Jinju Kim - Vocal
A jazz vocalist Jinju Kim, completed her bachelor's degree in Jazz Vocalists at Prince Claus Conservatoire in the Netherlands in 2023. She studied with great New York musicians such as Jessie Davis, David Berkman, Bruce Barth, Michael Kanan, and Steve Nelson in Europe, and
was able to take the stage with the prestigious Dutch orchestra NNO, Noord Netherlands Orkestra, honorable performance as a student,
as well as performed with great jazz musicians such as Dado Moroni, Joris Teepe, and Joost van Schaik.
After graduating in the Netherlands, she returned to her home, Seoul, Korea, where she continued her impressive career as a jazz musician, performing actively at various jazz clubs. Eventually, she is expanding her career in New York with the start of a master's program of Jazz Studies at Queens College from the Fall in 2024....
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Jinju Kim - Vocal
A jazz vocalist Jinju Kim, completed her bachelor's degree in Jazz Vocalists at Prince Claus Conservatoire in the Netherlands in 2023. She studied with great New York musicians such as Jessie Davis, David Berkman, Bruce Barth, Michael Kanan, and Steve Nelson in Europe, and
was able to take the stage with the prestigious Dutch orchestra NNO, Noord Netherlands Orkestra, honorable performance as a student,
as well as performed with great jazz musicians such as Dado Moroni, Joris Teepe, and Joost van Schaik.
After graduating in the Netherlands, she returned to her home, Seoul, Korea, where she continued her impressive career as a jazz musician, performing actively at various jazz clubs. Eventually, she is expanding her career in New York with the start of a master's program of Jazz Studies at Queens College from the Fall in 2024.
Michael Kanan - piano
Michael Kanan hails from Boston, Massachusetts where he first began to play the piano at age 7. He started improvising at the keyboard early on, and by age 10 he was listening to jazz. His first instructor was pianist Harvey Diamond, a student of jazz innovator Lennie Tristano. During his years at Boston College, Michael had the opportunity to perform with several jazz greats including Tal Farlow, Lee Konitz, Al Cohn, and Alan Dawson. After graduating college and doing some freelance work around Boston, he moved to New York in 1991 to study with another Tristano student, the pianist Sal Mosca. He established himself in New York, playing and recording with Kurt Rosenwinkel, Mark Turner, and Jorge Rossy, among others. He also developed a growing reputation as a vocal accompanist. In 1996, he joined the band of legendary singer Jimmy Scott, touring the US, Europe, and Japan and making several recordings. In 2001, Michael became the accompanist and arranger for one of today's most celebrated vocalists, Jane Monheit. With Ms. Monheit's group, he has toured all over the world, recorded several CDs and DVDs, and made many TV appearances. 20 years later Jane and Michael are still performing and recording together. Michael has been a teacher at the world renowned Begues Jazz Camp in Barcelona since its inception in 2009. At this annual seminar he has taught and performed alongside luminaries like Albert Heath, Joey Barron, Victor Lewis, Charles Davis, Peter Bernstein, Chris Cheek, Ben Street, and many others. He has also taught various workshops and masterclasses all across Spain and the U.K. When not on the road, Michael performs and records with his trio featuring guitarist Greg Ruggiero and bassist Neal Miner. The trio’s most recent recording “In This Moment” on Gut String Records was recorded live at NYC’s famous jazz club Mezzrow, where the group often performs. They have also been featured at Birdland, The Jazz Standard, and Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall.
Daniel Lacour Duke - Double bass
Daniel LaCour Duke is a critically acclaimed bassist and composer who is an active member of the New York City jazz scene. He moved to New York in 2012 after attending William Paterson University under the direction of Mulgrew MIller. Within a year Daniel was working full time as an acoustic bassist. Daniel currently lives in the Bronx and has appeared at Birdland, the Blue Note, Dizzy’s, Smoke Jazz club, and West Village mainstays Small’s and Mezzrow. He plays with renowned New York musicians and at theaters and jazz listening rooms across the United States and internationally, accompanying high level acts like Jane Monheit and Isaac Mizrahi.
Keith Balla - Drums
A native of Austin, Texas, drummer Keith Balla began playing at the age of 13, inspired by his older brother, who through his record collection exposed him to the rich lineage of jazz drummers. After moving to New York at 17 to pursue his musical studies at Purchase College, Balla sought the tutelage of the great drummer/educators Kenny Washington and John Riley, and found equal inspiration in the performances of master drummers such as Leroy Williams, Jimmy Wormworth, Jackie Williams, Fukushi Tainaka, Joe Farnsworth, Clifford Barbaro, Steve Little, Taro Okamoto and the archival recordings of the late Jimmy Lovelace. He quickly found himself immersed in the fertile jazz community of New York City, performing at many of New York's finest jazz venues such as Smalls, Mezzrow, Smoke, The Metropolitan Room, The Zinc Bar, The Jazz Gallery and Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola. In addition to forging strong musical ties to the myriad of talented young jazz musicians on the New York City scene, Balla has had the good fortune to perform alongside some elder jazz giants such as pianist/composer of Blue Note Records fame, Freddie Redd, the late tenor saxophone master Charles Davis, vocal legend Annie Ross, and famed pianist and bebop pedagogue Dr. Barry Harris. A very important musical collaboration spanning many years has been with a uniquely gifted artist, the world renowned guitarist Pasquale Grasso, in a trio format with the brilliant bassist Ari Roland. Their residency on Mondays at the famed New York City jazz club Mezzrow has been a destination for jazz listeners for over 10 years, in addition to performances at the Atlanta Jazz Festival, Stanford Jazz Workshop, Savannah Jazz Festival, clubs throughout the United States, Jarasum International Jazz Festival in Korea, and Singapore’s Jazz in July festival. The Pasquale Grasso Trio accompanied jazz vocal sensation Samara Joy from 2021-2022, appearing at Newport Jazz Festival, Monterrey Jazz Festival, Savannah Jazz Festival, Tri-C (Cleveland) Jazz Festival, Vail Jazz Festival, Montreal Jazz Festival, Chicago Harris Theater, Dizzy's Club Coca Cola, and many other venues. Over the years, his conception of music has been inspired through a varied resume as a freelancer on the NYC scene, working as a sideman with Ari Roland, Zaid Nasser, Luigi Grasso, Tardo Hammer, Chris Byars, Stefano Doglioni, Neal Miner, Yaala Ballin, Pete Malinverni, Grant Stewart, Tad Shull, Michael Weiss, Greg Ruggerio, and many others. Beyond NYC, Keith Balla has performed concerts and conducted educational workshops in 51 countries spanning Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East as a member of the Ari Roland Jazz Quartet with the US State Department’s “American Music Abroad” program—-a life changing opportunity to experience how music has the capacity to bring people together.
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