Brandon Terzic
New York
"Brandon Terzic....is both original and solidly locked in the tradition at the same time; not an easy juggling act, but one he pulls off with aplomb and grace." - Thomas R. Erdmann Jazz Review http://www.jazzreview.com/index.php/reviews/latest-cd-reviews/item/25104-
"Terzic combines the poise and dexterity of Hamza Al Din with a Western-inclusive attitude akin to Anouar Brahem, threading slivers of blues and funk into his more fevered string bending and sounding remarkably self-assured." -Derek Taylor Bagatellen
http://www.bagatellen.com/archives/reviews/001773.html
Brandon Terzic was born in Akron, Ohio in 1976.
His musical journey commenced at the age of eight, when his father played him the recordings of Jimi Hendrix. Although he wouldn’t begin playing until he was fifteen, his passion and interest was already kindled and sparked.
After immersing himself into a total study of Blues music, and playing a handful of gigs with his first band, Terzic abrubtly quit playing at the age of 19, sold all his guitars, and flew to Europe. This began a life long obsession of traveling solo and seeking inspiration and knowledge from being alone on foreign shores. When he returned he settled in New York City taking a day job in the booming Internet industry. At this time he began to take his firsy serious Guitar lessons, Studying with Mordy Ferber, and David Fiucznski. After almost 3 years of working 9-5, Brandon again abruptly quit his lucrative day job
And flew to Israel, traveling onward to Egypt and Cyprus. It was during this trip that he began playing Oud in the old city of Jeruselum, making enough in tips for his daily bread, and getting enough inspiration from the people and the experience that he decided that he had to be a performing musician.
On his return to NYC, Brandon tried to get a day job again but failed miserably. Running out of time and money he had no choice but to begin playing in the Subway system, and from that point onward he began his career in music. Since then he has performed in the states and Internationally, traveled to Morocco and Senegal studying music, and playing with many incredible Musicians, amongst them Tomchess, Matt Kilmer, Matt Darriau, Rufus Cappodocia, Shane Shanahan, Luke Notary, Hassan Houkmoun, Peter Slavov, John Shannon, Gilad Dobrecky, Mal Stein, George Stathos, Sylvain Leroix, Tom Rossi, Max ZT and many many more. He currently teaches and performs in NYC, and his Debut Album is due June 1rst 2011, with his new band Xalam Project.
Founded by Multi-instrumentalist composer Brandon Terzic, Xalam Project boasts and outstanding lineup of Musicians, featuring Matt Kilmer on Percussion (Simon Shaheen, Lauryn Hill, Haale), Matt Darriau on Horns and winds (Paradox Trio, Klezmatics), John Shannon on guitar (Hiromi), and Peter Slavov on bass ( Joe Lavano, Jason Moran). Terzic himself plays the Arabic Oud, Malian Ngoni and Turkish Saz. He has spent time in Senegal, Morocco, and Egypt studying and absorbing their respective traditions, pulling them together to create a rich tapestry of sound which takes the incredible rhythms, tonalities and improvisational systems of these traditions and inflecting them on the bedrock of Blues, Rock, and downtown NYC jazz that the band’s members are rooted in. The Xalam Project is available for performance and workshops/master classes.
Xalam project Members:
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