Three adventurous music makers join forces for an evening of music they hope will be inspiring, thoughtful, and entertaining.
“An audacious artist [who] flouts genre limitations, singing songs for the love of it and delivering an inventive, thrilling, appealing musical vision," singer and songwriter Andrea Wolper works “in a milieu that begins with jazz and reaches out to embrace an expressive area that is uniquely her own.” Andrea appears in her New York home base and tours in the U.S. and abroad; innumerable New York performance credits as headliner include The Blue Note, Dizzy's Club Coca Cola, Mezzrow, 55 Bar, Cornelia Street Café, NY JVC Jazz Festival, and Soapbox Gallery. Andrea also works as a side person across jazz genres, from the straight ahead Art Lillard's Heavenly Big Band to concerts and recordings with freejazz icon William Parker. Recordings as leader, co-leader, and side person have landed on numerous "best of year" lists.
During the pandemic, Andrea has added quirky short films to her creative output. She teaches vocal technique and coaches jazz singers in her private studio, and has taught clinics and master classes at many colleges and conservatories including California Jazz Conservatory online. She has been awarded a number of composing residencies, and is a writer whose journalism and poetry have appeared in numerous publications. Among her works are two books, "Women's Rights, Human Rights: International Feminist Perspectives" (with Julie S. Peters; Routledge) and "The Actor's City Sourcebook" (Watson-Guptill). www.andreawolper.com
John di Martino is a composer, arranger, jazz pianist, producer and educator, based in New York City. He is described as a "shape-shifter" for his creativity across musical genres. John composed the music for the documentary series: “A Glimpse Of Paradise," aired on Europe’s Arte Channel. His latest CD’s are the 2020 release: “Passion Flower” (the music of Billy Strayhorn ), featuring Raul Midon, Eric Alexander, Boris Kozlov, and Lewis Nash; and: “Mazel” (Yiddish Songs, re-imagined ), with Janis Siegel and Cantor Daniel Krammer. John has recorded numerous CDs on the High Note and Venus Records (Japan) labels as a leader, and with Freddy Cole, Gloria Lynn, Houston Person, and Nicki Parrott. John’s discography includes Grammy-nominated CD’S: ”Love" ( Issac Delgado ), "Freddy Cole Sings Mr. B" and "Live And In Clave" ( Bobby Sanabria ). "John's soul and being come straight through to his music, the jazz world needs him!" (Sheila Jordan, NEA Jazz Master) johndimartino.com
Ken Filiano is a bassist, composer, improviser, and teacher who has performed and recorded with a veritable who's who in multiple genres, from Anthony Braxton to Pablo Ziegler. He has been an integral member of groups led by Taylor Ho Bynum, Jason Kao Hwang, Fay Victor, Vinny Golia, Diane Moser, Roswell Rudd, Connie Crothers, Dom Minasi, Karl Berger and Ingrid Sertso, and others. Ken leads two quartets, Quantum Entanglements and Baudolino's Dilemma, and is co-leader of The Steve Adams/Ken Filiano Duo. His extensive discography includes a solo bass CD, “subvenire” (NineWinds), and Quantum Entanglements’ “Dreams From a Clown Car" (Clean Feed). For these and numerous other recordings and performances, critics have called Ken a "creative virtuoso," a "master of technique" . . . "a paradigm of that type of artist...who can play anything in any context and make it work, simply because he puts the music first and leaves peripheral considerations behind.” Ken teaches bass in his private studio and is a Guiding Artist and on the Board of Advisors for Creative Music Studio in Woodstock, NY. www.kenfiliano.com