Amanda grew up in a house that loved music. Her life took a new direction when she walked into a local Toronto jazz club and asked if she could audition. The owner gave her a chance to sing with the house band and she landed her first weekly gig - Martinez Martini Mondays. She started getting referrals through word of... read full bio
Matthew Scott Giraud, is a former contestant on American Idol 2009 from Kalamazoo, MI. During Hollywood Week, Giraud sang Georgia On My Mind and received a standing ovation from the judges. He was chosen by the judges to advance to the finals as a Wildcard. Giraud performed Human Nature in the top 13; So Small in the top 11;... read full bio
New York City's #1 Afro-Gypsy Pop Band: Mamarazzi has a sound that blends jazz, blues, hip hop, and fusion. Spontaneously combusting under the careless scientific supervision of a group of Wesleyan University Alumni (the nonsensical institution that housed Santigold, MGMT, and Dar Williams), the band's sound has been born and born again through daily revivals of its earthly ingredients.... read full bio
Dan Balmer has long been considered one of the finest guitarists, composers, and educators in the Northwest. He is the youngest person to be included in both Halls, and is what a contemporary guitarist should be.Dan’s music has been featured in movies and television shows both in the U.S. and overseas. His most recent CD, “Thanksgiving”, features New York heavyweights... read full bio
The story of virtuoso guitarist Stanley Jordan's discovery and rise to international acclaim is legendary as is his revolutionary playing technique. Jordan, at 23 years of age, had recently graduated from Princeton University and was performing on the streets of New York City. He was dazzling passers-by with an absolutely incredible two-handed touch and tapping technique no one had... read full bio
Stephen Bishop is an acoustic performer and Grammy-nominated songwriter. He has written songs for artists such as Phil Collins, Eric Clapton and Barbara Streisand, as well as his own hits including: ""On and On"" ""It Might Be You"" ""Save It For A Rainy Day"" "" Separate Lives"" ""One More Night"" ""Somewhere In Between"" (theme from the movie China Syndrome) ""Only... read full bio
Gonzalo Bergara is a skilled lead guitarist and composer who has developed his own innovative Gypsy Jazz style by fusing sounds from his native Argentina and Paris with a cascade of arpeggios. In Buenos Aires, Gonzalo started performing professionally at the age of 16. He was leading his own blues group on national television at the age of 17. He landed... read full bio
Lucy Woodward is an American pop/jazz singer and composer, whose parents accredited musicologists, Lucy grew up surrounded by music. She spent summers in Holland visiting her composer/conductor father (who once conducted for the BBC), learning classical music. With her mother, a music teacher who sang opera and belly danced professionally, Lucy was also raised on plenty of opera music, as... read full bio
Monica Mancini is an American recording artist and concert performer. Monica Mancini is a Concord Record recording artist and a Double-Grammy award nominee, who has carved out a career as a singer and concert performer, appearing with symphony orchestras worldwide. Mancini is one of the twin daughters of famous film composer Henry Mancini and his wife Ginny. She began... read full bio
Jean-Luc Ponty is an innovator and unparalleled virtuoso of violin in the genres of jazz and rock. He is renowned as a pioneer who has applied his unique visionary spin that has broadened the vocabulary of modern music. Besides recording and touring globally with his own group, Ponty has also performed some of his compositions with the New Music Ensemble... read full bio
Jazz, funk, rock, gospel, blues and soul were cooked up together in the crucible of smoke filled rooms, simmered over the fire of pure down home grooves, and the combined alchemy created the Jazz Crusaders. It was the 1960's and the young Texans were breaking new ground with their signature horns, driving rhythms and the blues-funk style that identified their... read full bio
Adrian Belew is simply one of the most innovative electric guitarists of all time. His guitar sound is actually his own, instantly recognizable as only he can play it. He is one of the true creators of the palette of electric guitar sounds that define and continue to inspire two generations of guitar players. Spending time in bands with Frank... read full bio
Denise Donatelli, has become one of today’s premiere vocalists. She has recorded four albums and her recordings and has collectively garnered 3 GRAMMY nominations. Soul Shadows received a GRAMMY Nomination for Best Jazz Vocal Album, the second consecutive nomination in that category of her recording career. Denise recorded her second CD entitled What Lies Within. Denise makes a vocal appearance... read full bio
Child of Nelson Riddles Christopher was the third of six children in his family, but he was the only one who founded a music career. His family was very well known for their music careers like grandfather, Nelson Sr., was a very accomplished trombonist and ragtime pianist. Riddle’s music career started at the very young age of six performing in... read full bio
Landau Eugene Murphy Jr. wowed the judges and won over America’s hearts when he auditioned for the television show America’s Got Talent. Landau became homeless at the age of 19 and worked as a car washer to support himself and his wife, Jennifer leading to his audition. Right before auditions, Landau’s home was robbed and was down to his last... read full bio
Big Sam's Funky Nation is rooted in New Orleans and puts the FUN in funk and the PARTY in any event. They’re not afraid to turn it loose and let the good tunes flow. While primarily a touring band playing major music festivals and venues across the country, BSFN is available for weddings, campus events, corporate functions, and virtually any... read full bio
The American eclectic pop group Was (Not Was) gained most of their popularity in the 1980s and early 1990s. The Detroit natives David Weiss and Don Fagenson founded the group in 1979. Their style of music and lyrics ranged from satiric to bizarre. Lead singers, Harry Bowens and Sweet Pea Atkinson, later joined the group. The band first gained commercial... read full bio
DOTSERO is a band that few other musicians in the genre have been able to equal for life, energy, and spontaneity. Colorado-based ensemble DOTSERO, which stands for "Something Unique," got its name from a little mountain village in Colorado's Rocky Mountains. When the brothers Stephen and David Watts formed the Dotsero Band in 1984, they went out on the modern jazz... read full bio
Organ master Jimmy McGriff may have studied formally at Juilliard and at Philadelphias Combe College of Music, but theres nothing fancy about his music. Its basic to the bone, always swinging and steeped in blues and gospel. McGriffs brand of jazz is about feeling. Thats the most important thing, he says. Blues has been the backbone of most of the... read full bio
Gary Burton is a five-time Grammy Award Winner, self-taught vibraphone virtuoso, professor of percussion at the Berklee School of Music, host of his own SIRIUS satellite radio program on the Pure Jazz station and true innovator and pioneer in the world of jazz. He is credited with inventing the four mallet playing style, introducing the electric guitar to the jazz... read full bio
