RE: Bristles CD release
Andrew Downing Jim Lewis David Occhipinti

Bristles is a CD from bassist, Andrew Downing; trumpeter, Jim Lewis; and guitarist, David Occhipinti. The CD, is a collection of twelve songs - six jazz standards and six collaborative improvisations dedicated to painters such as Emily Carr and Cy Twombly.

The CD was given 4 stars in the internationally-acclaimed Downbeat Magazine. It was nominated for a 2015 Juno Award (Canada's Grammy) in the Jazz Group category.

Five of the six jazz standards were recorded live from a concert at the Jazz Room in Waterloo, Ontario, where the trio performed in January of 2013.

The trio, which has been performing together since 2008, also experimented with improvisations, which resulted in six compositions dedicated to painters such as Emily Carr and Cy Twombly.

Bristles, is the first release from this trio. David Occhipinti produced and mixed Bristles, which is being released on his Occdav Music label (OM007).



Individual Bios:

ANDREW DOWNING
Andrew Downing is a Toronto based double bass player, cellist, composer and educator born in London, Ontario in 1973. He plays primarily in the creative jazz scene in Canada, but also performs classical chamber music, improvised music, folk and roots music, and world music. Most recently, he has begun a collaboration in Istanbul, Turkey with ud (Turkish lute) player Güç Bas¸ar Gülle. Their first album Anahtar was released in October of 2013.

He also has a collaborative multi-media project with Canadian songwriter John Southworth and visual artist Yesim Tosuner called Easterween. He also leads his chamber-jazz ensemble Melodeon, which plays live scores for silent films such as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Phantom of the Opera (with choir), Maciste in Hell, Impossible Voyage and The Shock.
As a composer, Andrew has written pieces for Nordic Folk group Ensemble Polaris, banjo player Jayme Stone, The Vancouver Bach Choir, Ensemble Meduse, Toca Loca and The Prince George Symphony, and has written arrangements for Patricia O'Callaghan, The Gryphon Trio, The Annex Quartet and The Art of Time Ensemble.

He has won two Juno awards, one for his own recording Blow The House Down with his former group Great Uncles of the Revolution, and one with the Vancouver-based group Zubot and Dawson. He has also won two West Coast Music Awards, a Socan Award, and the Grand Prix de Jazz from the Montreal Jazz Festival. Andrew currently teaches double bass, composition and improvisation at the University of Toronto and has taught at Wilfred Laurier University, the Banff Centre's Jazz Workshop and the Creative Music Workshop in Halifax. www.andrewdowning.com



JIM LEWIS

Jim Lewis is a freelance trumpet player, improviser, composer/arranger and currently a Lecturer at The University of Toronto He is a regular member of the Paul Read Orchestra (Arc-en-ciel), Frank Lozano Group (Colour Fields), Christine Duncan’s Element Choir (Live at Rosedale United, Element Choir & William Parker – At Christ Church Deer Park ), Mark Segger Sextet (The Beginning), an improvising trio with Andrew Downing and Jean Martin (On a Short Path From Memory to Forgotten) and a standard trio with Andrew Downing and David Occhipinti (Bristles). He has played Jazz Festivals across Canada, and in the United States and Europe, with many of Canada’s most creative jazz musicians and improvisers. Jim holds a Masters Degree in Performance (Concentration in Jazz) from the University of Louisville, where he studied trumpet performance with Dr. Michael Tunnell, composition and arranging with John LaBarbera and improvisation with Jamey Aebersold.

DAVID OCCHIPINTI

Guitarist/composer David Occhipinti has twice been nominated for a Juno award, once for his CD, Forty Revolutions (2007), and also for, Duologue (2003), his first of two duo CDs with saxophonist Mike Murley.

On his most recent release, Camera (2012), David combines elements of contemporary chamber music with improvisation.
"David Occhipinti has created an absolute gem [Camera]. His writing is unique, his playing is completely original and stunning. I just wanted to keep listening... His music is an absolute work of art!"
-Jim Hall

As a composer, David has received numerous commissions to compose for solo artists, chamber groups and large ensembles.

In 2011, David founded the Walrus Quartet with fellow guitarists: Roddy Ellias, Ted Quinlan and Kim Ratcliffe. David has performed all across Canada, in the U.S., Europe, Japan, and in Italy, where he lived for almost three years.

David Occhipinti studied in New York with the legendary jazz guitarist and composer, Jim Hall, during the mid 1990's. www.davidocchipinti.com