Band Information

The antidote for the light-footed and tepid reception of chamber Jazz, over the past 10 years the Kelly Craig Sextet has proven to be a prolific Jazz machine.

The conception the Sextet was not so much an act of want as need. Baking their own Jazz with verve was the only choice for these active musicians.

The Kelly Craig Sextet is a classic collection of sax, trumpet, drums, piano and bass, a rich Jazz monster.  Made up of players oozing a restless need to find improvisational vehicles, the Sextet’s enthusiasm is infectious.  The Sextet’s ability to produce original material with polish and ease allows movement throughout the Jazz spectrum. 


Kelly Craig

Trumpet and Flugelhorn

 

2011 was a productive years for me, hitting many milestones with The Sextet, The Shine Foundation, Carleton University, Jeff Rogers and the All Day Daddies and solidifying Shine Studios through renovation and equipping the studio with top shelf recording gear and a Bosendorfer Grand piano. Hitting these landmarks allows me the peace of mind to focus on the progress of the sextet. The strength of the long awaited release of original material on Snapshot in June 2011 has opened doors for the band. Management is now interested in booking the group on national and international Jazz Festival dates. The calendar with evolve to include dates in Europe, Asia, Australia, and Canada between May 2012  and Sept. 2013.

In addition, I have revisited my roots with the new original Soul music project, Jeff Rogers and the All Day Daddies along with Brian Asselin, the Tenor Sax player in the sextet. Soul and Funk bands have always provided me with a reminder and with inspiration to not ignore our reptilian brain when composing or choosing compositions for the group. Jeff's album is almosts complete as of Jan. 2012, fellow band member Brian Asselin and I will be completing the horn section work on this album eminently along with satellite members Daniel Ko and Jeff Rogers on Alto saxes and Steve Berndt on Trombone

Adam Daudrich has begun composing as a series of Post-Bop flavoured tunes taylored for the Sextet. The tunes are currently being acid tested in rehearsal and in live sitauations. Recording will begin in mid-May 2012, mixing, mastering and printing will be done completed in time for the Canadian tour dates.

Since 2003 most of my time has been spent building The Shine Group, a group of related organizations including:


 

I've been fortunate to have had a rich musical eduction, my professors have included Karen Donnelly, Principal Trumpet in the NAC Orchestra, and Ed Lewis, who has a Masters from Eastman in classical trumpet performance and a Ph.D. from Juilliard in Science. I have recently completed studies with Kevin Dean, Head of Jazz Performance at McGill University, and am working towards my Master's degree in 2013 in jazz performance and immediately afterword a Ph.D. in music education at Boston University. Completing my degree after many years away from post secondary eduction was the first step in a new path for me. I left school in 1991 to pursue a music eduction in what I had then interpreted as the traditional, or authentic way of embarking on a Jazz education, by playing in Blues and R and B bands such as Otis Clay, Bo Diddley,Slim Gallard, Long John Baldry etc. While I learned much from these experiences,and it has left an indelible stamp on my style, I've long wanted to complete my education and teach in a post secondary institution.

My early years of music development were spent in the Regina Police Junior Band, where I made life long friends and, along with a strong High School music program and Sask. Summer School of the Arts, aquired a pretty decent music education. It was these early experiences that motivated me to start Shine and establish a community music program based on more modern models such as Jazz Combos and rock bands instead of the tradition Concert band or Big Band setting.

My future goals include:

Writing and performing with the Kelly Craig Sextet as much as possible through touring internationally

Quantifying concepts presented by Prof. Kevin Dean during my study tenure and develop practice routines to aid in the execution of these concepts for myself and others.

Record treatments of Standards, Ballads and Blues with Brian Browne we both have developed over the last 10 years of playing together.

Work with the Band leaders of Walter Ego, The Jivewires, and Jeff Rogers and the All Day Daddies to develop and record original material with these groups.

