Bios

Bios of the Core Band members and Guest Artists on the CD and DVD:

Lua Hadar is a multi-lingual vocalist and actor, a teaching artist and an independent producer. She has a lifelong commitment to cultural exchange and has enjoyed collaborations in Bali, France, Italy, Japan, Russia, Switzerland and Thailand. The mission of her band, TWIST, is to create world harmony through music.

A unique and original vocalist with a soaring range, Lua interprets lyrics in several languages with a charming, swinging delivery, as well as passionate commitment and humor. She has appeared at Yoshi’s Oakland, The Fairmont Hotel, The Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco’s Rrazz Room, The Plush Room and Jazz at Pearl’s, New York’s Iridium Jazz Club and Cornelia Street Café, the Swan Bar in Paris, Theatre Les Tisserands in Lille, France, and at the Bangkok International Festival of Dance and Music. Her performances at Somethin’ Jazz Club in New York City and The Jazzschool (California Jazz Conservatory) in Berkeley, California released her 3rd CD, Like A Bridge, recorded at Fantasy Studios. The band premiered its DVD Like A Bridge on the big screen November 15, 2012, at the historic Balboa Theater in San Francisco. The DVD, which received an award nomination from the Independent Music Awards, had its Official Release at the San Francisco Bay Area’s top jazz venue, Yoshi’s Jazz Club, on September 30, 2013. Hadar continues the Bridges Project through 2016, with French and Italian language shows.

Hadar delivers Master Classes in interpretation and style of The Great American Songbook, part of her heritage as a native New Yorker and daughter of a musician. Her San Francisco-based Studio NPG has provided professional development for performing artists (featuring teaching artists such as Broadway-TV-film star, Faith Prince, among others) and has offered salon concerts and events for the community. Her Master Class on the Great American Songbook has been presented twice in Lille, France (2010, 2015) www.luahadar.com

Music Director, Dr. Jason Martineau is an award-winning composer, pianist, arranger, instructor and author. He works in multiple capacities with many different idioms and styles, from world fusion and jazz, to avant-garde, industrial, rock, pop, and classical. As such, he is the cornerstone of TWIST, as music director, principal arranger, pianist and bandleader. He has been playing the piano for 36 years and has worked with Lua Hadar since 2005, recording three albums and performing in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, New York, and at the 10th International Festival of Dance and Music in Bangkok, Thailand. Holding graduate degrees from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and Manhattan School of Music, Dr. Martineau has composed numerous works for orchestra, chamber ensembles, solo piano, and chorus, as well as a full-length musical, multiple film scores, and over 200 songs, both instrumental and vocal, recording more than ten CDs in various genres. He has also been featured on numerous other artists’ recordings, as pianist, music director, and producer, including Vanessa Carlton’s “Heroes and Thieves,” for which he orchestrated string arrangements. His book “The Elements of Music,” is distributed both nationally and internationally. His film scores have been featured in documentaries broadcast on PBS stations around the US since 1998, and his music enhances a large variety of multimedia projects. In 2011 he joined the faculty at the Academy of Art University, teaching music notation, theory, and counterpoint. www.jasonmartineau.com

Drummer Celso Alberti was born in Curitiba, Southern Brazil. The driving rhythms of his country’s music led him to develop an early interest in the drums and by the age of 17, he was performing regularly as a professional. In 1982 he decided to expand his musical horizons and moved to the U.S., where he has been living since. His dynamic drumming style, blending traditional Brazilian music with World and Rock influences, was quickly recognized and he soon started to work with musicians like Herbie Mann, John Lucien, Michael Manring, Joyce Cooling, Craig Chaquico, Airto Moreira, Flora Purim, Jose Neto, Andrei Kondakov and most recently the legendary Steve Winwood. Celso is also a respected audio engineer and holds credits on Steve Winwood, Airto Moreira, Kundalini Boombox and Mary Fettig’s latest albums to name a few. Both his driving style and his versatility provide TWIST with exciting flair and a rock solid base. www.celsoalberti.com

Experienced on both upright and electric basses, in styles of music ranging from jazz and latin to pop and rock, Dan Feiszli anchors TWIST with versatility and panache. He has performed in concert with such notable artists as James Moody, Raul Midon, and Mickey Hart, and toured nationally and internationally with artists including Julio Iglesias, Nicole Yarling and Raul DiBlasio. In addition to his career as a performer, Dan is featured on hundreds of recordings as both a bassist and recording engineer, and has recorded and mixed albums reaching as high as #4 on the US Top 40 Jazz Radio Charts. In between performances and recording sessions, Dan can be found working as a freelance recording engineer and producer at his studio in El Cerrito, California. www.studiorhythm.com

