Willie Hill

Born: July 1, 1952

Willie Hill Biography

Willie Hill is a veteran musician who spent a number of years playing with touring R&B and soul acts before starting his own recording studio and record label in Durham, NC.

Hill is a native of Durham and attended North Carolina Central University (located in Durham), where he played trumpet in the University's marching band. He began playing guitar as a teenager and soon gravitated to bass guitar, a move which landed him his first band gig, at age 15.

By the age of 19, Hill was playing bass with the Communicators and had written a hit single, "One Chance," which was recorded by the group in 1974 and is featured on the 1999 album Lost Soul Oldies, Vol. 5.

Phil Raskin

Born: June 10, 1957

Phil Raskin is a world-renowned drummer, percussionist, and producer with over four decades of professional experience. His impressive career has taken him to more than 30 countries worldwide.

Hailing from Cleveland, Ohio, Phil began working in the music industry as a teenager, mentored by legendary guitarist Bill DeArango. He became a member of the house band at The Smiling Dog Saloon, a renowned jazz mecca in Cleveland, where he performed with talented musicians who would later become internationally acclaimed, including Joe Lovano, Billy Drewes, Skip Hadden, Jamey Haddad, Abe Laboriel, and Kenny Werner. 
Phil has shared the stage with some of the greatest performers in jazz history, such as George Benson, Kenny Burrell, Roy Ayers, Pharaoh Sanders, Stan Getz, Gary Burton, and Weather Report.

Maria Winther

MARIA WINTHER is a Swedish singer and song-writer based in Stockholm. 

During 2010-’11, Winther spent time composing music in New York City and started collaborating with the New York based duo For Living Lovers consisting of guitarist/composer Brandon Ross and acoustic bass guitarist Stomu Takeishi. The music contemplates life, love and spirituality, seeking essence through poems of Rumi and lyrics written by Winther herself. 

Since her debut album Dreamsville (2006) together with late pianist/composer Gösta Rundqvist, Winther has been active in various musical collaborations such as the jazz vocal group Stockholm Voices where she is one of four lead voices fronting the group. The group released their debut album Come Rain or Come Shine in 2015. The follow up album New Horizon was released in March 2023. 

Yosef Gutman Levitt

Born: January 29, 1979

ABOUT

Yosef Gutman's palette flourishes from the vast world colors which influenced his artistic development. Whether composing and recording new music or collaborating with high-caliber instrumentalists to explore the world of Nigunim (melodies from the heart), Yosef Gutman strives to foster connections that stimulate the imagination through music performed from the soul.

EARLY LIFE

Yosef Gutman was born in 1979 in South Africa. He grew up in a farming area known as Knoppieslaagte. He began music lessons at an early age, but abandoned the piano in favor of skateboarding at age 11. Life on the farm was quiet, chickens, geese, and horses roamed the property. This provided much time for kickflip practice on the bricked surfaces around the farm house.

At age 16 Yosef reshifted his passion back to music. Inspired by Weather Report, he picked up the bass guitar. The same quietude that afforded him uninterrupted skateboard practice was a perfect environment for many hours of bass exploration. At 18, Yosef submitted a recording of his arrangement of the South African National Anthem to Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA who subsequently invited him to study on a scholarship.

Sandia

Active since: 2018

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Sandia offers original modern young spirit, innovative music, which incorporates Jazz, Ethnic, World, Fusion, that can touch a large variety of audiences through a special mix of groove, fascinating melodies, and complexity. The band is consisting of saxophone, piano, bass, drums.

Spirituality

By Courtney Pine

Label: Destin-E Records
Released: 2022
Track listing: Black Water; Smile; Windmills Of My Mind; Ayr Hod Y Nos; Girl Talk; Blue Moon; Motherless Child; What��ll I Do; Spirituality (Interlude); Your Majesty.

Courtney Pine: Spirituality

by Chris May
November 27, 2022

In the 1980s, as a co-founder of the band Jazz Warriors and with his debut album Journey To The Urge Within (Island, 1986), reed player Courtney Pine inspired a generation young black British musicians, and not a few white ones, too. On Spirituality, Pine teams up with pianist Zoe Rahman, herself an influential figure, for a ...

Faris Ishaq

Born: May 26, 1993

A World-Renowned Palestinian Nay Master, Global Jazz Flutist, and Composer. Known for his virtuosity of the ancient flutes ��Nay�� and an expectational artistry that enabled him to develop a unique instrumental setting, in which he plays the Nay Flute while accompanying himself on leg-percussion and frame drum simultaneously. In today's modern musical landscape, he is on a mission to unlock the maximum potential of the Nay. While facing stigma often associated with its perceived limitations, he's been able to defy such expectations, performing in demanding idioms such as jazz and other world music traditions. In 2021, Faris has released a solo album entitled ��NAY: Nature Addresses You��, in which with it has performed in major World Music and Jazz Festivals such as the London Jazz Festival and Panama Jazz Festival

Alessandro Sgobbio

Composer, pianist, producer Alessandro Sgobbio keeps expanding his personal vocabulary of compositions, improvisations and spiritual explorations throughout music. After earning Master Degrees at the Oslo Norwegian Music Academy and the Parma Music Conservatory, Alessandro Sgobbio has been voted one of the best new talents of the year at the “TopJazz” Italian Polls. He has released 15 albums as a leader / co-leader, performing across Europe, Scandinavia, UK, China and the USA as a soloist, duo with renowned artists Amal Murkus, Senny Camara, Michele Rabbia and Christophe Marguet – and also his quartets Silent Fires and Hitra

Jonathan Ruiz

Born: August 22, 1992

Active member of the Colombian jazz scene and professor at El Colectivo Music School, Jonathan Ruiz has participated in different kind of records including his project Azuljauz, modern band which reflects in his arrangements the liking for irregular metrics, the Pacific folklore, and the forefront sounds of New York through his compositions. His versatility has allowed him to participate in diverse formats from trios and ensembles to orchestras and big bands playing in addition to jazz styles such as Funk, salsa, folk music and rock. He has also stood out as a bassist accompanying various artists in different festivals, such as Dafnis Prieto and Miguel Zen��n.