“Imagine if Sicilian chocolate were music” “Occhipinti has crafted this music with uncommon perfection.” Raul d’Gama Rose, All About Jazz “The players deeply feel this music, bringing it to joyous highs and sub-strata lows, positioned in a hopeful and richly rendered framework… a triumphant recording on many levels” Michael G. Nastos Billboard “This is really why we listen to music: to be surprised and lifted up, stripped of our preconceptions and left breathless by hearing something brand new. Big props to Michael Occhipinti and all the players for taking jazz into a new room.” Bill Bentley - Sonic Boomer Michael Occhipinti’s Sicilian Project has been dazzling audiences world-wide with its intriguing mix of rare Old World Sicilian folk material and a New World mix of adventurous electric guitar, chamber music, modern jazz, global rhythms, and modern grooves. Inspired by musicologist Alan Lomax, and using music sung by Sicilian fishermen, sulphur miners, and folk musicians as a starting point, the group takes the audience on a journey that reveals the drama and passion of Sicily’s past and showcases the global sound and great musicianship of modern day Canada. Michael Occhipinti’s work has been called “a masterpiece of cultural fusion” and his album The Sicilian Jazz Project received a 2009 JUNO Award nomination. The recording also resulted in the prestigious Ragusani nel Mondo Award being presented to Michael and his producer brother Roberto Occhipinti in Ragusa, Sicily in 2009. In 2010 Michael Occhipinti received a Chalmers Fellowship to live in Sicily and explore the folk culture further. The fruits of that trip form the basis of the group’s new album Muorica featuring a large cast of Canada’s best musicians fronted by long-time vocalist Dominic Mancuso, and special guests that include astonishing Rome-based vocalist Pilar, brilliant American clarinetist Don Byron, and the acclaimed Cecilia String Quartet. Muorica is already generating great praise and comes with a stunning 40 page book that documents Michael Occhipinti’s 4 month residency in Sicily researching music. The group recently journeyed to Sicily to film both an upcoming video for the song Amuninni Razzietta, and to film their concert in the beautiful Teatro Garibaldi in the city of Modica. The band toured across Canada from June to September, performing at festivals that included the Vancouver Jazz Festival, the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival, and the Hudson Music Festival, and is now looking ahead to the spring of 2016 for dates in Sicily and the United States. The Sicilian Project has brought its captivating and infectious live show to a range of music festivals across Canada, Italy, the USA, and Mexico, including performances at the Festival Cultural de Zacatecas (Mexico), The Rochester Jazz Festival (Rochester NY), and Toronto’s Koerner Hall. Mixing a unique repertoire, great story-telling, and great musicianship, the band is not to be missed live. An eight-time JUNO Award nominee for Best Contemporary Jazz Album, Michael Occhipinti is a modern guitarist with a broad sonic palette, and a composer/bandleader interested in creative music of all kinds. Michael is one of few guitarists anywhere leading a 16-piece jazz orchestra (NOJO), and his other groups include Shine On: The Universe of John Lennon, instrumental funk group The Triodes, and Creation Dream: The Songs of Bruce Cockburn. Michael has performed with such notable musicians as Sam Rivers, Bruce Cockburn, Joe Lovano, Ray Anderson, Jeff Coffin, and Don Byron, who has appeared on four of Michael’s albums.