Our new cd "The Complete Rebirth of the Cool" is a set of completely new music written for the instrumentation of the Miles Davis "Complete Birth of the Cool" album. Our show includes several of the tunes from that record, plus our own compositions, and traces the history and influences of Miles's record on our project. It is an all Canadian production.

The band has already toured the prairie provinces, with performances at the Jazz Winnipeg Nu Sounds Series, Brandon University, The Music Studio (Brandon), The Yardbird Suite (Edmonton) and the Sasktel Jazz Festival (Saskatoon).

We will be applying for Canada Council tour support at the Dec. 1 deadline

Jazz pianist, trombonist, and composer/arranger, Jeff Presslaff has become a mainstay of the Winnipeg jazz scene since moving from New York in 1997.

Born in Manhattan, educated at Princeton and Wesleyan Universities, he has had a varied career working with many distinguished musicians, including Benny Carter, Bill Barron, Ed Blackwell, Roswell Rudd, Sheila Jordan, Bob Brookmeyer, Howard Levy, Stanley Jordan, Bill Watrous, George Garzone, Steve Nelson, Edgar Meyer, Sim Cain, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Josh Groban and many others.

In 2004, he was named Jazz Winnipeg's Musician of the Year.

Jeff is also a teacher of great distinction, having served on the faculties of Princeton University, Bard College, Union College, and The University of Manitoba. Since his arrival in Winnipeg, he has been the teacher of choice for many of the city's top musicians.

Jeff is featured as a player, writer and/or producer on many recordings. Rhapsodies by Two, an album of keyboard duets with Will Bonness was nominated for a 2013 WCMA Jazz Album of the Year award; Red Goddess, a piano trio album of all original tunes, has been played on over 100 radio stations in N.America, and garnered a 2009 Best Instrumental Jazz nomination from Just Plain Folks, the world's largest music awards.

Other albums include The Complete Rebirth of the Cool; All My Tomorrows with Martha Brooks; Crooked Cha and Amanecer, latin/jazz albums by Papa Mambo; Steppin' Out and The Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra by the WJO; Aliza Amihude's small girl,Big Banana; Brazilian Season by Marco Castillo; Dave Lawton's Shield Romp; A Little Tradition by Novillero; North End Shuffle by Ken Gold and Special Grind; and recordings by the CBC of Ozmium, his free-improv trio. He's also featured on several recordings on the exploratory Inter/play label. His 1991 album of original compositions, Collective Unconsciousness features the late Steely Dan saxophonist, Cornelius Bumpus, and Ui bassist, Wilbo Wright. He has also recorded the piano works of composers J. K. Randall and Benjamin Boretz. His writing and playing have been featured on recordings by Prudence Johnson, The University of Manitoba Jazz Ensemble and Ron Paley. His compositions and instrumental work have been heard nationwide on CBC.

Jeff has received many commissions for a wide variety of ensembles, including big band, clarinet choir, combined big band/wind ensemble, symphony orchestra plus salsa band, clarinet quartet and many others. His work is frequently supported by awards from the Manitoba Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts. He is the composer of the world's only concerto for cello and big band.

“He gets the harmony just right!” -- Wayne Shorter

Marda Loop

Measure for Measure for Measure

Tango para Rosalba

Such Sweet Sadness

Link to Print Quality photos (Dropbox)