The Ostara Project

Active since: 2022

For Canadians, the arrival of spring is momentous: the air is fresh and full of possibility as tender green shoots reach up towards the light and the cycle of rebirth and renewal begins again. The Ostara Project, named for the Germanic goddess of the spring equinox, embodies hope and growth by showcasing the strength and creativity of Canadian women in jazz.

Ostara artists are all top-tier musicians, composers and bandleaders who reflect the geographical, cultural and creative diversity of Canada’s musical landscape. Lead by award-winning jazz musicians Jodi Proznick and Amanda Tosoff, The Ostara Project includes Rachel Therrien, Allison Au and Valérie Lacombe, with guest artists invited on a per-project basis. Individually, they are outstanding artists: collectively, they are a force.

Raw Odoni

Raw Odoni are a modern jazz quartet from South London formed in 2023. We are Hu Spall (ten / sop), Matthew Shorter (piano), Dan Richards (bass) & Christian Lewcock (drums).

The band’s influences are far and wide. We’re loosely post-bop, and have common ground on Coltrane, Monk and Miles. But we listen to everything, from John Cage to The Necks via Fela Kuti and Gong, and a lot of it finds its way in. We’re just vibing off playing together, writing and seeing where it takes us.

Adam Ponting

Born: July 26, 1971

Adam Ponting is a jazz pianist, acoustic bassist, drum programmer, arranger and composer.

Adam grew up on a farm in country NSW, Australia, and started doing jazz gigs at age 12. His first jazz influences were Fats Waller, Louis Armstrong, Erroll Garner and Martial Solal. In the late 80s he attended the jazz program at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, then led by Don Burrows.

1990s: Adam played with the Ghosts of Saturn, a fully improvised jazz-rock quartet featuring Carl Dewhurst. He led a trio with Simon Barker and Ashley Turner. He played and recorded with Neilsen Gough, often with Craig Scott and Alan Turnbull, one of Australia's finest ever rhythm sections. He played with a lot of the great players of the Australian jazz scene - Bernie McGann, Dale Barlow, Alan Turnbull, Craig Scott, Ed Gaston, Jason Morphett, Tim Hopkins, etc.

David Bernot

Born: April 18, 1994

David Bernot is a jazz saxophonist living in Denver, Colorado. Originally from Gilbert, Arizona David moved to the mile high city in 2012 to study jazz saxophone at the University of Denver and recently he received his Masters degree from the University of Colorado Boulder. He performs as a band leader and a freelance musician in a variety of musical styles from Jazz to Funk and EDM (Electronic Dance Music), and he teaches music as a private instructor as well as with the youth jazz organization Colorado Conservatory for the Jazz Arts. David is also an award winning jazz composer, most notably selected two times to be a recipient of the Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer award.

Carl Cornwell

Born: April 5, 1950

With a 40 year career that’s included stints with Roy Haynes and Pharoah Sanders—not to mention co-founding Amnesia Express with Gil Scott-Heron—Carl Cornwell is a veteran saxophonist still performing high energy post-bop contemporary jazz with blues and latin influences.

Known in the '90s for his compositions & performances with progressive jazz ensemble UNIT CIRCLE, he has been the featured saxophonist with the Washington DC based Project Natale since 2002 and is now touring his own quartet at festivals and clubs around the mid-Atlantic corridor and beyond.

In addition to his small ensemble work, Carl has appeared as lead alto-saxophonist with the Bay Side Big Band and the Eubie Blake Jazz Institute Orchestra (Baltimore, MD) .

Will Bonness

Born: October 1, 1985

JUNO-winning pianist Will Bonness has been active on the Winnipeg, Canadian and international jazz scenes for two decades. At 17, Will joined Maynard Ferguson’s Big Bop Nouveau Band for a world tour, which included performances in Europe, Thailand, and the Caribbean. He has performed at many of the major jazz festivals in Canada and the United States, as well as in the world’s most prestigious venues, with such luminaries as Jon Gordon, Avishai Cohen, Quincy Davis, Jimmy Greene, and Derrick Gardner. Locally, he can often be seen performing with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, and the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra. Will’s performance career has led him to spend substantial time in New York City, where he has played at the Blue Note, Smalls, and Dizzy’s. Aside from his performances, he maintains a full-time teaching position at the University of Manitoba, where he has taught music for the past 12 years. Will has four releases to his credit: "Subtle Fire" (2009), "Halcyon" (2016), "Change of Plans" (2020), and "Is This a Dream?" (2023).

Rex Richardson

Hailed in classical circles as “among the very best trumpet soloists in the world today,” (Journal of the ITG, 2011) and “One of the finest virtuosos of our time” (Brass Herald, 2018) and in jazz as “a standout soloist with the power, range and flexibility to rival Freddie Hubbard and Woody Shaw,” (DownBeat Magazine, 2014) Yamaha Performing Artist Rex Richardson was named the 2008 Brass Herald International Personality of the Year.

A veteran of the acclaimed chamber ensemble Rhythm & Brass, jazz legend Joe Henderson’s Quintet and Sextet, William Russo’s Chicago Jazz Ensemble, and the Brass Band of Battle Creek, known as the world’s “Rolls Royce of Brass Bands” (Brass Band World), he stays busy as a headline artist at international brass and jazz festivals and as a soloist with orchestras, concert bands, brass bands and jazz ensembles on six continents. These include Phoenix Symphony and Thailand Philharmonic Orchestras, the U.S. Army Field Band and Tokyo Symphonic Winds, England's Fodens Brass Band, and the U.S. Air Force's Airmen of Note Jazz Ensemble.

Simon Pilbrow

Born: June 4, 1962

Melbourne based, freelance jazz pianist Learned classical piano and violin as a child, spent year in US 1979, studied briefly at Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, Milwaukee 1979; leader of Monash Jazz Quintet (1980-82), Monash University Big Band 1982-3, solo jazz piano gigs 1980-now, Simon Pilbrow Quartet 1983-4, Julian Driscoll Quartet 1985-87; performed with Allan Browne, Gary Costello, Geoff Kluke, Ben Robertson; Nick Haywood; Edward York; opened for guitarist George Golla in June 1988; frequent lunchtime concerts at Monash University (1988-1991); house pianist Royal Derby Jazz Jam (1990); Graham Finch Quartet (1999-2002); "Dizzy's" Big Band (2004) and Peninsula Jazz Trio (w. Duncan Allen & Mike Ursell, 2002->2009), residency Hickinbotham’s Winery (2000-2006), and featured guests including Savannah Blount, Gianni Marinucci; Pete Mitchell, Mal Sedergreen, Christophe Genoux, Andy Sugg & many others, and Australian jazz legends George Golla, Alan Lee and Don Burrows;

Anne Sajdera

Born: November 5, 1965

As a pianist, composer bandleader and accompanist, Anne Sajdera is a creative force whose music encompasses an unusually far-flung array of traditions. With musical roots spanning the globe, she melds American and Brazilian jazz to her training in European classical music, creating an utterly personal sound that’s melodically verdant, harmonically sophisticated and rhythmically compelling. Her first release, Azul (Bijuri Records, 2012), was co-produced by Ray Obiedo and featured a performance from percussion legend Airto Moreira, earning a spot on JAZZIZ Magazines Top Ten Critic’s Poll for 2012, and inclusion in Latin Jazz Corner’s Great Latin Jazz Albums for the same year