Cory Weeds Quintet, featuring Jim Rotondi

Cory played piano for 13 years before making the permanent switch to the alto saxophone in high school. Upon graduation Weeds attended the music program at North Vancouver’s Capilano College for three years before receiving a scholarship to the prestigious music program at The University Of North Texas. Following a year in Texas he returned home to concentrate on being a performing musician.

Cory is a sought-after sideman and continues to collaborate in several on-going projects. These include the instrumental funk-jazz band Crash which, since 2003, includes the Hammond B3 guru Dr. Lonnie Smith.  He is a member of The B3 Kings with Denzal Sinclaire on voice/drums, Chris Gestrin on B3 organ and Bill Coon on guitar. Cory leads his own quartet with pianist/composer Sharon Minemoto, bassist Jodi Proznick and drummer Jesse Cahill, and is also a member of the group The Night Crawlers.

As leader Cory released the CD Big Weeds in Jan 2008, to critical acclaim. The CD was recently nominated for Album of the Year at the 2009 National Jazz Awards and was selected by Jazz Week as one of the Top 100 Releases of 2008. In August 2008 Weeds shared the stage with New York heavyweight, trumpeter Jim Rotondi. These performances were a huge success and led to the formation of the Cory Weeds Quartet featuring Jim Rotondi and the recent release of Cory’s second CD Everything is Coming Up Weeds.

In 2000 Cory purchased The Cellar Restaurant and Jazz Club in Vancouver and has single-handedly made it one of the continent’s most respected jazz rooms. It has been voted in the Top 100 Jazz Clubs Worldwide by Downbeat Magazine four times.  Not satisfied with resting on his laurels Cory started the Cellar Live record label in 2001 and since then has produced and released 50 CDs, several of which have been nominees or winners of National Jazz Awards and Juno Awards.

Jim Rotondi

Jim attended North Texas State University, where he graduated with a degree in trumpet performance. While in Texas, Jim was awarded first place in the International Trumpet Guild’s jazz trumpet competition for the year 1984. After college Jim began recording and touring internationally with the Ray Charles Orchestra. Immediately following this he commenced a six year tenure with the Lionel Hampton Orchestra. During this time Jim also became a member of organist Charles Earland’s quintet. He currently tours with his own group, as well as with the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band and Grammy-winner Toshiko Akiyoshi and the collective known as One For All, which features a front line of Eric Alexander and Steve Davis. Jim’s extensive recording experience most recently includes the release of his fifth date as a leader, titled Destination Up.

Jim currently lives and works in the New York City area, where he maintains a vigorous performing, recording, composing and teaching schedule.He has recently given clinics at Emory University in Atlanta, the Jamey Aebersold Summer Jazz Camp and served on the faculty of the Stanford Jazz Workshop in Palo Alto, California, as well as being an affiliate faculty member at the State University of New York in Purchase.