Piedmont Piano Company is pleased to present an evening of jazz with the
Dan Zemelman and Amikaeyla Ensemble

Dan Zemelman - piano, Amikaeyla Gaston - vocals
Dan Robbins - bass, Greg Wyser-Pratte - drums

Friday, March 9 at 8PM
at Piedmont Piano Company's new store located at
18th & San Pablo, Oakland (1728 San Pablo Ave.)

$15 - please call 510-547-8188 to reserve tickets with your credit card

The Dan Zemelman / Amikaeyla Ensemble is a collaboration of dedicated San Francisco Bay Area musicians that have recently come together to form a powerhouse team. They are proud to announce that they have been chosen to audition for American Voices' AMA program - American Music Abroad - in conjunction with the US State Dept. If chosen (in March), they will receive a paid, month long tour somewhere in the world to perform and give masterclasses.

Originally from the Washington, DC area, Amikaeyla draws on a dizzying array of influences, from Bel Canto, Funk and Bossa Nova to Blues, Sacred Chanting and Soul, but her sensibility is pure Jazz. “I pull my inspirations from my ancestry, and place them in the context of Jazz and World music because it feels like home...” says the newly transplanted Bay Area singer. Growing up in the Washington D.C. Metropolitan area, Midwest and southern states, she honors her heritage by artfully weaving elements of each of these into her artistic designs.

Before moving to the East Bay in 2007 Amikaeyla recorded her debut album Mosaic, which received national acclaim, and earned her eight Washington Area Music Association Awards, or Wammys, including Best Jazz Vocalist, Best Jazz Recording, Best Urban Contemporary Vocalist (3 years in a row), Best World Music Vocalist, Best World Music Recording, and Best Debut Album.

Amikaeyla’s Music As Medicine - Healing with an Artful Purpose programming has been utilized and implemented by the US Consulate General’s Cultural Affairs office, UNHCR, Caritas, National CityDance, & Intersections International. It has taken her around the world to China, Taiwan, India to work with at-risk young adults and children, and in 2009 and early 2010, she went to Israel, Beirut, Amman, Damascus, and Ramalla in the Middle East to work with Iraqi and Palestinian refugee children, hoping to aid in alleviating pain and trauma caused by the war.

Dan Zemelman began learning piano at age 5. He studied with Richard Davis at the UW Madison and received the award as 'Best Jazz Artist' at UW Madison in 1996. In 1998 as part of the Kennedy Center’s prestigious Jazz Ambassadors program, Zemelman toured India and Sri Lanka, representing America’s jazz tradition through teaching and performances.

After moving from Chicago to the Bay Area in 2001, he contributed to John Lee Hooker’s last studio album Face to Face and toured South America with daughter Zakiya Hooker's band. Zemelman currently plays with great bassist/composer Marcus Shelby, vibes player Christian Tmaburr, and his own quartet. The Dan Zemelman quartet has performed at Yoshi’s Oakland for three consecutive years, including a sold-out CD release party in 2009. That same year, he played a concert for SF Jazz's Summerfest series and received an honorary position as an alternate band for Jazz at Lincoln Center's 2010 Rhythm Road music abroad program.

Zemelman has a strong teaching career as well and has been on faculty at Jazzcamp West for 3 years and on faculty at the Jazzschool - Berkeley for over 5 years as a teacher, master class technician and accompanist.