Polymath (noun): a person of wide-ranging knowledge or learning.
Music needs a term for this. What do you call one person who is a pianist, vocalist, keyboardist, composer, producer, arranger, band leader, side person and more? Music may not have a term, but it does have a name: Rachel Eckroth.
Eckroth can lead with a bold vision or accompany with the subtle skills necessary to make another musician shine. Her combination of jazz experimentation and pop feeling form the engine behind her own work as a leader/co-leader on 20 albums, most recently “The Garden” on Rainy Days Records (2021). That same crossover talent is why she's been featured on voice and keyboards in the bands of Rufus Wainwright, St. Vincent, KT Tunstall, and Chris Botti.
Eckroth has been a busy recording artist throughout her career, and the pace has only increased in recent years. In 2020, Eckroth appeared on the single "Circling" by Donny McCaslin, the acclaimed saxophonist from David Bowie's final band. That same year, she released three singles of her own. In 2021 she and her husband, bassist Tim Lefebvre (David Bowie, Tedeschi Trucks Band) put out a duet album called “The Blackbird Sessions”. She also released the single "Moot Points" featuring Alassane, as well as an Eponymous EP featuring her own songs.
As a composer, she has amassed a library of more than 100 original compositions and songs and has worked as an arranger for more than 20 years.
Her latest project, “The Garden”, complete with a Grammy Nomination in 2021, features 8 tracks written or co-written by Eckroth. The band includes Lefebvre and McCaslin along with drummer Christian Euman, and guitarist Nir Felder. Eckroth chose the album title because, like a garden, her music is a diverse ecosystem grown from the seeds of her many musical adventures.
Rachel's music has recently been featured in JOI's JOI Jazz Orchestra concerts and is included in an upcoming CD recorded this summer. Jazz Outreach Initiative is proud to bring the Las Vegas Valley such a highly regarded talent to teach his new course! We are also blessed to be able to provide this outstanding educational opportunity with the support of our friends at Nevada School of the Arts!
If you have any experience in composing or arranging and want to take your skills up a level, DO NOT MISS THIS CLASS. Open for students and adults!

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