 

Brian Asselin

Tenor Sax

I have been fortunate in my life as a musician to have been given the opportunities to perform for crowds in over 10 countries. Over the past 15 years I have toured Europe, the United States and Canada with various bands including: The Legendary Funk Brothers, Mary Wilson (The Supremes), The Temptations, The JW-Jones Blues Band, The Jivewires, Impressions in Jazz Orchestra, the Holly Larocque and Mark Ferguson Big Band, Groovebug, and Organix. In my musical endeavors, I have had the opportunity to perform with Kim Wilson (Grammy Award Nominee, WC Handy Award Winner), Dan Ackroyd, Bob Mintzer (Grammy Award Winner), Randy Brecker (Grammy Award Winner), Chase Sanborn, Mike Murley (Juno Award Winner), Alex Dean, Guido Basso, Colin James (Juno Award Winner), Sue Foley, Pat Travers, Garrett Mason (Juno Award Winner), Roxanne Potvin (Juno Award Nominee), David Braid, Parliament Funkadelic, Brian Browne, Kathleen Edwards (Juno Award Winner) and The Texas Horns. I've also had the opportunity to open for Sheryl Crow, Colin James, Blue Rodeo, Simple Plan and Pat Travers. I received my bachelors in music performance from Carleton University in 2004 under the direction of Mike Tremblay, Rob Frayne, and Juno award winner Kirk Macdonald

 

Alex Mastronardi

Bass

I began playing electric bass in 2000 with a focus on rock and alternative music. By the age of 14 I held the bass seat in all my high school jazz groups,the Ottawa Junior Jazz Band and Later the Nepean All-City Jazz Band. I added double bass to my skill set at 16 embarking on studies with John Geggie. My early influences included Dave Holland, Ray Brown and John Patitucci .While I still play jazz and rock music regularly, my main efforts are geared toward writing and producing modern pop/electronic music. Having a jazz foundation helps greatly in this genre.


Zakari Frantz

Alto Sax

Zakari Frantz is a musician and educator currently living in Ottawa, Canada. Known best for his role as alto saxophonist in Canada’s legendary rare groove ensemble, The Souljazz Orchestra, he also leads his own groups and has been seen recently performing with Slim Moore and the Mar-Kays, The Jivewires, The Kelly Craig Sextet, Phil Motion & The Easy LO-FI, and The Mike Essoudry Octet.


Over his decade-long career, Zakari has performed on hundreds of stages throughout 20 countries, making music with people like Richie Cole, Slide Hampton, The Motet, Carlos Washington & the Giant People, Joe Sealey, The Temptations, Dele Sosimi, Mabinuori Kayode Idowu, Fanga & Gregory Hutchinson. He has appeared on more than 25 albums and compilations and has participated in live recordings for the CBC, BBC Radio 6, NTR TV (Netherlands), and Radio Nova (France).

A positively charged, in-demand member of the local music community, Zakari has performed with many of Ottawa’s brightest musicians including John Akpata, Jean Pierre Allain, Brian & Jeff Asselin, Tim Bedner, Steve Berndt, Petr Cancura, Nathan Cepelinski, Nicholas Dyson, Roddy Elias, Garry Elliott, Mike Essoudry, Olivier Fairfield, Mark Ferguson, John Geggie, Lucas Haneman, Don Johnson, The Impressions In Jazz Orchestra, Daniel Ko, Mike Mullen, Fred Paci, Richard Page, Don Patterson, Nicole Ratte, Vince Rimbach, Mike Tremblay, and Renee Yoxon. 

Zakari is a member of the Canadian Federation of Musicians Local 180, and holds post as a private music instructor and occasional ensemble director at Ottawa’s award-winning Shine Academy. He is preparing to launch his own studio in Fall 2011 in Kanata.

