ARTISTS
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Ann Dyer
After a successful recording and performing career as a jazz and beyond vocalist with her ensemble of over fifteen years (including critical recognition and awards from the BAMMIES / California Music Awards, Down Beat International, New York Times and Village Voice ) Ann Dyer took a hiatus to explore a different aspect of music making, namely the practice of Nada Brahma, or the yoga of sound. This practice represents the intersection of her two passions: music and metaphysical musings. Her current project Vak: The Song of Becoming is a collaborative interdisciplinary work in a career that includes several innovative, thematic collaborations with other high-profile musicians, as well as dancers and multimedia artists. www.anndyer.com. Tim Volpicella
Jazz guitarist has been a featured artist in the bands of both Ann Dyer and Hafez Modirzadeh over the last twenty-five years. Tim is one of the founders of Open Path Music Recording Studios and has scored and performed music for movies, poets, artists, vocalist and musicians, and received a Grammy nomination for his work on his 2011 release “Are We There Yet?” Tim learned his tools of the trade at the Berklee School of Music, where he studied with such well-respected artists as John Abercrombie, John Scofield, David Liebman, and John Stowell. Since graduation, Volpicella has played with other artists, including the John Carlton Orchestra, bassist Chuck Israels, Chet Baker, Larry Schneider (Bill Evans), Duke Jethro (BB King), and Russell Ferrante (Yellow Jackets). In addition to issuing his own recordings (Unspoken Words), Volpicella has been a clinician/teacher for Stanford University, the Jazzschool in Berkeley, San Jose Jazz Society. www.timvolpicella.com Hafez Modirzadeh
Saxophonist/theorist Hafez Modirzadeh has performed, recorded, published and lectured internationally on original cross-cultural musical concepts. His “Post-Chromodal Out on Pi Records is his latest release in a long list of genre bending releases including "Convergence Liberation" (in Critical Studies in Improvisation, 2011), "Compost Music” (in Leonardo, 2009), "Aural Archetypes” (in Black Music Research, 2001), as well as “Chromodality” (for Wesleyan University, 1992). Twice an NEA Jazz Fellow, in 2006, Dr. Modirzadeh was granted a Senior Fulbright Award to work with Flamenco and Gnawan traditions in Andalucia and Morocco, and is currently a Professor of World Cultures in Music at San Francisco State University. Hafez began performing with the Ann Dyer Ensemble in 1994 and appears on the ensembles’ recordings “Ann Dyer & No Good Time Fairies featuring Hafez Modirzadeh” and “Revolver: A New Spin.” www.hafezmodirzadeh.com Jason Lewis
Jason Lewis has been a member of the Ann Dyer Ensemble since 1993 and together with John Shifflet forms the nucleus of the ensemble. He graduated from the classical percussion program at San Jose State University, under the direction of Tony Cirone of the San Francisco Symphony, with a BA in Music. He has performed with: John Stowell, Gary Burton, Gil Goldstein, Bob Sheppard, Steve Rodby, and Paul McCandles among others. He has toured and recorded with Boz Scaggs, Michael Brook, Djivan Gasparyan, and has performed on many recordings, television (PBS’ Spark), video game, and movie soundtracks (Affliction, Albino Alligator, Ratatouille). John Shifflett
Bass player John Shifflett is an original, core member of the Ann Dyer Ensemble and has been featured on all the ensembles recordings. He has done countless studio sessions; played in many pit orchestras; toured with Dave Liebman, Boz Scaggs, Taylor Eigsti, Madeline Peyroux, Scott Amendola Band, John Stowell and performed with Red Holloway, John Zorn, Bobby Hutcherson, Norma Winstone, Ernie Watts, Smith Dobson, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Harold Land, Kurt Elling, and countless others. While studying for an M.A. in music at the University of Iowa, he taught Theory, Jazz Studies and directed big bands and currently teaches Jazz History, bass, and small ensembles at San Jose State University. He is a member of the faculty and Artist In Residence at the Jazzschool Institute (Berkeley). Erika Chong Shuch
Erika Chong Shuch is a choreographer and director from San Francisco with whom Ann first worked in 2001. Her work has become known for presenting bizarre and endearing philosophical quandaries through movement, text, music and imagery. An aesthetically-driven artist who flirts with everything from needlecrafts to ceramics to music-making, Erika’s interdisciplinary performance work reflects her passion for layered creative expression. In addition to her work with her company, Erika Chong Shuch Performance Project, Erika works regularly as a choreographer for CAL Shakes and other companies. Her work has been commissioned by Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and Dancers’ Group’s ONSITE program. A recipient of the Gerbode Foundation’s Emerging Choreographer’s award and Goldie Award, Erika’s work has been supported by residencies at Headlands Center for the Arts, Djerassi Residency Program, ODC and Mullae Art Space in Seoul, Korea. www.erikachongshuch.org |
