Stefani Valadez & The Ensemble
Stefani Valadez
Singer, guitarist, songwriter, percussionist Stefani Valadez offers a rich repertoire of soulful, romantic, enchanting melodies, including songs from many nations. A third generation musician, Stefani has an international following of fans who have thrilled to her deep, haunting voice and the wide range of musical and ethnic lore she incorporates into her performances.
Ms Valadez has attracted some of the best world & jazz musicians in the business to form the Stefanie Valadez Ensemble. The Ensemble is a seven piece group of Los Angeles based musicians from diverse backgrounds who play World Music infused with Ladino, Turkish, Blues, Brasilian, R & B, American Folk, Jazz, Gypsy, and Middle Eastern rhythms and melodies. Ms Valadez’ repertoire is broad and the Ensemble’s multi-ethnic instrumentation creates a tapestry of sound both ancient and modern, spiritually uplifting and danceable. Their CDs and live performances have been variously described as joyous, high energy, haunting and passionate, taking people to a deep soulful place one moment and in the next has them tapping their feet and clapping or dancing in the aisles.
The Ensemble includes any number of the following musicians:
Jeff Breeh
Electric Bass wizard, has performed with Oingo Boingo and the Pointer Sisters and countless others.
Richard Hardy
Saxes, Flutes and Ethnic Woodwinds. He performed with Carol King for 14 years and has played and recorded with the Dave Matthews Band, James Taylor and Stevie Ray Vaughn.
Jamie Papish
Jamie has made a name for himself in the LA World Music Scene as a passionate percussionist of ethnic rhythms. He maintains an active performance and recording schedule as a member of the critically acclaimed Yuval Ron Ensemble, The Stefani Valadez Ensemble, The Nashuva Band, Heyraneh and The Ava Nahas Percussion Ensemble and has recently recorded with the Kronos Quartet. Jamie has performed at such notable venues as the Ford Amphitheater, the Skirball Cultural Center, the Getty Museum, the Hammer Museum, UCLA’s Fowler Museum, The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Cal Tech , Boston College, Brandeis University, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Johns Hopkins University, St. Marks Cathedral-Seattle, The Islamic Center of LA , San Diego’s Museum of Modern Art, USC, Yale University, Museum of Jewish Heritage-NYC, and has performed at international festivals in Poland, South Korea, Israel, Jordan, Mexico and Morocco. Jamie has numerous recording credits including a soon to be released CD with The Kronos Quartet; Yuval Ron’s ‘Under the Olive Tree’, ‘Tree of Life’ and ‘Seeker of Truth'” , Heyraneh’s ‘Prayers on Tanbour’, Tony Khalife’s ‘Transcendence’; and 2 CD’s with Extreme Klezmer Makeover, Movies: ‘How to Go Out on a Date in Queens’, TV Show ‘Sleeper Cell’ and short film Academy Award winning ‘West Bank Story’ composed by Yuval Ron.
Christo Pellani
World Percussion. He has played with Air Supply, Mary Wells, The Shirrelles, the Marvellettes, Nina Hagen, Ronnie Spector, Brandon Fields, Fabien Mamman, The Agape International Choir and many others.
Nyofu Tyson
Born in Los Angeles of Danish-Lebanese-African and Native American heritage, Nyofu began his career as a bassist, playing jazz and latin. He began to play the Saz in Turkey and lived for many years in Sweden, where he worked with Zulfu Livaneli, Okay Temiz and Hadji Tekbilek. Since returning to LA, he has collaborated with Omar Faruk Tekbilek, oudist John Bilezikian, Cuatro Caminos Flamenco, among others. In addition to being part of Stefani Valadez Ensemble, he has recently started the IST/West Ensemble, blending Flamenco with Turkish influences. Nyofu has two CD’s “Timeless Songs”, a collection of Turkish folk poets; and “La Guitarra Turca”, original work blending Mideast, Latin and Jazz. Nyofu has gained recognition in Turkey for his interpretations of Turkish folk poets and his eclectic style of Saz playing.
Oliva
Sprouted in Texas, germinated in the Pacific Northwest, rooted in Hawaii, and currently flowering in the City of Angels is composer and bassist Oliwa. Coming originally from an orchestral background and later getting into jazz, his current primary interests lie in dance inspiring rhythms from around the world. He has performed with a variety of groups in venues such as the Walt Disney Concert Hall (Los Angeles), the world renowned Bimhouse (Amsterdam), the Palace Theater (Hawaii), and Zebulon (Brooklyn) as well as jazz and new music festival across the country. In addition to playing with Stefani Valadez, Oliwa plays with the Industrial Jazz Group, the Kona Symphony, and leads his own group, The Pleasure Circus Band.
Leo Chelyapov
Leo Chelyapov, composer and clarinetist, graduated from the Moscow College of Musical Arts and immigrated to California in 1992. As a klezmer musician he is devoted to infusing pure, traditional Jewish folk music into the fabric of American pop culture. Leo was commissioned to arrange “Klezmer Dances” for the LA Guitar Quartet, and recorded it for Sony Classical. He has two CD’s with Hollywood Klezmer .Leo’s crossover endeavors into jazz music include concerts with jazz luminaries Buddy Collette, Herb Jeffries and Bobby Rodriguez.He’s performanced at the Playboy Jazz Festival, the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony. Leo’s commercial work includes soundtrack for “Private Parts,” with The Red Hot Chili Peppers, performances on MTV, Late Night with David Letterman, and Madison Square Garden.
The Ensemble has been performing together since 1998 at Sacred Music Events, Peace Festivals, Concerts, Clubs and Cultural Centers.