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MP3 Steve Talaga - Contemplating the Heavens
16 MP3 Songs
JAZZ: Traditional Jazz Combo, CLASSICAL: Contemporary
Details:
Pianist, composer and arranger Steve Talaga has been performing professionally for more than 25 years. He is co-leader of “Mind’s Eye,” a jazz quartet with four compact discs to its credit, “Angst for the Spoiler,” “Seasons,” “Lucky Nine,” and “Children of the Glacier.” Talaga has performed with “Mind’s Eye” at many venues and jazz festivals, including the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland and the Montreux-Detroit Jazz Festival in Michigan. Music from “Seasons” has been featured on the nationally syndicated public radio program, “Jazz After Hours.”
Talaga has also released five compact discs under his own name: “Mirage,” “Yin-Yang,” “Basement Alchemy” (which was chosen as best release of 2000 by Lazaro Vega at WBLV-FM), "Two Worlds," and, most recently, “Contemplating the Heavens” (a companion to the poetry chapbook of the same title by Linda Nemec Foster). Talaga is also pianist for many other small and large jazz ensembles and is featured on recordings with some of them. He has performed with many jazz greats, including Kenny Wheeler, Terry Lynne Carrington, Wes Anderson, Marcus Printup, Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, Bob Berg, Adam Nussbaum, Wycliffe Gordon, Ric Margitza, Bobby Shew, Maria Schneider, Marvin Stamm, Denis DiBlazio, Jon Faddis, Claudio Roditi, Johnny Bassett, Greg Abate, Walt Weiskopf, Phil Woods, and the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. Among the many composition commissions he has received are several from Grand Valley State University, Grand Rapids'' first Poet Laureate Linda Nemec Foster, and West Michigan’s Lakeshore Jazz Connection.
Talaga is currently an adjunct professor of music at Hope College in Holland, Michigan, and Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he teaches courses in jazz studies and music theory/composition. He has also taught music at Grand Valley State University, Cornerstone University, and Grace Bible College. Talaga has frequently been on the faculty at the Aquinas College Summer Jazz Camp and Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp.
Talaga received a Bachelor of Music Degree in Jazz Studies, Magna Cum Laude, and a Master of Music Degree in Composition from Western Michigan University. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Broadcast and Cinematic Arts from Central Michigan University.
As a student in 1993, Talaga won a Downbeat Magazine award in the jazz composition category. He has won outstanding soloist awards from the Elmhurst, Aquinas, Ohio State University, and Notre Dame Jazz Festivals; and awards for jazz composition from the Notre Dame and Montreux-Detroit Jazz Festivals. He received honorable mention in the 1995 Billboard Magazine Song Writing Contest, Jazz Category. From 1982 – 1989, Talaga was a producer and on-air personality at CMU Public Radio in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan.
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