NOJO You Are Here	NOJO Neufeld-Occhipinti Jazz Orchestra	NOJO Firewater
For additional information / ordering / audio visit nojomusic.com

1996 Juno Award Winner for NOJO
1997 Juno Nomination for FireWater
1999 Juno Nomination for You Are Here
1999 Big Band of the Year (Jazz Report)

NOJO, the Neufeld-Occhipinti Jazz Orchestra, is creating a stir with its daring and joyous music. Featuring 16 of Canada's best improvising musicians, the original music of pianist Paul Neufeld and guitarist Michael Occhipinti draws on a diversity of styles; incorporating funk, blues, west African music, and a century of jazz. With its infectious grooves, bold melodies, and colourful textures, NOJO is like no other group in music and the group's new CD You Are Here is being praised by critics and music fans alike.

Since its inception in 1994, NOJO has been a creative asset to the Canadian scene. Both in performance and on recordings, NOJO covers a broad stylistic range with an enthusiasm and intensity that few groups can match. The band's live performances have been described by the Globe & Mail as a "happy sort of chaos," as NOJO is a group where multiple soloists improvise in contexts both challenging and complimentary.

NOJO has performed at numerous festival and clubs, and has been profiled on TVOntario's Studio Two, and in an hour-long special for CBC's Jazz Beat. In June of 1997, NOJO was joined in Toronto for a week of concerts at the Top O' The Senator by celebrated clarinetist Don Byron, and a one-hour film of the event was made for Bravo!, TVO, and TFO. Don Byron is a Downbeat and Jazztimes poll winner, and he returned to Toronto in the spring of 1998 to record with NOJO and to perform with the band in Buffalo, New York. Byron and NOJO also launched the new CD, Your Are Here, in May. Following the success of the band's projects with Don Byron, NOJO has initiated a continuing series of collaborative concerts. The band performed at the Guelph Jazz Festival with trumpet great Kenny Wheeler, and played two concerts in Toronto and Buffalo with jazz's most prominent saxophonist, Joe Lovano. NOJO brought acclaimed trombonist Ray Anderson to Toronto for a series of concerts in early 1999, executed an Eastern Canadian tour in the summer, a Northern Ontario tour in the fall, performed at the prestigious Umbria Jazz, in Italy, January 2000, and played the Montreal, Edmonton, Calgary, and Vancouver Jazz Festivals in summer 2000.
NOJO's self-titled debut CD

won the 1996 Juno Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album. The follow-up CD, FireWater (1997) also garnered a nomination. Recently, NOJO received its third consecutive Juno nomination this time for You Are Here (1999). You Are Here is available on True North Records, distributed by Universal, and Koch Jazz.
The fourth NOJO studio CD will be released in fall 2001, True North Records. It will feature Byron, Anderson, and other guests.

Reviews:
"One of the most imaginative large ensembles on the current jazz scene…compelling in virtually every composition."
Don Heckman - LA Times

"The Neufeld-Occhipinti Jazz Orchestra is a Canadian treasure. There is a sense of joy in NOJO's playing. You get the impression they are truly having fun. The music moves at an accelerated pace and has surprises around every corner."
Frank Rubolino - Cadence

"NOJO shows it is an orchestra to be reckoned with in the widening arena of new Jazz"
Frank Bowers - All About Jazz

"NOJO's stocked to the gills with talent - some of the finest Canada has to offer - but You Are Here sets out to be a conversation between composer and soloist, and on that score, it's a rousing success."
Jeff Morris - 52nd Street

"Neufeld and Occhipinti bring something to their writing and arranging that's missing from most of today's jazz - a sense of humour. They clearly have a lot of fun playing and their enthusiasm is contagious. In fact, the only other large ensemble I've heard recently that matches NOJO's high energy and musicianship is the acclaimed Mingus Big Band, a group with two built-in advantages: the Charles Mingus songbook and a rotating lineup of several dozen of New York's best players."
Joel Roberts - All About Jazz

"We love this band!"
Katie Malloch - CBC Radio

"Occhipinti and Neufeld compose challenging charts filled with ear-catching textures, odd grooves, and angular melodies. Innovative and accessible, their writing makes NOJO an important band to be reckoned with."
Peter Hum - Ottawa Citizen