Friday, August 31, 2018
Tuesday, August 28, 2018
Tuesday, August 21, 2018
Monday, August 20, 2018
Zahili Gonzalez Zamora: Breaking Through
Zahili Gonzalez Zamora: Breaking Through
Zahili Gonzalez Zamora presents a humble representation of a long path traveled through bumpy roads and tall mountains. Through music, one can expect to hear sounds that will mirror an internal search for a true identity, a fighting of evil, a desire to succeed, and most of all, a desire to become a better human being
Sunday, August 19, 2018
Thursday, August 16, 2018
Tuesday, August 14, 2018
Sunday, August 12, 2018
Jovia Armstrong percussion
Today we’d like to introduce you to JoVia Armstrong.
Thanks for sharing your story with us JoVia. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I am an African American female percussionist and music producer from Detroit. I started off on drum set 28 years ago. By the age of 12, I knew that I wanted to be a percussionist. I continued studying percussion, French horn, cello and piano in high school.
After high school, I attended Michigan State University where I was a percussion major. I studied a lot of classical music but soon got bored in my Freshman year. I met a man named Francisco Mora who started teaching me afro Cuban percussion. I fell in love with it. He became a great mentor to me who I still seek advice from. After three years at MSU, I transferred to Columbia College Chicago where I earned a degree in Music Business.
After college, I started making my own music, teaching a great deal, performing across the globe, and now producing for other people. Did I mention I tour manage for my band? Yes, I wear a lot of hats! What possessed me to start my own music school has simply been passion! I love teaching!
I started Sounds About Write Music School in September of 2016. Owning a music school has its ups and downs. But, the main thing is that its here and I feel that we’re changing lives. I have a couple who are both taking lessons there. I showed them how to create their own music for a colleagues podcast. They were so excited! They said, “We are songwriters!” I said, yes you are! Now let’s make some more music.
You see, the sounds about Write curriculum is a fast and easy way to teach students how to compose music without it taking years, months or even days!!! In ONE workshop, students will have a song created by the end. Instant gratification is where it’s at!
So, that’s my story…. and I’m sticking to it!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
There are typical challenges amongst music schools. The largest challenge is retention. Many people will start lessons and disappear after 3-4 lessons. Learning an instrument takes practice. They either don’t make room for practice because of their lifestyle or they realize how much work it will take.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
We not only teach students of all ages how to play instruments, but we also teach them how to write songs through using music production software programs. Our specialty relies on our Sounds About Write Curriculum which teaches students an easier method to learning music theory and their instruments at the same time. We’ve gotten a lot of great feedback from it. Our curriculum is what sets us apart from other music schools in the city.
We also have all adult students at the moment which is a special joy for us. As musicians ourselves, we are constantly approached by folks in the audience after shows expressing how much they wish they had stuck with music when they were children. Some even say that their parents discouraged them from playing instruments. They complained that the instruments were too loud or that they should go to school to get a real job.
What were you like growing up?
I was a nerdy kid growing up and also what you would call a tomboy. I played with my brother and his friends a lot…. basketball and two hand touch football. There was a lot of playing frisbee in the streets as well.
I spent time with my dad watching him fix cars. I was super into music though…. well, really I was super into sounds growing up. I listened to the radio for hours after school. I practiced during my lunch hour. I don’t remember ever really going to lunch. I practiced all the time though. I loved physics and chemistry and those were my favorite two classes outside of music.
I kept to myself, just as I do now. I would walk to my grandmother’s house where my eldest sister lived. While she was at work I would listen to her CD collection. Well, there were tapes too! I’d lay on her floor and just listen. She was into all types of music.
Contact Info:
Thanks for sharing your story with us JoVia. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I am an African American female percussionist and music producer from Detroit. I started off on drum set 28 years ago. By the age of 12, I knew that I wanted to be a percussionist. I continued studying percussion, French horn, cello and piano in high school.
After high school, I attended Michigan State University where I was a percussion major. I studied a lot of classical music but soon got bored in my Freshman year. I met a man named Francisco Mora who started teaching me afro Cuban percussion. I fell in love with it. He became a great mentor to me who I still seek advice from. After three years at MSU, I transferred to Columbia College Chicago where I earned a degree in Music Business.
