“(David Occhipinti’s) writing is unique, his playing is completely original and stunning… His music is an absolute work of art!” –Jim Hall

**** – Downbeat Magazine (Review of “Bristles”)

Bristles Trio is the latest project from Bassist Andrew Downing, Trumpeter Jim Lewis and Guitarist David Occhipinti. Five of the six jazz standards on the Bristles  CD were recorded at the Jazz Room in January of 2013.

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.  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
David Occhipinti has released five CDs as a leader that feature his unique voice as a composer and as a guitarist.
On David’s release, Camera (2012), he combines elements of contemporary chamber music with improvisation. The recording features David’s compositions and guitar playing, with a unique ensemble, consisting of: clarinet, bassoon, marimba, guitar, violin, viola, cello, and bass. The recording also includes a suite for guitar and string quartet.

David has multiple nominations for Juno awards including his CD Forty Revolutions (2007), and Duologue (2003), his first of two duo CDs with saxophonist Mike Murley. A collaboration David made with bassist Andrew Downing and trumpeter Jim Lewis called Bristles (2014), was also nominated and given four stars (****) in the internationally acclaimed Downbeat magazine.
As a composer, David has received numerous commissions to compose for solo artists, chamber groups and large ensembles. His compositions appear on CDs by Beverley Johnston, Random Access Large Ensemble and many others.
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 1990s, and was invited to play a song at Jim Hall’s memorial at the Blue Note in New York City in April of 2014.
David presently teaches guitar, composition and ensembles to grad and undergrad students at the University of Toronto and at Humber College in Toronto, where David currently resides.

Here is the trio with Charlie Parker’s Au Privave