Nancy Walker

Nancy Walker Biography

Pianist and composer Nancy Walker has been recognized with honours Canada-wide, including the Montréal Jazz Festival’s Grand Prix de Jazz, the National Jazz Awards Keyboardist Of The Year Award, a JUNO nomination for Instrumental Album Of The Year, and an induction into the Mississauga Music Walk Of Fame. A dynamic improviser, an artful composer and a responsive accompanist, Nancy has been praised both for her work as a solo artist and as a musical collaborator. As a side player she can be heard on a wide range of recordings, by artists from saxophonist Kirk MacDonald to vocalist Emilie-Claire Barlow to children’s entertainer Raffi. More recently she can be heard on the 2024 recording Here’s To Life by John Neudorf (on which she was both pianist and co-producer), and Sarah Jerrom’s 2025 JUNO-nominated Magpie.

Jessika Smith

Andromeda Turre

Born: December 5

Vocalist and composer Andromeda Turre has honed her craft over a lifetime immersed in music. Born into a family of Jazz musicians, she was formally trained at The Boston Conservatory and Berklee College of Music. Her talents have taken her around the world, from touring with Ray Charles, to headlining festivals with her own music in 17 countries worldwide. In addition to her vocal talents, Andromeda is an accomplished composer whose original works have been featured in film, television, video games and theater. Andromeda hosts her own show on the SiriusXM Real Jazz channel every Saturday and Sunday from 11am-5pm EST. Her upcoming album, From the Earth, is a programmatic jazz suite illuminating the pressing issues of environmental justice and the precious bond between humanity and the earth. Releasing July 26, 2024, the album is made possible by grant funding from Jazz Road, Doris Duke Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the New York State Council on the Arts and ArtsWestchester.

BOOKING

Bridget Walsh

With an international tour résumé spanning everything from Glastonbury's Hell Stage to New Zealand's National Jazz Festival, Bridget Walsh is an accomplished, compassionate and dynamic artist, hellbent on leaving the world better than she found it.

A vocalist, keys player, songwriter, composer and producer, Bridget has writing credits with over 25 million streams on Spotify and a Masters Degree on the way from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, one of the world's top conservatoires.

Growing up in Aotearoa but now based in South London, Bridget is a session artist, musical director, curator and DJ, and bandleader of future-soul collective, 10:32.

Worldwide Special: Ginger Johnson, Ebo Taylor, Themba, Gerardo Friscina & Toco, Timo Lassy, & More

by Tony Poole
January 31, 2025

Tony Poole dives into the latest Afro-Cuban, Latin, and Brazilian jazz releases on this special worldwide edition. Expect a vibrant mix of fresh grooves and captivating rhythms that continue to push the boundaries of the music they call jazz. Playlist madoron “Samba de Flora" from A Door (Urban Discos) Salin Cheewapansri “Lam Intro" from ...

Mina Choi

Mina Choi is a Korean-born, Los Angeles-based jazz pianist, composer, and conductor whose music uniquely blends jazz, classical, and the rich traditions of her Korean heritage. With years of experience as both a performer and educator in California, Mina’s work reflects her personal journey, characterized by beautiful melodies, intricate rhythms, and colorful harmonies. Each composition tells a story, inviting listeners to experience a deep emotional connection to her music.

Mina has performed at renowned venues across the United States, including Herb Alpert’s Vibrato Jazz Grill, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, The Queen Mary, Catalina Jazz Club, and The Blue Whale Jazz Club. She has studied under prominent jazz figures such as George Cables and Bill Cunliffe, whose guidance has shaped her unique musical voice.

Tara Davidson

Born: 1979

Tara Davidson is a JUNO Award-winning alto and soprano saxophonist who has performed around the world at such prestigious venues as New York City’s Carnegie Hall, the acclaimed North Sea Jazz Festival in the Netherlands, the JZ Jazz Club in Shanghai, China, and The Kennedy Center, in Washington, D.C.