After college, I started making my own music, teaching a great deal, performing across the globe, and now producing for other people. Did I mention I tour manage for my band? Yes, I wear a lot of hats! What possessed me to start my own music school has simply been passion! I love teaching!
I started Sounds About Write Music School in September of 2016. Owning a music school has its ups and downs. But, the main thing is that its here and I feel that we’re changing lives. I have a couple who are both taking lessons there. I showed them how to create their own music for a colleagues podcast. They were so excited! They said, “We are songwriters!” I said, yes you are! Now let’s make some more music.
You see, the sounds about Write curriculum is a fast and easy way to teach students how to compose music without it taking years, months or even days!!! In ONE workshop, students will have a song created by the end. Instant gratification is where it’s at!
So, that’s my story…. and I’m sticking to it!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
There are typical challenges amongst music schools. The largest challenge is retention. Many people will start lessons and disappear after 3-4 lessons. Learning an instrument takes practice. They either don’t make room for practice because of their lifestyle or they realize how much work it will take.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
We not only teach students of all ages how to play instruments, but we also teach them how to write songs through using music production software programs. Our specialty relies on our Sounds About Write Curriculum which teaches students an easier method to learning music theory and their instruments at the same time. We’ve gotten a lot of great feedback from it. Our curriculum is what sets us apart from other music schools in the city.
We also have all adult students at the moment which is a special joy for us. As musicians ourselves, we are constantly approached by folks in the audience after shows expressing how much they wish they had stuck with music when they were children. Some even say that their parents discouraged them from playing instruments. They complained that the instruments were too loud or that they should go to school to get a real job.
What were you like growing up?
I was a nerdy kid growing up and also what you would call a tomboy. I played with my brother and his friends a lot…. basketball and two hand touch football. There was a lot of playing frisbee in the streets as well.
I spent time with my dad watching him fix cars. I was super into music though…. well, really I was super into sounds growing up. I listened to the radio for hours after school. I practiced during my lunch hour. I don’t remember ever really going to lunch. I practiced all the time though. I loved physics and chemistry and those were my favorite two classes outside of music.
I kept to myself, just as I do now. I would walk to my grandmother’s house where my eldest sister lived. While she was at work I would listen to her CD collection. Well, there were tapes too! I’d lay on her floor and just listen. She was into all types of music.
Contact Info:
- Address: 9138 S Baltimore Ave Chicago, IL 60617
- Website
Saturday, August 11, 2018
Thursday, August 9, 2018
Wednesday, August 8, 2018
10 RISING WOMEN INSTRUMENTALISTS YOU SHOULD KNOW
10 RISING WOMEN INSTRUMENTALISTS YOU SHOULD KNOW
March 7, 2018 | by Rusty Aceves
Yissy García
More than ever, monstrously talented young women are rising through the ranks of jazz instrumentalists, challenging the male-dominated status quo. In March 2016 we posted a list of eight rising stars that included the likes of trombonist and vocalist Natalie Cressman, trumpeter Bria Skonberg, and saxophonist Melissa Aldana. In recognition of Women’s History Month 2018, we’ve assembled a new list that spotlights more of the many young masters making waves today.
Mary Halvorson - All About Jazz describes Mary Halvorson as “the most impressive guitarist of her generation.” With an aesthetic firmly planted in the avant-garde, she has led over 20 albums and lent her distinctive tone and melodic approach to work with Anthony Braxton, Yo La Tengo, and a trio project with fellow visionary guitarists Elliott Sharp and Marc Ribot. She performed with the trio Thumbscrew in a double bill with Julian Lage on 6/14, as part of the 36th annual San Francisco Jazz Festival.
Yissy García - Cuban-born drummer and composer García grew up immersed in the music as the daughter of founding Irakere percussionist Bernardo García. She performed as a soloist with the National Symphonic Orchestra of Cuba at age 15, and has shared the stage with Esperanza Spalding, Roy Hargrove, and Dave Matthews. A master of Afro-Cuban jazz and rock styles, she is a respected educator and and currently leads her own band Bandancha. García performs on 8/3 as part of SFJAZZ Summer Sessions 2018.
