Woodwinds
Ben Kono
Alejandro Aviles
Quinsin Nachoff
Jay Rattman
Carl Maraghi
Trumpet
Brian Pareschi
Nathan Eklund
Jonathan Saraga
Stuart Mack
Trombone
Mike Fahie
Matt McDonald
Nick Grinder
Jeff Nelson
Rhythm Section
Max Light -guitar
Chris McCarthy -piano
Evan Gregor -bass
Peter Kronreif -drums
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"An Idiosyncratic, Personal & Intrepid Storyteller" - GRAMMY.com
Jihye Lee is a jazz composer and bandleader, regarded for her intimate and adventurous storytelling approach to large-ensemble jazz.
Born in Korea, she moved stateside more than a decade ago, attending Berklee College of Music without any previous jazz background. This relatively blank slate was not a hindrance; it engendered something wholly original, and she continued her studies at Manhattan School of Music under the direction of Jim McNeely. Her first orchestral album, April, was described as “thought-provoking and gut-wrenching all at once” by All That Jazz.
Her highly personal, idiosyncratic touch and knack for musical storytelling have begun receiving more attention in the New York scene and beyond — especially with her recent album, Daring Mind (March 2021 on Motéma Music). Daring Mind is partly themed on her arrival in New York, and the courage and self-determination needed to make it in the Big Apple. This album was covered in the New York Times, JazzTimes, DownBeat, Télérama, Le Monde, ABC Jazz, JazzWise, Musica Jazz, Süddeutsche Zeitung, GRAMMY.com and many more. Daring Mind received the Korean Music Awards’ Best Jazz Album prize, the Guardian’s Best Jazz Album #6 (2021), Spotify Best Jazz #4 (2021), and was nominated for the Libera Awards’ Best Jazz Record.
Lee has received numerous other commissions, honors, awards, and residencies from Jazz at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, BMI, the ASCAP Foundation, New York University / National Sawdust, Jazz Education Network, Amherst College, University of Denver, University of Miami’s Frost School of Music, Berklee College of Music, Queens Council on the Arts, the New York Foundation for the Arts, the Frankfurt Radio Big Band, Brussels Jazz Orchestra, the National Theater of Korea, and CJ Cultural Foundation.