About The Musicians 

JONAS DEPT – Jonas Dept The Pianologist
An old piano landed in Jonas Dept’s family home when he was 6 years old. It didn’t take long before the neighbours had taught him the entire repertoire they knew and his parents agreed to find him a proper teacher. Three years later, he would meet Georges Deppe and would be taken under the French pianist’s wing, along with his wife, Austrian violinist Dominique Wolteche. They would remain Jonas’ mentor until his admission in the prestigious Brussels Royal Conservatory of Music, in the class of renown musicians Dominique Cornil and Muhiddin Demiriz-Dürrüolgu.

Jonas Dept’s first large public performance took place at age 14 within the european JEUNESSES MUSICALES in the Orangerie of the Brussels Botanical Gardens. The experience convinced him to pursue a performance carrier.

While perfecting his musicality with world-class musicians such as Hussein Sermet, Marie and Sophie Hallynck, Jean-Marie Rens, he explores the parallel universes of Orchestra Conducting and Composition with maestro Ronald Zollmanand composers Jean-Marie Rens and Kristin Desmet.

Recently relocated in Asia, Jonas has collaborated with the UK Royal Academy of Dance in several countries, founded the ensemble 6 Hands 1 Piano while exploring interactive composition with electronic and perfoming artists such as B-floor Company (Bangkok) and diverse audio-visual artists.

ABACUS QUINTET 
The Abacus project is a collection of jazz, world, and avant-garde musicians from all corners of the globe, exploring light, darkness, and our time through music. Combining modally influenced jazz with both vanguard textures and folk forms, the quintet takes the audience on a journey that readily embraces the unknown.

DAN ELBERT  – SAXOPHONE
Growing up in San Francisco’s East Bay and immersed in jazz music at an early age, Dan Elbert has been playing saxophone for nearly 20 years. Raised in the bebop tradition, today he is exploring a range of musics, from experimental jazz to West African Wassoulou, Thai Morlam, and many others.

In his many years of playing, Dan has had the pleasure of sharing the stage with many great artists, including Ralph Thomas (Sun Ra Arkestra, Quincy Jones), Benjamin Koen (David Murray, Cecil Taylor), Uriel Barthelemi, Opor Red, George Lacson (Johnny Lee Hooker, Jr), R&B singer Allen Stone, and singer-songwriter Amanda Palmer.

After many years of teaching and playing professionally in Asia, Dan is currently living in Boston, where he is studying on scholarship at Berklee College of Music under the direction of such world-class players Kenny Werner, George Garzone, and Billy Kilson.

JIMMY WHELAN – SAXOPHONE
Jimmy Whelan is an internationally acclaimed saxophonist and music educator. Holding a Bachelor of Music Degree in Contemporary Performance, James has performed with his quintet at jazz festivals in Australia, New Zealand and across Asia in countless venues ranging from the Sydney Opera House to the North Gate Jazz Cooperative in Chiang Mai.

Jimmy regularly holds masterclasses in improvisation at jazz clubs and at universities around the world.

JACK EARLE  – PIANO
Jack Earle is a pianist (LTCL, AdipA), trumpet player, vocalist, conductor and composer. As an in-demand artist, Jack has toured Australia with some of its premier jazz ensembles, and his extensive composition credits include a number of pieces featured on television and radio. Jack also directs The Jack Earle Big Band, with whom he independently released his debut, self-titled album, and regularly gigs in some of Melbourne’s most popular live music venues.

Jack recently returned to Melbourne, after studying at the prestigious Berklee College of Music on a full tuition scholarship.

CHARLIE LINCOLN  – BASS
Born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Charlie Lincoln is an in- demand bassist in the Twin Cities, having played with artists including Eric Gravatt (Weather Report), Babatunde Lea, and Jon Weber. He has performed at the Twin Cities Jazz Festival and the Iowa City Jazz Festival, as well as at many local venues in Minneapolis and Boston, where he now resides.

Charlie is currently studying at Berklee’s prestigious Global Jazz Institute under the direction of Danilo Perez.

EYAL GURVICH  – DRUMS
Since he was young, Eyal Gurvich has been exposed to art and music by his father, Jorge Gurvich, a major Argentinian filmmaker in Israel. His passion for the drum set and jazz led him to be the youngest person and one of the two drummers accepted to the prestigious ‘Rimon Jazz Institute’ at the age of 16, where he studied under such world class musicians as Avishai Cohen (trumpet), Gilad Dobrecky, Matan Chapnizky and Mordy Ferber.

Eyal has performed regularly with multiple projects in a variety of genres, including at the Tel Aviv Jazz Festival (2013) and the Red Sea Jazz Festival (2014, 2015). In 2013, Eyal had the honor of sharing the stage with the legendary saxophonist Phil Woods when he traveled to Israel. Eyal is currently studying Jazz Composition and Music Production & Engineering at Berklee College of Music, where he recently received the Fletcher Henderson Award for outstanding musicianship.