- Free - No reservation necessary -
The internationally renouned musicians; trumpeter Alex Sipiagin and pianist Dave Kikoski; come to Conservatorium Maastricht on May 6 to work with our jazz department!
Between 11:00-13:30, Alex and Dave will give a short musical introduction, followed by a clinic on their harmonic, melodic, and rhythmic concepts used in their improvisations and original compositions.
From 14:30 onwards, they will be splitting up and working with our horns and keys departments, respectively!
More Alex Sipiagin:
Jazz festivals worldwide have seen Alex Sipiagin performing with the likes of Dave Holland, Michael Brecker, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, the Mingus groups, and many more. In 1990, Alex participated in the International Louis Armstrong Competition sponsored by the Thelonius Monk Institute in Washington DC, winning top honors. After 30 over years of living in New York City, he has since relocated to Italy.
In his early career, Alex became a favored player for various bands including the Gil Evans Orchestra, Gil Goldstein's Zebra Coast Orchestra, the George Gruntz Concert Jazz Band, drummer Bob Moses' band Mozamba, the Mingus Big Band as well as the Mingus Dynasty and Mingus Orchestra, and the Dave Holland Big Band, Sextet and Octet groups.
In 2003 he recorded with Michael Brecker’s Quindectet, touring also with the Michael Brecker Sextet. Alex has also worked with Eric Clapton, DrJohn, Aaron Neville, Elvis Costello, Michael Franks, Dave Sanborn, Deborah Cox, legendary producer Phil Ramone, Gonzalo Rubalcaba among other artistes. Many of the recordings he has been involved in have been nominated for and/or won at the Grammy Awards. He is part of the Grammy award-winning albums by the Dave Holland Big Band, “What Goes Around” and “Overtime,” Michael Brecker Quindectet’s “Wide Angles,” and the Dafnis Prieto Big Band’s “Into the Sunset”.
As a soloist, Sipiagin has more than twenty recordings to his credit including having jazz greats such as Mulgrew Miller and Chris Potter featured in them. He has toured extensively throughout Europe, the United States, Asia, New Zealand with his own groups. He held a professorship at New York University (NYU) for seven years, and a residency at the Amsterdam Conservatory. He currently holds residencies at Academy of Music in Basel Switzerland and Siena Jazz in Italy.
Alex Sipiagin has recorded at least 20 solo albums for the prestigious jazz label “Criss-Cross Jazz, featuring several notable musicians such as Chris Potter, Eric Harland, David Binney, Adam Rogers, John Escreet and Matt Brewer. In recent years, Alex has also recorded two solo albums titled “Upstream” and “Ascent to the Blues” with the Positone Label. Alex Sipiagin recently released his newest album with Criss Cross label titled “Mel’s Vision” in early 2023. He is currently working on his next recording for Blue Room Music label which will feature his favorite musicians Chris Potter, Eric Harland, John Escreet, Matt Brewer, all of whom also recorded on his previous notable albums by Criss Cross label “Moments Captured” , “Balance 38-58”, “Destination Unknown”, Blue Room Music label “NoFo Skies” and others.
This recent year saw Alex collaborating as soloist with several large ensembles in Europe including the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra for Fekete-Kovács Kornél, Alex’s original compositions with RTV Radio Slovenia Big Band titled “New York Sketches”, and Big Band Radio Romania titled “Wind Dance”. In August 2022, Alex Sipiagin also received a commission to arrange his music for and perform with a contemporary string quartet at summer festivals in Austria and Germany.
Alex continues to travel with his various small groups as a trio, quartet, quintet etc. as well as a sideman with renowned jazz artists.
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More about Dave Kikoski:
David Kikoski is a pianist, composer, and arranger deeply rooted in the rich tradition of jazz.
A highly regarded jazz pianist, David Kikoski emerged onto the New York jazz scene in the 1980s, quickly establishing himself as a go-to performer, collaborating with top musicians such as Roy Haynes, Bob Berg, Randy Brecker, and many others. Known for his adept post-bop style and spontaneous, swinging play, Kikoski has become a prominent figure in the jazz world.
As a leader, Kikoski has released 20 albums, including "Presage" with Eddie Gomez and Al Foster (1989) and "Consequences" featuring Jeff "Tain" Watts and Christian McBride (2015). His two most recent albums, "Phoenix Rising" (2019) and "Sure Thing" (2021), were both released under High Note Records.
In his role as an invaluable sideman, Kikoski has recorded and toured with luminaries such as Roy Haynes, Michael Brecker, John Scofield, Ravi Coltrane, Chris Potter, Dave Holland, Roy Hargrove, Donny McCaslin, Mike Stern, Chick Corea, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Toots Thielemans, Tom Harrell, Marcus Miller, Pat Martino, Jack Dejohnette, Billy Hart, and many others. A longstanding member of the prestigious Charles Mingus Big Band, co-leader of BeatleJazz, and a member of Opus Five, Kikoski is also part of the newly formed all-star collective called Something Else.
Notably, as a member of the Charles Mingus Big Band, Kikoski achieved significant success by winning a 2011 Grammy Award with the ensemble for the Best Live Jazz Ensemble Album with "Live at the Jazz Standard." In 2001, he earned a Grammy nomination with Roy Haynes for the album "Birds of a Feather: A Tribute to Charlie Parker." It's worth highlighting that the Mingus Big Band, with Kikoski as a vital contributor, recently received a 2024 Grammy nomination for the Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album, recognizing their outstanding performance in “The Charles Mingus Centennial Session.”
"The brilliant playing of David Kikoski just smokes. His playing is sparkling." - Chick Corea
"Dave has so much feeling. He can play anything. I can depend on him for so much." - Roy Haynes