Recording artist, composer, teacher and reed man extraordinaire, Larry De La Cruz is a tried and true staple of the local jazz community. Having worked with likes of Bobby Hutcherson, Dave Liebman, Mike Zilber & Donald Harrison, De La Cruz also makes up 1/3 of the group Mo’Fone, one of the funkiest jazz projects ever to come out of the Bay Area. Larry’s dynamic soloing can range from Coltrane-esque runs on up-tempo tunes to soulful wails on slower ballads. Whatever the genre, Larry’s energetic style and musical sensitivity provide TWIST with color and variety whether he solos on tenor, alto, soprano or flute. www.larrydelacruz.com

As a major in Ethnomusicology (and Classics) at Brown University, Global Percussionist Ian Dogole delved deeply into the indigenous music cultures of the planet, while maintaining his fascination with the evolution of Jazz. Ian began to crystallize his vision of Global Fusion Music, blending the forms and instruments of Jazz with those of the non-Western world. Ian has released six audio recordings as a leader and has recorded and performed with artists such as Hamza El Din, Tito La Rosa, Paul McCandless, David Friesen and Alex Degrassi, to name a few. In addition to his own releases, Ian’s compositions can be found on recordings by the world/fusion group Ancient Future, and have been used by the San Francisco Giants, the Philadelphia Phillies, Brown University and the Indonesian Park Service. He brings an authentic world beat to TWIST with a variety of percussion instruments including udu, cajon and dumbek. He has recently released a new 2-CD set, Outside the Box. www.iandogole.com

CANDACE FOREST, Co-Producer-Pianist-Singer-Composer
Candace has co-produced three CD’s, the Like A Bridge live recording project and numerous live concert and educational events with Lua Hadar. Candace’s own compositions range from works for solo, ensemble and orchestra to full-length dance and theatre pieces including Viva Concha! Rose of the Presidio and All In This Together, a symphonic program premiered by the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. Her song, Come Back To California, dedicated to French bassist Albin Suffys, received it’s U.S. premiere with Lua Hadar and Twist at Yoshi’s in March 2012 and appears in the Building Bridges Documentary. www.candaceforest.com

Guest Artists

DAVID MIOTKE, Jazz Accordion
Dave brings his unique jazz accordion sound to the band’s French songs, such as La Mer, with authentic color and skilled playing. He is a multi-talented singer, pianist, accordionist and composer, performing solo and with musical groups in styles as varied as jazz, cabaret, tango, Italian, strolling strings and classical. Dave holds music degrees with honors from Northwestern University and was a founding member and high lead singer/keyboardist with the well-known 60’s rock band, H. P. Lovecraft.

FUMIKO OZAWA, Koto
Educational collaborations with Japan have introduced Lua to koto player Fumiko Ozawa, who this past year made her koto orchestra debut at San Francisco’s Herbst Theater. Fumiko started studying koto in 2004, with Mrs. Masazuka Sato, Head Master of Seiha Music School of Japan and USA. Fumiko obtained her teaching credential for koto music (Jun-Shihan, associate level) from the Seiha Music School in Tokyo, 2009. She guests with TWIST on their interpretation of the Japanese 1963 pop classic Ue o muite aruko, honoring the dignity of the Japanese to “walk with their heads up’” after the devastating earthquake and tsunami of March 2011.

EMIL MILAND, Cello
Emil made his Carnegie Hall debut in 2010 with Frederica von Stade in her farewell recital. In the same week he made his jazz debut with TWIST at New York’s Cornelia Street Café, and has contributed to Like A Bridge on the mystical Tom Jobim song, Imagina. A champion of new works for cello, he has given premieres of music written specifically for him by such composers as Ernst Bacon, David Carlson, Andrew Imbrie, Lou Harrison, Jake Heggie and Dwight Okamura. As a member of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra since 1988, he has collaborated with many famous singers in recital.

GIDEON BENDILE and KALAHARI EXPERIENCE, Zulu Choir
Patience James, Ron van Leeuwarde, Moeketse Gibe
Gideon Bendile’s group Kalahari Experience is a South African a cappella ensemble featuring members of the BAMMY award winning Zulu Spear Band and other talented artists. They perform African and world music influenced by jazz, Soweto pop, and a wide range of traditional African styles, carrying the message of forgiveness, freedom, and peace. Gideon has performed with legendary artists including Sammy Davis Jr., Frank Sinatra, Dave Brubeck, Redd Foxx and the Neville Brothers. Kalahari Experience joins with TWIST in the Zulu chorus of the French pop song about immigration rights, Né Quelque Part (Born Somewhere.) Press Kit