Sasha Berliner - A gifted vibraphonist, composer, and social activist, Berliner is a San Francisco native who began on drums at eight and attended the Oakland School for the Arts before becoming a two-year member of the SFJAZZ High School All-Stars Orchestra. Currently a student of Stefon Harris and Matt Wilson at the New School in New York, Berliner has worked with Beck, Vijay Iyer, Terri Lyne Carrington, Ravi Coltrane, and Jane Ira Bloom, and will release her full-length debut album, Azalea, in 2018, before bringing her own band to SFJAZZ's Joe Henderson Lab on April 26, 2019.
Yazz Ahmed - British-Bahraini trumpeter Ahmed has collaborated with artists including Radiohead and Lee “Scratch” Perry, and has created a personal approach born of her Middle Eastern roots and British upbringing described as “psychedelic Arabic jazz.” Originally inspired by her jazz musician grandfather, she has become a major voice in the exploding London jazz scene that includes Shabaka Hutchings, Sons of Kemet, and Yussef Kamaal, releasing her second album, La Saboteuse, last year.
Camille Thurman - Already acclaimed by DownBeat as a “rising star,” saxophonist and vocalist Thurman was recipient of the Lincoln Center Award for Outstanding Young Artists and a two-time winner of the ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composers Award. The New York native has performed alongside Dianne Reeves, Wynton Marsalis & the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Erykah Badu, and Roy Haynes, and has recorded three albums including her latest, a live session featuring Mark Whitfield, Ben Allison, and Billy Drummond.
Nubya Garcia - Among the vanguard of the British scene, London-based tenor saxophonist Garcia brings elements from her Caribbean heritage into her sophisticated au courant approach, mixing spiritual, afro-futurist jazz with hip-hop rhythms and global influences. She is a recipient of the Steve Reid InNOVAtion Award (named for the visionary drummer), appears on influential BBC DJ Gilles Peterson’s new Brownswood Recordings compilation We Out Here, and is releasing her new EP When We Are in March.
Allison Au - Based in Toronto, alto saxophonist Au has established herself as a major instrumentalist and composer, releasing two self-produced albums of multifaceted original material that have garnered two Juno Award nominations and a Best Jazz Album of the Year win for her 2016 album Forest Grove. Au and her longstanding quartet won the 2017 Montreal Jazz Festival TD Grand Prix de Jazz and was a 2017 finalist for the Toronto Arts Foundation Emerging Jazz Artist Award.
Jaimie Branch - Listed among Rolling Stone’s June 2017 list of “Ten New Artists You Need to Know,” the New York-based trumpeter relishes free improvisation and avant-garde experimentation, but has made a sizable impact across genre divides. She’s worked with artists ranging from bass legend William Parker and saxophonist Ken Vandermark to adventurous pop acts including Arcade Fire and TV on the Radio. Last year she released her debut album Fly or Die with cellist Tomeka Reid and drummer Chad Taylor.
Tomeka Reid - Chicago cellist Tomeka Reid has built a well-deserved reputation as a fiercely creative improvisor and composer. A veteran of collaboration with fellow sonic adventurers Roscoe Mitchell, Anthony Braxton, Tyler Ho Bynum, Nicole Mitchell, George Lewis and Myra Melford, Reid is affiliated with the Chicago’s legendary AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians) and leads a telepathic quartet with guitarist Mary Halvorson, bassist Jason Roebke, and drummer Tomas Fujiwara.
Sharel Cassity - Since graduating from Julliard in 2007, Chicago-based saxophonist and composer Sharel Cassity has built a résumé that would be the envy of artists three times her age. She was listed in DownBeat’s Critics Poll for Rising Star Saxophone for seven consecutive years and has worked with an incredible roster of greats, from Roy Hargrove and Cyrus Chestnut to Aretha Franklin and Natalie Merchant. She leads a superb quartet and has recorded four albums as a leader including her latest, Elektra.
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