle Sandwich with pianist Marilyn Lerner, a duo with guitarist Joel LeBlanc, and she is a founding member of the trio c_RL alongside Allison Cameron and Germaine Liu. She has performed with AIMToronto Orchestra, Eucalyptus, Michael Vlatkovich 5 Winds, and Montreal-Toronto Art Orchestra.
Since 2008, she has been building a catalogue of solo compositions that deconstruct the trumpet’s sonic possibilities and co-founded the improvisation-driven series, Understory. Trumpeter and composer Nicole Rampersaud continues to relentlessly seek out and create spaces to work with a diverse and expanding group of music-makers.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Jeremy Bacon was born in New York City, New York on December 16, 1959 into a musical family that were big jazz fans. His father sang with the New York Choral Society and The Occasional Singers, an avant-garde group led by folk singer Gil Robbins. Her uncle designed album covers for Thelonious Monk, Cannonball Adderley and numerous others for Riverside Records.
Taking piano lessons as a child he went on to study in high school at the Center for Open Education and then jazz improvisation and composition at Oberlin. After college, Jeremy became the protégé of pianist Don Pullen. He worked regularly in a trio led by bassist Charles Fambrough, which rotated drummer Jeff “Tain” Watts, trumpeters Johnny Coles and Michael Philip Mossman, saxophonists Joe Ford and Ralph Bowen, and guitarist Pat Martino.
He was musical director for Joey Arias’ Billie Holiday show at Carnegie Hall and accompanied many vocalists, including Kristin Chenoweth and Jeanie Bryson, daughter of Dizzy Gillespie. He recorded two albums as a leader Cloud Hands and Cage Free: Free Range, and Travels with the band Big Train. Bacon lent his talents to three recordings with saxophonist Joey Cavaseno, and one with vocalist Queen Esther.
Having established himself on the East Coast, a move to the Pacific Northwest in 2018 opened a new audience, performing regularly as a leader and accompanist. He taught piano on the faculty of Cornish College of the Arts, accompanied dance classes in the theater department, and performed with Seattle JazzED at many regional elementary schools.
Jazz pianist Jeremy Bacon died at Franciscan Hospice House in Tacoma, Washington on July 8, 2024, after months of treatment for metastatic colon cancer. He was 64 years old.
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JOE STRASSER
Acclaimed drummer Joe Strasser to New York City in 1990 to attend the famed jazz program at the New School. He’s since played with a “who’s who” of jazz, including: George Coleman, Harold Mabern, Etta Jones, Cecil Payne, Jane Monheit, Hillary Kole, Peter Bernstein and countless others. Joe also co-led the Hotpants, a funk band he founded with Roots/Jimmy Fallon saxophonist Ian Hendrickson-Smith.
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RON JACKSON
World-renowned, seven string jazz guitarist, composer and arranger, Ron Jackson has performed, recorded, and taught music in over 30 countries. Jackson has had a strong career as a music artist, putting out 10 albums as a leader. His most recent CD, “Standards And My Songs,” was Top 10 on the USA JazzWeek radio charts, featuring his second recording as a leader on the seven-string. He has performed as a leader at jazz events all over the world, such as the North Sea Jazz Festival, Edinburgh Jazz Festival, and most recently, the inaugural AAPI Jazz Festival in Newark, and Super Jazz Ashdod in Israel.
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HENDRIK MEURKENS
Jazz harmonica virtuoso and composer Hendrik Meurkens began his career in Germany playing vibraphone. At age 19, he heard Toots Thielemans play harmonica, which totally changed his musical life. His career has taken him from Germany to Brazil, then throughout the European continent and eventually to the US. In 1992, a trip to California led to his signing with the prestigious Concord label and established him as the first major new voice on the harmonica since Toots Thielemans. His 30 albums have received rave reviews and strong airplay, and established his immediately recognizable style of Brazilian Jazz. In 2014 he won the Brazilian International Press Award and he has been listed repeatedly in the Downbeat and JazzTimes Polls. Meurkens has recorded and performed with Ray Brown, Paquito D’Rivera, Astrud Gilberto and many others.
Cover Charge: $35.00 +2 Drink Minimum
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