Cantante, pianista e compositrice, Elizabeth Shepherd ha collaborato insieme a Michel Occhipinti in numerosi progetti per quasi un decennio che hanno visto Elizabeth come vocalist e pianista per “L’universo di John Lennon” di Occhipinti e Michael come membro del gruppo di Elizabeth per promuovere in tour il suo ultimo album “The Signal”.
Più recentemente, i due hanno iniziato a lavorare su “The Longest Street In the World ” che celebra l’età d’oro della musica canadese su Yonge Street a Toronto, dove The Band, Neil Young, Gordon Lightfoot e Blood Sweat and Tears hanno lanciato la loro carriera e Oscar Peterson, Bruce Cockburn e Charlie Parker hanno registrato alcuni dei loro lavori dal vivo più famosi.
Il lavoro della chitarra di Michael Occhipinti è stato definito “miracoloso” e abbinato allo straordinario e appassionato stile di Elizabeth, i due hanno ricevuto una dozzina di nomination per i Canada Juno Awards.
Capaci di eseguire sia spettacoli intimi in duo, che calcare grandi palcoscenici come gruppo più esteso, Elizabeth Shepherd e Michael Occhipinti hanno fatto numerosi tour in Canada, negli Stati Uniti, in Messico e in Europa.
I due approderanno in Europa dal 28 aprile al 13 maggio passando per Germania, Spagna e Italia e saranno ospiti presso il BSMT Center for the Performing Arts lunedì 7 maggio dove terranno un incontro riservato agli allievi dell’accademia.

About Elizabeth Shepherd:
“Whether you’re a hipster, a purist or a Diana Krall-loving softie, she will win you over.” ~Montreal Gazette

Velvety-voiced pianist Elizabeth Shepherd arrived on the international scene in 2006 when her debut album Start To Move was voted one of the Top 3 jazz albums of the year by the listener of the influential Gilles Peterson Show on BBC Radio Worldwide. Since then, the globetrotting
souljazz innovator has released five widely acclaimed records, picked up 4 JUNO nominations, and toured extensively in North America, Europe, Japan and Latin America. Her latest record, The Signal, has been hailed as a “masterpiece” and appeared on numerous Best-of-the-Year list across the world.
Elizabeth has been hailed as “a jazz virtuoso blessed with a pop sensibility”, praised by critics worldwide for her arrestingly original writing and soulful delivery. Along with artists like Esperanza Spalding, Robert Glasper, and Jose James she is seen as part of a wave of jazz musicians bringing the art form to a new generation of music fans. Elizabeth is also the only jazz vocalist to ever have been nominated twice for the Polaris Prize Canada’s most prestigious music prize.

About Michael Occhipinti:
“Michael Occhipinti’s miraculous sounding guitar…wonderfully and magically made music.” – Raul da Gama, JazzdaGama

A nine-time JUNO Award (Canada’s Grammy) nominee, guitarist/composer Michael Occhipinti’s freely crosses genres that include jazz, chamber music, funk, world music, and anything involving modern guitar sounds. His newest group In Orbit thrilled audiences across Canada and the U.S. in 2017 and features
Grammy winning saxophonist Jeff Coffin (Bela Fleck/Dave Matthews Band), and virtuoso bassist Felix Pastorius.
Michael Occhipinti’s Sicilian Jazz Project has been called “a masterpiece of cross-cultural fusion” and has thrilled audiences in Canada, the U.S., Italy, and Mexico. Starting with field recordings of forgotten Sicilian folk music and reinventing the music as a mix of global genres, the project earned Michael a JUNO nomination, the 2009 Ragusani nel Mondo Award (which he and his musician brother Roberto received together in Ragusa, Sicily for their contribution to Sicilian culture), and a Chalmers Award that allowed him to live in Sicily from March – June 2010. His most recent album Muorica features brilliant
American clarinetist Don Byron, and riveting Italian vocalist Ilaria Pilar Patassini. Michael Occhipinti & Shine On: The Universe of John Lennon was selected by the staff at Toronto’s Jazz FM as a Top Pick of 2012. Typical of Michael’s willingness to challenge himself, the recording pulls off the tricky task of making some the best known songs in the world sound original and fresh. Shine On features the stellar vocals of Elizabeth Shepherd, and others, and Michael’s distinct arrangements of songs by John Lennon and the Beatles.
In 1994 Michael Occhipinti and pianist Paul Neufeld formed the 16-piece NOJO, The NeufeldOcchipinti Jazz Orchestra, a group the Los Angeles Times describes as “one of the most original sounding large ensembles on the current jazz scene.” All five of NOJO’s all-original recordings have been JUNO nominated (including the band’s 1995 debut which won the award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album) and its music has intrigued a number of renowned guest soloists including sax great Joe Lovano, trombonist Ray Anderson, trumpeter Kenny Wheeler, and most notably clarinetist Don Byron and the late saxophone giant Sam Rivers, who both recorded and toured with the ensemble. NOJO has performed at such prestigious venues as the Umbria Jazz Winter Festival in Orvieto, Italy, The Jazz Standard in New York, and Montreal’s Festival International de Jazz de Montreal.

“Canadian guitarist Michael Occhipinti provides a catalogue of guitar sounds in the course of this album…there are heavily electronic ones and acoustic ones, clean ones and in-your-face distorted ones, all appropriate to the demands of a particular tune.” John Shand – Sydney Morning Herald

“There’s a range of emotional content that is hard to dismiss or deny, as the players deeply feel this music, bringing it to joyous highs and sub-strata lows, positioned in a hopeful and richly rendered framework… a triumphant recording on many levels, and one that should be given full due diligence for satisfying audio.” – Michael G. Nastos Billboard/All Music Guide

“This is really why we listen to music: to be surprised and lifted up, stripped of our preconceptions and left breathless by hearing something brand new. Big props to Michael Occhipinti and all the players for taking jazz into a new room, one where the floor is moving and the walls keep breathing in and out, leaving listeners somewhere up near the ceiling hoping to never come down.” Bill Bentley – Sonic Boomer

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