As a bandleader, Davidson has produced seven recordings since 2004 and performed on approximately forty recordings as a side musician. Five of her seven recordings as a leader or co-leader (Carn Davidson 9) have been nominated by the JUNO Awards for “Jazz Album of the Year”. Davidson has been associated with seven additional JUNO nominations for her work as a side musician with Ernesto Cervini's "Joy" project, Andrew Downing’s Otterville, Ernesto Cervini’s Turboprop (x2), the Mike Murley Septet, CBC Records’ “Jazz Legends Live” project, and Jens Lindemann’s Order of Canada Band (Yamaha Big Band member). In 2020, Davidson won a JUNO Award for Jazz Album of the Year: Group as a member of Ernesto Cervini’s Turboprop.

Erica von Kleist

Born: March 9, 1982

Multi-instrumentalist and comedian Erica von Kleist has led many lives as a musician and producer, leading the charge as woodwind specialist, pianist, writer, and educator. After receiving the first jazz bachelor’s degree in the history of the Juilliard School, Erica went on to tour and record with Sean Jones, Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, spent time on Broadway in the pits of The Addams Family, Chorusline and Gypsy, and recorded on five Grammy-Nominated recordings. In 2012 Erica relocated from NYC to the big sky state of Montana where she started several business initiatives, penned a music theory textbook, and also, well, found her funny bone. During the #MeToo movement, Erica reminisced on her experiences as the only female in countless professional situations in jazz, and began writing songs about the struggles that women face. From mansplaining to manspreading, Erica’s lyrics began to encompass her history as a female in a male-dominated world which eventually snowballed into her side-splitting jazz comedy show she affectionately titled “BOOBS!” In addition to her solo show, she also wrote and produced a musical entitled “Sorry! A New Musical” which debuted as a reading at Alpine Theatre Project in 2021. During Covid Erica joined forces with several co-writers to pen the musical theater film “Your Musical is Cancelled. The Musical!” featuring Broadway luminaries both on screen and in the orchestra. The film went on to win “Best Feature” at the SoCal Film Awards and “Best Comedy” at the Toronto Alternative Film Festival, and was an official selection for the New York Independent Film Festival. Is fresh off the debut of her jazz comedy project and will be releasing several singles from “BOOBS! With Erica von Kleist and the All-Male Jazz Ensemble” in 2024.

Ines Velasco

Inés Velasco is a Brooklyn based composer, arranger and drummer born in Guadalajara, México. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from Berklee College of Music with a dual degree in Jazz Composition and Performance.

Ms. Velasco’s recent work includes compositions for the National Jazz Orchestra of México, string arrangements for the NY Philharmonic’s ‘Bandwagon’ series with vocalist Juana Luna, as well as Alina Engirbayan’s CD ‘We Are’ (GroundUP, 2018), orchestration/transcription work including Avenged Sevenfold’s last studio album ‘Life Is But a Dream (Warner, 2023), and for Snarky Puppy/Metropole Orkest’s performance at the North Sea Jazz Festival in 2018. She was chosen to participate in the 2014 Metropole Orkest’s ‘Arranger’s Workshop’, under the tutelage of Vince Mendoza, where she arranged for jazz vocalist Gregory Porter. 

Olivia Hughart

Olivia Hughart is a jazz saxophonist, woodwind doubler, composer, advocate, and a recent graduate of New York University, with a major in Jazz Studies and a minor in Public Policy and Management. She is a gigging and recording musician with bands in New York City, Philadelphia, and beyond. Hughart is a member of the NYChillharmonic, the Grace Fox Big Band, and the Andrew Neu Big Band, has subbed for Triad Brass, New Heights Brass Band, DIVA Jazz Orchestra, and is frequently called for off-Broadway productions. Hughart has attracted the attention of the press from various publications including Philly Magazine, NPR Live Sessions, WRTI, NYU News, Cool Jazz Radio, Shoutout LA, Voyage LA, and various podcasts. Hughart is a Presser Scholar, 2023 JEN Mary Jo Papich Women in Jazz Scholarship winner, 2020 Bruce Montgomery Foundation Springboard Grant Winner, and 2020 Pennsylvania Project Stream Grant winner.