Improv Exchange Podcast

For the past 44 years percussionist/producer / composer Zimbel has led the Juno Award-winning nine-piece global / jazz collective Manteca which he cofounded with bassist Henry Heillig in 1979. The gr…

Hailing from the vibrant music scene of St. Louis, saxophonist and composer Willie Morris emerges as a fresh and exciting force on the jazz scene. With a deep-rooted appreciation for the Black-Americ…

Born in the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar, composer, pianist and arranger Shuteen Erdenebaatar (*1998) brings a unique sound to the audience with her yearning melodies enriched with profound and expr…

Aline Homzy is an award-winning violinist and composer. Praised as one of Canada’s finest jazz violinists, she has performed and/or recorded with Danilo Perez, Munir Hossn and The Weather Station. He…

Saxophonist, Multi-Reedist, Composer, Recording Artist, Bandleader, and Educator Sharel Cassity (pron. "Sha-Relle") is a musician well-established on the New York and Chicago jazz scenes. Listed as "…

Pianist-composer Kris Davis was named 2017 Rising Star Pianist/2018 Rising Star Artist in Downbeat magazine and dubbed one of the music’s top up-and-comers in a 2012 New York Times article titled “Ne…

Contemporary jazz singer/keyboardist Frank McComb was born in Cleveland on July 15, 1970, beginning his piano studies at age 12 and forming his first trio five years later. His professional break fol…

Born on June 16, 1965, in Carthage, Missouri, Javon Jackson was raised in Denver, Colorado and chose saxophone at the age of 10. At age 16 he switched from alto to tenor and later enrolled at the Uni…

At the start of his career, the great guitarist Kenny Burrell wrote, “Freddie Bryant is a brilliant young guitarist and composer.” Since then he has shown his versatile skills in jazz, classical, Bra…

Gabriela Martina is a vocalist, composer, and bandleader who grew up in Switzerland. She spent 13 years living and working in the US (Boston & New York) learning from the people who made Jazz (among …

“Jazz was the first music that I ever heard. It was introduced to me by my Dad who always played jazz around the house. He regularly sat me down and told me to listen closely to the music, that jazz …

Tony Monaco began his keyboard life at age eight, on the accordion. When he was twelve, his destiny as a jazz organist was sealed when he first heard Jimmy Smith. An enthusiastic student, Tony began …

A native of the Ohio Valley, Dorothy fulfilled her dream of moving to New York City in 1970 and stayed there for fifty years. She was a friend, fellow musician, and confidante to her husband, Mike Lo…

Altin Sencalar began his studies at Texas State University, studying with Freddie Mendoza. While attending TSU, he gained entrance into the thriving Austin music scene and began emerging as a new tal…

A native of São Paulo, Brazil, Felipe Salles has been an active musician in the US since 1995, where he has worked and recorded with prominent jazz artists, including Randy Brecker, Paquito D’Rivera,…

Flute-playing soul-jazz phenomenon Ragan Whiteside has become one of the genre’s most consistently dynamic and popular artists. Thanks to her incredible skill and creativity on her chosen instrument,…

Superb Alto Saxophonist Christopher McBride has been slowly but steadily turning heads with his ubiquitous work as an invaluable sideman since the mid-aughts. Now Christopher is gaining respect among…

Benjamin Lapidus is a Grammy-nominated musician who has performed and recorded throughout the world as a bandleader and supporting musician playing guitar, Cuban tres, Puerto Rican cuatro, touch styl…

He was born in Lucenec on February 22, 2001, and comes from a family of musicians (father Stefan- an established Jazz Artist). Alan's talent began to manifest in his early childhood. As a four- year-…