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 Werner "Vana" Gierig: A New Day 1. Low Features 2. Gatinha Sabidinha (Wise Little Cat) 3. An Awakening Thought 4. Olympia - The Baby Dolphin 5. That's All 6. Village Dance 7. Choice of Words 8. Moving On 9. A New Day 10. Mating Call 11. Gatinha's Exi1 |
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Werner "Vana" Gierig: | |
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Vana (Werner "Vana" Gierig) is one of New York's premier jazz pianists.His award-winning, virtuosic performance style has been recognized worldwide and has been integral to many international tours and recordings by artists such as Regina Carter, Rachelle Ferrell, Lena Horne, George Howard, Special EFX, Najee and as musical director to Warren Hill, Will Downing, Angela Bofill and many others. Vana released his second CD entitled A New Day (Twinz Records, May '03) after his critically acclaimed debut CD Small Regrets, which has taken him on extensive tours including Europe and Brazil. It features his core Vana Trio with Alvester Garnett (dr) and Sean Conly (bs) , but goes far beyond by adding various special guests incl. the Grammy nominees Regina Carter (vln) and Duduka Da Fonseca (perc), and other Brazilian percussionists, as well as Gino Sitson & Philip Hamilton (voc). The CD charted for many weeks in the top 40 on the US JazzWeek Radio charts. This month both, Downbeat and JazzTimes magazines (September issues) are featuring Vana in articles about the CD and his live CD release performance in New York. It also prompted invitations for live performances and interviews on TV and radio, incl. the Eyewitness News Sunday Morning TV show (Channel 7) and on Sirius Satellite Radio. Live appearances included performances with his Vana Trio plus Brazilian Percussion at festivals in Europe this July, including a sold-out performance at the International Music Festival in Espinho, Portugal that ended in a standing ovation. Vana is also the co-producer, artistic musical director and pianist on Regina Carter's historic new Verve/Universal recording called Paganini: After a Dream (released April '03) on which she became the first non-classical musician to be allowed to perform on Paganini's famous violin, a priceless Italian national treasure under constant guard now owned by the city of Genoa. Vana was also executive producer, deeply involved in the vision, organization and the negotiations with the city of Genoa and various Italian institutions to gain approval of this historic recording (as well as a historic concert) to go forward which was covered by the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, NPR's All Things Considered, CBS' 60 Minutes II (Charlie Rose), Oprah Winfry's O Magazine, Downbeat and JazzTimes magazines and countless other media. Vana was part of the world tour following the release of the CD this year and will perform at Lincoln Center with Regina on November 3rd of this year. This September Vana was hired by Sex & The City (HBO) to compose a solo piano piece ("The Dinner") for their long advertised special season finale episode with Mikhail Baryshnikov which premiered September 14th '03. The over 3 minute piece was composed for the intimate late night dinner scene Sarah Jessica Parker has with Mr. Baryshnikov. This is a big honor for Vana because they do not usually hire composers, except for very special occasions. In October 2002, Vana was commissioned to compose a piece for the prestigious Wharton Center for the Performing Arts at Michigan State University. He premiered his piece "Açaí " as part of a Vana Trio Plus Brazilian Percussion concert at the Pasant Theater. The piece and concert earned him a standing ovation. He also toured with his Vana Trio. At Bergamo Jazz Festival 2002, an important winter festival in Italy, critics (incl. Ritmo, CiaoJazz, Musica Jazz) called Vana and his trio a most important discovery and an artistic highlight of the festival. In Vienna/Austria he was invited to perform on the widely watched TV program Treffpunkt Kultur on ORF 2. He also toured Germany, Austria, Brazil and the US and in the summer of 2001, he was featured at major jazz festivals in Italy with both, his Vana Trio and his New York Brazilian Jazz Project where his performances won him standing ovations and rave reviews. Dan Ouellette called Vana's sold-out CD release concert in Downbeat magazine a "turbo-to tender performance," showcasing his "prowess as composer, arranger, and band leader. [...] Gierig delivered speed with the spice of whimsy, playfully dotting the keys". He called his composition 'Healing In Foreign Lands' "divine" and "a luminous testimony to Gierig’s sizable [...] talent." "Werner 'Vana' Gierig feels sure enough of his abilities to compose songful, optimistic melodies and subject them to subtle yet ingenious transformations" wrote Andrew Malone in JazzTimes magazine, and "his [positive, life-embracing] attitude and skill make Gierig’s new album, A New Day [...] a rare and happy thing indeed." His compositions have also been used by the Emmy award-winning PBS program City Arts and BET's Bet on Jazz programs. Three of his compositions on Small Regrets are featured on the soundtrack of the independent motion picture Sins of Fate. For many years Vana has also been an integral part of the Regina Carter Quintet, and is featured on most of her CD's, including Paganini: After a Dream, Motor City Moments (feat. James Carter, Russell Malone, Lewis Nash a.o.) and Rhythms of the Heart (feat. Cassandra Wilson, Peter Washington, Lewis Nash a.o.). He has also performed with the Boston Pops in a concert called The Fiddler's Three and with other symphony orchestras throughout the US and Europe in a Pops series featuring the Regina Carter Quintet. Vana has given many master-classes in the United States and Europe with his group, as well as with Regina. Together they worked with underprivileged public school students in an inspiring jazz education tour called Harman: How to Listen. Through this program, sponsored by Harman International Industries and created by Wynton Marsalis, Vana visited 12 states to bring the art of jazz to American children for whom arts education is underfunded. Vana has toured the world over as a leader or sideman, including repeated appearances at international jazz festivals such as Monterey and Newport in the US and Japan (Madarao), the JVC at Lincoln Center in New York, Rome and Torino, Umbria, Sardinia, Montalcino and the Giaveno Sunset Jazz Festivals in Italy, Lugano and Montreux in Switzerland, Pori in Finland, North Sea in Holland, the Red Sea Jazz Festival in Israel, Brazil's Chivas Jazz Festival, Cuba's Havana Jazz Festival, Kongsberg, Salzburg, Vienna (State Opera House), Berlin, Copenhagen, Nice and Marciac in France, Vitoria, San Javier and Almunecar Jazz Festivals in Spain, Ireland's Cork and Scotland's Glasgow Jazz Festivals, as well as weekly engagements at the Village Vanguard, Sweet Basil and the Blue Note in New York, as well as in Japan (Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka), London's Ronnie Scott's, the Half Note in Athens, the Camelot in Israel, and many more. He has also performed and musical directed for King Hassan II of Morocco at his palace in Marrakech. The special gala event included royalty from all over the world. The highly acclaimed European TV channel Arte featured Vana and his group in a profile (Werner Vana Gierig - Jazz pianist in New York City) on Europe's most-watched cultural program Metropolis. His countless live TV performances include a 2002 PBS appearance on An Evening with the Boston Pops. BET's Jazz Central, Treffpunkt Kultur on ORF 2 in Austria, CBS' 60 Minutes II, CNN and PBS and A&E live appearances, NBC's Today Show, FOX and Telemundo Live from the Blue Note in New York, Nancy Wilson's Red Hot & Cool Show, talk show appearances such as the Arsenio Hall Show, Joan Rivers, CNBC's America's Talking Network, Telethon with Jerry Lewis and Ben Vereen, international TV appearances incl. Japan, Chile, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Cura?ao, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Holland, England and many more. more about Vana at www.vanamusic.com | |
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