Ameranouche Duo World Improv Jazz

Ameranouche (pronounced uh-Mare-uh-noosh) plays a passionate style of music they call “World Improv.” They are veterans of the Newport Jazz Festival, Djangofest Northwest, Muzikfest Bethlehem, PA, Exit Zero Jazz festival and the National Press Club. The name is derived from two words: American and Manouche, the gypsy tribe of guitarist Django Reinhardt. They are a super force of hot acoustic Gypsy inspired music mixing Flamenco, Bebop, many World styles and Jazz Swing influences. Their music is rhythmic, vigorous, and elegant with a highly individual style described as a fresh and highly enjoyable new sound for the 21st century.
World Improv music is about coming together and celebrating our shared humanity. Ameranouche is committed to connecting deeply with its audience and sharing joy and peace through its live shows and recorded albums.

Richard “Shepp” Sheppard, Guitar, comes from southern New Jersey. He attended the Berklee School of Music, studied guitar and composition with Pat Martino in Philadelphia, studied composition and aesthetics with Dr. Frank Haas in Vineland, NJ and studied guitar with Attilla Zoller in Southern Vermont. He has taught guitar, composition, and music theory as a faculty member of Bennington College (Bennington, Vermont) and Pittsfield Community Music School (Pittsfield, Massachusetts). He has performed and co-billed shows with many different artists. Among these are Sonny Rollins, Bill Frizel, John Jorganson, Rick Danko, Hot Tuna, and Vassar Clements, to name just a few. His passion for Gypsy music and love for the guitar in general are what drew him to form Ameranouche. He has written hundreds of compositions and continues to invest his time in the evolution of Ameranouche. Shepp is an endorser with Dan Hunt and Michael Kelly guitars, McQuan picks and John Pearse strings.

Michael K. Harrist is a musician and educator based in Boston and NYC. Michael performs and works with artists in a wide array of world traditions including Turkish art music, Hindustani music, Jazz, Western art music and American roots music. He has performed throughout the Americas and Europe with various ensembles including Ameranouche, Cesni Trio, Ross Daly and Kelly Thoma, Orchestrotica, Sol & Kiel, Capillary Action and the Labyrinth Modal Music Orchestra. Michael teaches workshops and private lessons in western art music, Turkish makam, Jazz, Hindustani raga, monophonic and polyphonic composition and instrumental practice and performance. His workshops for children focus on pitch and rhythm acquisition through games and play. Michael studied double bass with James Macdonald at the Open Music Collective in Brattleboro, VT. He received his BA in music and religion from Marlboro College from composer Stan Charkey and religion scholar Amer Latif. Michael continues his studies with composer W. A. Mathieu, sarangi maestros Pandit Ramesh Mishra and Suhail Yusuf Khan, sarodiya George Ruckert, neyzen Fred Stubbs, and contemporary modal musicians Ross Daly, Evgenios Voulgaris and Kelly Thoma.

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