BJ Musicians
David Buchbut
David Buchbut
David Buchbut was born to Moroccan parents and grew up listening to Middle-Eastern music. He studied with master percussionist Zohar Fresco, Michel Merhej and Raquy Danziger. David has played with oud master Rashid Halihal, Yair Dalal, Saxophone player Harel Shachal and Divahn in venues such as Lincoln Center and Harbourfront Center in Toronto.
Eugene Carr
Gene Carr
Eugene Carr has been a resident cellist at BJ since 2001. Gene originally trained at the Juilliard School, and then earned undergraduate degrees at both the Oberlin Conservatory and Oberlin College. Aside playing at BJ, Gene’s musical activities are mainly focused in the world of free improvisation. He participates regularly in workshops and concerts of improvised music and is now working on his first CD.
In real life, Gene is a graduate of Columbia Business School and the founder/president of Patron Technology, which provides the web-based PatronMail e-mail system and other technology to more than 1,500 arts and non-profit institutions in 49 states across the country and in 8 foreign countries.
Contact: genecarr@gmail.com
Saskia Lane
Saskia Lane
A graduate of The Juilliard School, Saskia Lane (double bass, voice, and composition) performs throughout the tri-state area with a variety of jazz, world, pop, and classical artists. Currently, Saskia tours internationally with Dan Zanes & Friends and nationally with her critically-acclaimed cocktail pop quartet The Lascivious Biddies. She can also be seen sharing the stage with the likes of Jay-Z, Beyonce and Natalie Merchant. In addition, Saskia is active in education and outreach performing in the Carnegie Hall Neighborhood Concert Series.
Saskia’s television credits include a national commercial for Chili’s Restaurants and appearances on The Discovery Channel, The Food Network, Fuse TV, and CBS Evening News, and she can be seen in the movie Mona Lisa Smiles, featuring Julia Roberts.
Her discography includes recordings with Nicole Paiement, featuring the works of Lou Harrison (New Albion Records), The Gotham Ensemble (Albany Records), along with three albums and a concert DVD (Eastway Records) with The Biddies.
Website: www.saskialane.com
Contact: info@saskialane.com
Amanda Monaco
Amanda Monaco
Playing guitar has led Amanda Monaco to perform at the Blue Note, The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Birdland, Tonic, Joe’s Pub, and the JVC Jazz Festival, as well as other venues in the United States and Europe. Amanda has recorded several CDs as both a leader and a sideman, and has shared the stage with musicians such as Milt Hinton, Norah Jones, Steve Wilson, Ada Rovatti, Michael Blake, Michael Sarin, Ed Schuller, Harvie S, Michael Jefry Stevens, and Matt Wilson. As an educator, Amanda has served on the faculty of Berklee College of Music, New School University, and the National Guitar Workshop; has recorded fifty jazz guitar instructional videos for the innovative web site WorkshopLive; and is the author of Jazz Guitar for the Absolute Beginner (Alfred Publishing). Amanda received a B.M. degree from William Paterson University in 1996, and will graduate with a M.A. from The City College of New York in May 2008.
BabySue calls Amanda “a musicaholic… she may also be one of the truly unique jazz voices of the 21st century.” Her second CD as a leader, Intention (Innova Recordings, 2007) has been described as “chock full of thoughtful, provocative compositions rendered with strong conviction” (Bill Milkowski, JazzTimes). Projects as a leader/co-leader include her group am4; her quintet, Playdate, which includes saxophonist Wayne Escoffery and pianist Noah Baerman; and her new quartet with saxophonist Michaël Attias, bassist Sean Conly, and drummer Satoshi Takeishi. As a sideman, Amanda works with the composer/arranger Joe Phillips and the bandleader JC Hopkins, among others.
Web site: www.amandamonaco.com
Contact: Amanda@amandamonaco.com
Daphna Mor
Daphna Mor
Originally from Givataim, Israel, recorder and woodwind player Daphna Mor started her music studies when she was seven years old. She has performed throughout Europe, Israel, and the United States, and has won many competitions as a classical recorder player.
Daphna received a Bachelor of Music degree from the Boston Conservatory with highest honors and was valedictorian of the class of 2000. She was awarded the prestigious title “Privileged Musician” for her service in the Israel Defense Forces.
Since moving to New York, she has been teaching at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the New York Collegium, the American Recorder Society, and other private institutes; she teaches everyone from toddlers through adults. Daphna plays early, popular, world, and film music, and is a member of the band Pharaoh’s Daughter.
Web site: www.daphnamor.com
Contact: daphna@daphnamor.com
Jessie Reagen
Jessie Reagen
As resident cellist in the genre jumping/fusion group DBR & THE MISSION and the string quartet Equation, Jessie Reagen enjoys working both acoustically and amplified. Broadway and Off-Broadway theater credits include Light in the Piazza, American Girl Review, Little Women, Orlando in Love and a cellist/inmate in Misterioso. Collaborations include performing with Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, Savion Glover (Classical Savion), DANCE This…, Divahn, New York Continuo Collective, East Village Opera Company, Frantic Turtle, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and Philip Glass.
