Russ Johnson Quartet

media release: Trumpeter Russ Johnson is a recent Midwest transplant after spending 23 years as an important member of New York City’s jazz community. He has released 8recordings as a leader or co-leader and performed on more than 100 recordings as a sideman. Russ has worked alongside many of the legendary figures in jazz including Lee Konitz, Steve Swallow, Bill Frisell, and Joe Lovano. In addition,he has recorded and/or performed with a long list of the most prominent musicians currently on the international jazz scene, including Myra Melford, Ken Vandermark, and Tony Malaby. Russ has performed in more than 40 countries across the globe.  His groups have recently performed at the Chicago,Winter Jazz Fest (NYC) Hyde Park, (Chicago) and Bergamo, (Italy) jazz festivals. He was also recognized as a “Rising Star” in the 2018 Down Beat Critics Poll.

Russ’ most recent recordings,Meeting Point (Relay Recordings) and Still Out To Lunch! (Enja Records)received 4 1/2 & 4 stars respectively from Down Beat Magazine and appearedon many “Best Recordings of 2014/5” lists including Down Beat, the ChicagoTribune, Chicago Reader, NYC Jazz Record and Magnet magazine. He released a newrecording by his “Headlands” Quartet in 2018. 

Russ has also performed extensively as a contemporary classical trumpeter.Performances include: Chicago Symphony Orchestra Music Now Series with Myra Melford, Philip Glass “The Bacchae” (Shakespeare in the Park – Central Park NYC) Christian Marclay Festival (Whitney Museum NYC), James Tenney Retrospective (Whitney Museum NYC), Merce Cunningham/John Cage “Oceans” (Lincoln Center NYC), Kitchen House Blend (The Kitchen, NYC), MATA Festival (NYC), Tilt Brass Band, (with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company for their final performances at The Armory, NYC)

Russ’ commercial music credits include performances with Aretha Franklin, Elvis Costello, Kelly Clarkson, Debbie Harry, Lou Reed and Michael Buble.  He has appeared on dozens of TV commercials and performed as a featured soloist on the soundtracks for the films “Little Fockers,” “Undefeated” and “Low Down.”

Russ is also active as an educator/clinician, having taught at colleges and universities across the U.S.and Europe. He currently serves as Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Wisconsin Parkside where he won the university wide “Stella Gray” Teaching Excellence award in 2016 and the “Creative Activity” award in 2020.  Russ also currently serves as trumpet instructor at Carthage College and previously served as the jazz trumpet instructor at the University of Wisconsin – Madison.

Tim Daisy is an American drummer and composer working in the fields of improvised and composed music. Tim moved to Chicago in 1997 and since that time has performed, recorded, and toured with many national and international improvised musicians and ensembles. He was a member of the Vandermark 5 from 2002 to 2010.

He has also performed with Dave Rempis, Jeb Bishop, Mars Williams, Steve Swell, Jaimie Branch, Katherine Young, Fred Lonberg-Holm, James Falzone, Russ Johnson, Katinka Kleijn, Elizabeth Harnik, Christof Kurzmann, Ikue Mori, Rafael Toral,Mikolaj Trzaska, Per Ake Holmlander, Darren Johnston, Havard Wiik, Jason Stein and Michael Zerang and many others.

In 2011 he received the New Music America Composers Assistance Award and in2011, 2012 and 2017 the ASCAP Plus Award from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers . He has recorded over one hundred and thirty albums as a sideman or leader for labels including Relay, (which he owns and operates), Not Two, Clean Feed, Astral Spirits, Aerophonic, Audiographic, Sonorus, Trost, Utech, New World, and Okka Disk.

www.timdaisy.com  

Violinist MarkFeldman was born in 1955 He has Toured And Recorded Extensively with John Zorn, John Abercrombe, Sylvie Courvoisier, Billy Hart, Chris Potter and Dave Douglas At the Jazz at Lincoln Center Series he performed Six Concerts in Duo with Paul Bley At Dizzys Jazz Club of Lincoln Center He performed 10 sets with Shelia Jordan He performed In Trio with Muhul Richard Abrams at Alice Tully Hall He was awarded a Grammy Certificate for his playing on Micheal Brecker’s recoding “Wide Angles” In 2007 He received the Alpert Award in Music His own Recordings as a leader Include “What Exit” On ECM Records and “Sounding Point”on Intakt Records He has participated as a Featured Artist on Over 150Recordings Including Projects as diverse as Placido Domingo , John Zorn and Jonny Cash In past years he was a member of Groups led by Joe Lavano , Uri Caine, The“Masada Sting Trio”With Greg Cohen and Erik Friedlander and The “Arcado String Trio” with Mark Dresser and Hank Roberts He was Commissioned and performed by the Kronos Quartet and the The WDR Radio Orchestra He has performed works composed for him as soloist with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic and the Symphony Orchestra Of Einhoven Netherlands In commercial Music he has appeared as a Studio Musician with Cheryl Crow , Diana Ross, Carol King and The Manhatten Transfer Before Moving to New York in 1986 He was a touring member of the Loretta Lynn Band and the Ray Price Band. He was a member of the Nashville Symphony Orchestra as well as the Television Orchestra At the Grand Ole Opry,

Currently he has relocated to Chicago

Ethan Philion is an award-winning bassist, composer, and bandleader based in Chicago. Philion was selected as the winner of the 2019 International Society of Bassists Jazz Competition and was a finalist in 2015 and 2017. A graduate of Oberlin Conservatory and DePaul University, Philion has performed with renowned musicians such as Rufus Reid, Greg Ward, Dana Hall, Russ Johnson, Gary Bartz,Ernest Dawkins, Howard Levy, Geof Bradfield, Brian Settles, Tim Green, Alyssa Allgood, Alfonso Ponticelli, Paul Marinaro, and more. In 2020, Philion was selected to Chicago's Luminarts Jazz Fellowship and was selected as one of TheYear Of Chicago Music Featured Artists. His debut album, featuring a ten-piece group Philion directs, entitled Meditations on Mingus will be released in August 2022 on Sunnyside Records. Philion's projects have performed at the HydePark Jazz Fest, the Green Mill, The Museum of Contemporary Art, and more.