Born in Twin Falls, Idaho in 1976, Zakari began formal studies on alto and soprano saxophone at age 12 under the wing of woodwind virtuoso Larry Curtis. He moved to Washington in 1996 to study with Seattle saxophonist Mark Taylor at Pacific Lutheran University before returning to Idaho to pursue his B.A. in Music at Boise State University, where he later studied with saxophonist Brent Jensen and also picked up the tenor saxophone, flute, clarinet and EWI.

After graduating in 2001, Zakari spent three years performing and recording with the highly acclaimed Idaho guitarist/singer/songwriter Marcus Eaton, drummer Nathan Keezer, and bassist James Monson. After a successful independent release, Marcus Eaton & the Lobby released “The Day the World Awoke” (2002, Uninhibited/MCA) to rave reviews. The success of this release allowed them to play over 100 shows throughout the Pacific Northwest as both a headlining act and as a support group for many notable artists including Victor Wooten, John Mayer, Toots & the Maytals, Jason Mraz, Guster, Kathleen Edwards, Chantal Kreviazuk, Cheryl Crow, Train, and even Bob Dylan.

Zakari immigrated to Eastern Canada in 2005 with his wife and son in search of new musical and social horizons. Settling in Ottawa, he joined forces with The Souljazz Orchestra for a 60-week residency at the Babylon nightclub which resulted in the album “Freedom No Go Die: An Exploration of the Revolutionary Sounds of Afrobeat Music” (2006, DoRight! Music). The band followed with the release of “Manifesto” (2008, DoRight! Music) and promptly hit the road and the skies, touring relentlessly throughout Central and Atlantic Canada, the UK, Europe, and Scandinavia. Recently, The Souljazz Orchestra has paired with a new UK label to release “Rising Sun” (2010, Strut Records), an entirely acoustic album of afrobeat, funk, & spiritual jazz songs on which Zakari can be heard playing alto saxophone, flute, alto flute, clarinet & chanting.

 

Eric Disero 

Piano

I was fortunate enough to discover my love for music at a young age. My love for an old Pentax ME Super 35mm SLR camera shortly followed suit, and so began the obsession with music and photography that has since enveloped my life. I grew up in Kelowna, British Columbia, with aspirations to further my musical career in a large city, inevitably becoming a rock star and realizing the wildest of fantasies. Instead, I moved to Ottawa for university at Carleton, where I studied music and graduated in 2009.

 

Jazz piano has been my one unchanging love since my early teens; Oscar Peterson, Bill Evans, Horace Silver, and Vince Guaraldi being some of my most profound influences. I began playing jazz at a cricket club in Sri Lanka oddly enough. Since then, the musical adventure that ensued has awarded me the opportunity to play with a large and ever growing number of fantastic musicians.Rock music has influenced me in many shapes and forms. I have always been fascinated with slick production techniques and the mysterious nuances that make a hit radio song. On the opposite side of the spectrum, human qualities and imperfections lend a recording a certain character that is often lost these days. Similarly to my early jazz encounters, I began recording with my MIDI keyboard during my three year stay in Sri Lanka (1999-2002). One song led to another, and by 2004 I had been introduced to the world of microphones and audio recording.

 

 Jeff Asselin

Drum Set

Jeff Asselin was born in Ottawa, Ontario on July 9, 1978. His musical training began on piano at the age of 11, but soon after he developed an interest in drumming. He began playing drums in high school, taking lessons with Ottawa drummers, Larry Graves and Peter Beaudoin. Jeff also began performing with the Confederation Jazz Connection (his high school jazz band), The Ottawa Youth Orchestra (a University of Ottawa orchestra) and the Nepean All-City Jazz Band, and has played nationally with both groups at various band competitions, particularly Musicfest Canada. He was awarded the Zildjian Best Young Drummer Award at Musicfest Canada in Vancouver in 1999, which included a scholarship to Humber College. That same year he also performed with the Yamaha All-Star Band during the closing ceremonies in front of 10,000 people. That was just the beginning of Jeff’s musical career. Since high school he has been a much-in demand drummer performing an uncountable amount of club dates around the Ottawa area, Ontario, Quebec, as well as nationally and internationally. He has also performed on live television and radio shows all over the world playing many different styles of music. Over the years Jeff has also built a strong and diverse discography. JW Jones Blues Band (Blue Listed - Northern Blues, Midnight Memphis Sun - Northern Blues),  Anders Drerup (Songs for the Common Man - Independent), Ana Muira (Mercury Rising - Independent), Harpoon (Food, Water, Compass - Boulder Records), Peter Voith and Quarterlife (All of my heart - Independent), Jenna Glatt (A Moment in Time - Independent), Brian Asselin (You Have Made A Difference - Independent), Search Engine (to be released - Independent)In 2004 Jeff was offered an endorsement through Coast music for Sonor drums and a Vic Firth Endorsement in 2007. 