Creator of the Hustla Symphony Orchestra, Jessie performed with Jay-Z (and special guests) celebrating the 10th anniversary release of “Reasonable Doubt” at Radio City Music Hall. Jessie has also performed on TV and in concert with Kanye West, Adam Levine, Il Divo, Enya and Jewel. Bach & Beats, Jessie’s solo show was premiered at NYC’s 92nd St. Y in 2006. She has also performed with various other groups in France, Luxembourg, Japan and throughout the United States.
Jessie has a B.M. and a P.S.D. from Mannes College of Music where she was a scholarship student of Timothy Eddy (Orion String Quartet) and Carter Brey (New York Philharmonic). In her early days, Jessie attended Solomon Schechter Day School in Skokie, IL where she learned to sing in d minor. Jessie is currently on faculty at the United Nations International School in Manhattan.
web site: www.cellochic.com
e-mail: JReagen@gmail.com
Basya Schechter
Basya Schechter
Blending a psychedelic sensibility and a pan-Mediterranean sensuality, Basya Schechter leads her band, Pharaoh’s Daughter, through swirling Hasidic chants, Mizrachi and Sephardi folk-rock, and spiritual stylings filtered through percussion, flute, strings and electronica.
Her sound has been cultivated by her Hasidic music background and a series of trips to the Middle East, Africa, Israel, Egypt, Central Africa, Turkey, Kurdistan and Greece. She began retuning her guitar to sound like a cross between an Arabic oud and a Turkish saz, with harmonic minor melodies, and odd time signatures. With the many amazing musicians, she has recorded four albums, three with Pharaoh’s Daughter and one instrumental exploration with Persian santur player, Alan Kushan called “Queen’s Dominion”. Pharaohs’ Daughter has toured extensively through America, the United Kingdom, and both Eastern and Western Europe. This past summer, Pharaoh’s Daughter had the honor of debuting at Central Park’s Summer Stage series in August 2004, and has played such presigious stages as Lincoln Center’s Damrosch Park, and Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. When she’s not touring or performing, Basya plays darbuka, riq and frame drum as part of the B’nai Jeshurun music ensemble that accompanies Friday night services.
Over the past two years, Basya was the recipient of numerous compositional and project grants from NYSCA (New York State Council of the Arts) American Composers Forum (for Trance, and multilayered sound and video installation collaboration with fillmaker Pearl Gluck) and the American Music Center. She hopes to record Pharaoh’s Daughter’s fifth album, Hagar, within the next year.
Web site: www.pharaohsdaughter.com
Contact: basya.s@gmail.com
Uri Sharlin
Uri Sharlin
Since his arrival to New York in 1999 composer, accordionist and pianist, Uri Sharlin has become an established “world “musician. His knowledge of both Western and Middle Eastern music feeds his unique composition style, expressed in various projects. Among them: Anistar, Pharaoh’s daughter, Ayyub, Kaiku, The Metropolitan Kleizmer Orchestra, Antony and the Johnson, Roberto Rodriguez Quintet, and many others. His band the cardamon quartet released their first album in 2005, which was warmly received by the critics. Recently, Uri spent an extended period in Brazil learning Choro and Forro musical styles among others on accordion and percussion.
Web site: www.urisharlin.com
Matt Turk
Matt Turk
Matt Turk is a veteran performer who has engaged audiences around the world, both as hard-rocking bandleader and acoustic folk troubadour. A soulful vocalist who first picked up the guitar in grade school, Turk also plays mandolin and adeptly combines various musical styles.
Matt graduated Cum Laude with a B.A. from New York University with a major in history and a minor in religious studies. As a member of The Hour he learned his craft in the fertile NYC jam-rock scene of the early nineties. He teamed up with Pete Seeger as part of The Street Singers, a group that taught folk music to schoolchildren in and around New York City. Turk was greatly inspired to write songs of social justice by Seeger and by his three-year stint working for God’s Love-We Deliver.
As a solo artist Matt has released three albums, including 2002’s highly-acclaimed What Gives, and 2006’s, Washington Arms. He released the free digital single, “The Fog of War,” which featured musical contributions from Seeger and Rob Morsberger. A video of “The Fog of War”, directed by W.L. Jackson was released on the internet in February 2008. Turk’s performance of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” with Matter Music and Gaby Moreno was produced by David Dobkin and appeared in the 2007 Warner Brothers film “Fred Claus” starring Vince Vaughn and Rachel Weisz. Turk co-founded the world music group Mandolin Caravan with drummer Kevin Hupp; their first album, Desert Soul, was released in 2003.
Matt Turk is a musician-in-residence for Manhattan’s Congregation B’nai Jeshurun. He is an Arts Westchester roster artist and teaches folk music to homeless children in his community at Westhab’s Coachmen homeless shelter in White Plains NY. He is a member of the duo Gillen & Turk which released their first recording Backs to the Wall in May 2008.
Web site: www.turktunes.com
Contact: matt@turktunes.com