Semblance is a combined effort from Steve Blanco and Jeremy Wilms. A new duo project featuring original compositions and experimental improvised music for piano and guitar.
As a teen-ager, Jeremy Wilms studied classical guitar with Todd Seelye and John Sutherland. He earned a degree in music from Georgia State University where he also pursued Jazz Studies and formed a trio with drummer Woody Williams and bassist Mamaniji Azanyah. In 1997 Jeremy moved to New York where he continued studies with pianist Kenny Werner and guitarist David Gilmore. He has performed since then in New York and around the world spanning many styles of music.
He has performed with Butch Morris, Steve Shelley and Lee Ranaldo from Sonic Youth, TV On The Radio, EL-P, Antibalas Afro-beat Orchestra, Bill T. Jones Dance Company, Chin Chin, Christina Rosenvinge, Daniel Carter, Sunny Jain, Sabir Mateen, Gold Sparkle Band, Tim Foljahn, Chris Lee, Andrew Burnes, Reverend Vince Anderson, Akoya Afro-beat, Yusuke Yamamoto, Dub Nomads, Kevin Shea, Ted Leo, Danny Leo and the Holy Childhood, and others.
In 2002 Jeremy began a production company doing sound design and soundtrack work for both corporate and independent clients. His production company, Its The Sound (ITS), co-owned by musician/producer Torbitt Schwartz, won a Flash Forward Award for the Fall 2004 NikeLab website sound design. The same website also won a Cannes award for web design. ITS also produced the music for Far From Home, a CNN documentary about an inter-racial school bussing program in Massachusetts, as well as numerous independent film scores.
Its The Sound is in an ongoing collaboration with Andrew Barker that provides series music for the Sundance Channel Iconoclast series. The first installment, Jackson on Russell, premiered November 17th, 2005.
JAZZ PIANIST, COMPOSER and FILMMAKER Steve Blanco has been forging ahead with self-made creative works for over a decade. The son of a French-speaking Moroccan belly dancer (mother) and film editor with a love of music and art (father), Blanco was exposed to artistic expressions from many different cultures. Growing up he learned the trumpet then drums and didn't arrive at the piano until age 23.
Blanco has released two critically acclaimed CDs, produced a music video (directed by Blanco) and currently leads a piano trio with Adam Roberts and Sunny Jain, but performs regularly in solo and duo settings. The trio has performed in many venues including: Detour Jazz Club, Williamsburg Jazz Festival, Rockwood Music Hall, Watercolor Cafe, Caffe Vivaldi, The Museum of American Folk Art, The Pierre Hotel, World Yacht, Bimhuis in Amsterdam and a multitude of other establishments.
Blanco has recently released a duo CD with guitarist Jeremy Wilms and contributes to the Munich-based Orkaan Orkestra led by composer and bassist Juergen Reiter.
In addition to performing music on a professional level, Blanco has directed several short films including: Missing You, 140 Decibels, Autumn, The Masterpiece (official selection New York International Film Festival), The Filth (official selection San Francisco Short Film Festival), ETR, and most recently, Bicycle (official selection Harlem International Film Festival). Blanco has also written the complete score for several of these films. He has served as writer, editor and cinematographer either altogether or in combinations on each of these films. He has been producer on all.
Blanco accredits his father as a major influence in bringing to the surface an array of emotional experiences stemming from creative masterpieces in music, cinema, art, writings, and philosophy that he would have otherwise not been exposed to as a young child.
From his childhood music has always been a driving force and ever present in his existence. After teaching himself for a few years Blanco privately studied piano before receiving a B.F.A. from Purchase Conservatory in New York. Blanco is the CoFounder of Insomnia Creations with Louis Cuffari and James Bartolozzi, and a contributing editor for ic magazine.
Blanco resides in New York City.
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