The Sicilian Jazz Project

The Sicilian Jazz Project has been dazzling audiences since its debut at the 2004 Distillery Jazz Festival in Toronto, with its intriguing mix of Sicilian folk source material and the best elements of modern jazz, which showcases a group like no other. In June 2008 Michael took this ensemble to the next level and released a full length album on True North Records, which was nominated at the 2009 Juno Awards for Contemporary Jazz Album of the Year.

The ensemble, put together by Michael Occhipinti, features some of Canada’s finest musicians, including Roberto Occhipinti, Ernie Tollar, Dominic Mancuso, Kevin Turcotte, Louis Simao, Barry Romberg, and Michael Occhipinti. As with his Juno Award nominated CD Creation Dream, which explored the songs of Bruce Cockburn from a jazz musician’s point of view, The Sicilian Jazz Project has Michael reshaping the traditional folk music of Sicily.