Artists

Alban Bailly is a multifaceted instrumentalist who studied composition, jazz, and improvisation in France. After spending his youth playing mainly rock music, Alban moved onto studying jazz, which opened him to free improvisation, and in 2001 he studied Arabic music and oud in Marrakesh, Morocco. He then moved to Nancy, France, and became an active performer, performing solo and in various music, dance, and other ensembles in Europe, before moving to the United States in 2005. Currently a Philadelphia resident, he continues to perform extensively in the United States, Canada, and Europe. He is the founder, guitarist, and a composer of the avant-garde/rock trio Inzinzac and a regular collaborator with and electroacoustic composer for the dance company Da•Da•Dance.

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As a film composer, Charlie Barnett’s scores have appeared in more than four hundred television and theatrical films. His work in documentary film has won awards including the Cine Golden Eagle for his work on National Geographic’s “Tibet’s Hidden Kingdom,” a Peer Award for The Discovery Channel’s “Raising the Mammoth,” and Emmy nominations for A&E’s “Holocaust: the Untold Story and Cosmic Journey”. The Paper Clips score won the 2004 Rome International Film Festival’s Jerry Goldsmith Award. Paper Clips has also won the Christopher Award for 2006 and was nominated for an Emmy He has also written music for “Saturday Night Live,” “The Cosby Show,” “Third Rock from the Sun” and “Weeds.” Recently his score for the PBS series “The Appalachians” was released by Sony records. His score for Dreamer, a documentary about C.S. Lewis produced by Walt Disney Productions, was recently released as part of the The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe boxed set. His 2008 feature films include Kickin’ It, War Child, Bedford: The Town They Left Behind, Keeping the Lights On and My Father’s Will. His television efforts this year include the score for the PBS series “Closer to Truth.”

Barnett’s concert music career includes worldwide performances of his orchestral and chamber works. His Serenade for Double Bass was recently performed in London and has been performed by the National Symphony Orchestra. His violin concerto The Brooklyn Affair and the symphony piece The Blue Chevrolet were recently released on Big Kahuna Records. His viola concerto From Istanbul was recently recorded by Osman Kivrac.

Barnett was commissioned to write a spoken word piece in collaboration with Dr. Maya Angelou for the Pageant of Peace in Washington, D.C. in 2007. In November 2008, Barnett was artist-in-residence at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, where his symphonic pirate movie was premiered along with an animated film produced by the amazing students there. Barnett can also be heard as an occasional commentator on NPR.

He has arranged and produced pop and jazz records for countless artists, including Thrice for Island/Def Jam and Jason Falkner for Elektra. He continues to proudly play with the eclectic lounge band Chaise Lounge.

www.chaiseloungenation.com
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Jazz pianist and composer Bunny Beck comes from a long line of musicians. Her father, Larry Sideman, had a band that played hotels, her aunt played vaudeville violin, and her grandmother sang opera.

Originally trained as a classical pianist starting at age 6, Bunny studied with a range of teachers. She’s grateful to have had the honor of being the only child student of renowned concert pianist Selma Kramer. She attended New York’s High School of Music and Art (now La Guardia). By the time she was 16 she was giving piano lessons to both adults and children. She has also directed musical variety productions and has worked as an accompanist for singers.

Ultimately Bunny realized that jazz was her passion, so she sought out jazz mentors. She studied with the superb performer, composer, and arranger Lee Evans and with the brilliant performer Fernando Hernandez. In 2002 she had the unique opportunity to study and play in Cuba with Reinaldo Gomez Ruiz and his band, Gens. She has also studied with renowned recording artist and band leader Sonny Bravo, pianist for the late Tito Puente and his band, and with jazz piano legend Harold Mabern.

Bunny can be heard solo or with her trio playing restaurants, cocktail lounges, private parties, corporate events, weddings, grand openings, promotional events, conventions, hotels, banquets, fund raisers and holiday parties.

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June Bender graduated with a B.M. in Violin Performance from Temple University in 2009, where she studied with Philadelphia Orchestra member Yumi Scott. Although classically trained, she loves the challenge of playing in diverse musical contexts; she has played everything form freely improvised music at SIM in Brooklyn to Irish fiddle tunes at local pubs. She freelances regularly in and outside of Philadelphia, along with teaching private lessons at Settlement Music School and at the Philadelphia Community Conservatory at West Catholic High School.

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Benjamin Blazer, a native of Lancaster PA, joined the Oscuro Quintet in the summer of 2007. Blazer attended Temple University, where he attained a B.M. in music theory and double bass performance, as well as an M.M. in music composition. He studied double bass with John Hood of the Philadelphia Orchestra and composition with Matthew Greenbaum, Maurice Wright and Richard Brodhead. Blazer currently thrives in the field of music education as a faculty member of the music department at Central High School in Philadelphia, as well as a faculty member for the Temple Music Preparatory Division. He continues to compose and have his music performed regularly.

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