Constantly looking to improve his craft, Jeff has studied with some of the best drummers around. While attending the 1997 KOSA Workshop, he had a chance to study with Ignacio Berroa, Aldo Mazza, David Garibaldi, Alessandra Belloni, Jeff Salisbury, Gordon Gottlieb, and Dom Famularo. At Carleton University, Jeff studied with Chris McCann (McGill University), Chuck Burrows (renowned Ottawa drum set teacher), Martin Ivanov (Berkley Graduate) and David Lang (McGill University). In 2004, Jeff received a Bachelor of Music Degree (high honours) with a minor in business from Carleton University. Looking to further explore different jazz concepts, Jeff has been committed to traveling once a month to New York City since 2005 to study with his teacher and mentor Ian Froman. Eager to pass on his knowledge to other drummers, Jeff has established a successful teaching career spanning over 15 years. He has also given dozens of clinics and workshops for both the Ottawa Carleton School Board and the Catholic School Board (grades 5 through 12). Upon graduating from Carleton University in 2004 Jeff has been working closely with their music department bringing in world renowned clinicians to work with both Ottawa musicians and Carleton music students. In 2009 Jeff was hired as an associate professor for Carleton University to teach their aspiring drum students.

During his career, Jeff has had the pleasure to share the stage with:

Alex Dean (Juno Award Winner) Mike Tremblay, Chase Sanborn, David Braid (Juno Award Winner), John Nemeth, Bob Mintzer (Grammy Award Winner), Randy Brecker (Grammy Award Winner), Paul Deslauriers (guitarist for Amanda Marshall), Kelly Craig (horn player for the Funk Brothers), Parliament, Trevor Finlay (Maple Blues Nominee), JW Jones Blues Band (Maple Blues Award Winner), Rick Estrin (Blues Music Award Winner), Little Charlie Baty (Blues Music Award Winner), Billy Flynn (Blues Music Award Winner), Billy Branch (Blues Music Award Winner), Lurrie Bell (Blues Music Award Winner), Kenny Smith (Blues Music Award Winner), Alex Schultz (Blues Music Award Winner), Tad Robinson (Blues Music Award Winner), Darrell Nulisch (Blues Music Award Winner), Brian Browne, Mark Cassius (the Nylons), the Texas Horns (Blues Music Award Winner), Sue Foley (Juno Award Winner, Blues Music Award Winner), Roxanne Potvin (Juno Nominee), KellyLee Evans (Juno Nominee), Christine Jensen, Jeff Jarvis, Pat Labarbera, and Denny Christianson. He performed with several other Ottawa drummers with Shania Twain at the Corel Centre in 2003, at the Lilith Fair Music Festival in Ottawa in 1998, and has also opened for Pat Travers, Kim Wilson and the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Canned Heat, KC and The Sunshine Band, Kentucky Headhunters, Kid Rock, Brian Wilson, Fred Eaglesmith, The Sky Diggers, Kathleen Edwards, The Jim Cuddy Band (of Blue Rodeo fame), Jonas, City in Color, Simple Plan, Sarah Sedgeman, Sarah Harmer, Pat the White, Sonny Landreth, Shemekia Copeland, and Wave.