Brian Ho
Brian Ho began playing piano at the early age of five taking lessons at both Stanford and San Jose State. By the age of sixteen, he began to play professionally and started teaching. After his college years spent studying music at UC Davis, he decided to pursue his love of music as a leader, composer, and arranger. Brian now leads his own group on the Hammond Organ and is an in demand sideman. While Brian still stays rooted in the tradition of classic Hammond Organists such as Jimmy Smith, Shirley Scott, and Jack Mc Duff; with his vast knowledge of styles and influences he has developed his own unique and modern take on organ jazz.
Mimi Fox
Internationally renowned guitarist/composer/recording artist Mimi Fox has been named a winner in 6 consecutive Downbeat Magazine international critic’s polls and has been recognized by writers and colleagues alike as one of the most eloquent guitarists on today’s scene. In one of many feature stories, Jazz Times hailed Mimi as “a blazing fret master who combines be-bop infused lines with an abundance of soul…spinning solos that unfurl with surprise twists like expertly tailored short stories. ” In a further nod to Mimi’s guitar artistry, and in conjunction with Heritage Guitars’ 30th anniversary, the historic Kalamazoo guitar company has rolled out the Mimi Fox Artist Signature model.
Mimi has performed/recorded with some of the music world’s most commanding players, including fellow guitarists Charlie Byrd, Stanley Jordan, and Charlie Hunter, Grammy-nominated saxophonists Branford Marsalis, David Sanchez, Houston Person, and the late Don Lanphere, vocalists Tierney Sutton, Kevin Mahogany, and Janis Siegel (Manhattan Transfer), B3 organ masters Joey DeFrancesco, Barbara Denerlein and Dr. Lonnie Smith, and powerhouse drummers Billy Hart and Terri Lyne Carrington. She has also shared the stage with legends Stevie Wonder, and Peter Yarrow (Peter, Paul, and Mary) and toured as a featured artist with Patty Larkin’s Vanguard Records-produced La Guitara project. Her YouTube videos have received hundreds of thousands of views.
As a virtuosic improviser who’s collaborated with many of jazz’s greatest figures, Mimi Fox has earned her spot in the jazz guitar pantheon. But the jazz tradition is only one of the powerful currents feeding her music. With her 11th album as a leader or co-leader, This Bird Still Flies, Fox delivers a seamless but far-ranging album that’s breathtaking it its beauty, emotional immediacy and stylistic reach. The all acoustic recording captures a commanding artist in full – transforming folk tunes, jazz standards, original compositions and popular songs into exquisitely crafted improvisational vehicles.
