Todd Sickafoose
At Reykjavik Jazz Festival 2015
At Reykjavik Jazz Festival 2015
Background information
Born1974
San Francisco, California, U.S.
GenresJazz, avant-garde jazz, folk, rock
Occupation(s)Musician, Composer, Producer
Instrument(s)Bass, Keyboards
Years active1990s–present
LabelsCryptogramophone, Righteous Babe Records
Websitewww.toddsickafoose.com
Todd Sickafoose at The Fillmore in San Francisco with Ani DiFranco
Todd Sickafoose at The Fillmore in San Francisco
Todd Sickafoose's Bear Proof, downstairs at Town Hall, Seattle, Washington, at the 2023 Earshot Jazz Festival. Left to right: Carmen Staaf (piano, seen from the back), Adam Levy (guitar), Jenny Scheinman (violin), Todd Sickafoose (bass), Allison Miller (drums), Rob Reich (accordion), Ben Goldberg (clarinet), Kirk Knuffke (cornet).

Todd Sickafoose is an American jazz and rock musician, composer, and producer/engineer from San Francisco, California.

He is best known for playing acoustic bass and keyboards with Ani DiFranco but has also led his own group, Todd Sickafoose's Tiny Resistors.[1][2]

Sickafoose has been a member of the bands of Jenny Scheinman, Scott Amendola, Adam Levy, Allison Miller, and Noe Venable.[2] He has performed and recorded with Don Byron, Trey Anastasio, Nels Cline, Ron Miles, Myra Melford, Skerik, Stanton Moore, Bobby Previte, Will Bernard, Steven Bernstein, Jessica Lurie, Erin McKeown, Sean Hayes, Carla Bozulich, Etienne de Rocher, Shane Endsley, Tony Furtado, Darol Anger,[1] Andrew Bird, Art Hirahara,[3] and John Zorn.[4]

Sickafoose has produced three albums for Anaïs Mitchell – Hadestown (2010), Young Man in America (2012), and Hadestown Live Original Cast Recording (2017).[2] He arranged and orchestrated Hadestown, along with Michael Chorney, for productions at New York Theatre Workshop, Citadel Theatre in Edmonton, Alberta, the National Theatre in London, and the Walter Kerr Theatre on Broadway.[5] He has also produced albums for Rupa & the April Fishes, Nels Andrews, and Mipso.[2] Sickafoose, along with Michael Chorney, received Tony Awards for Best Orchestrations after Hadestown opened on Broadway in 2019.[6] Sickafoose also won a Grammy award as a co-producer of the Hadestown cast recording, which won Best Musical Theater Album in 2020.[7] Sickafoose has also composed original music for the fourth season[8] of the Peabody award winning podcast Threshold Podcast[9]

At the age of 13 Sickafoose began playing double bass after seeing Edgar Meyer perform. He later studied with Charlie Haden[1] and then with Mel Powell at California Institute of the Arts. He moved to Brooklyn, New York's vibrant music scene, joining many musical friends that were residing there. Sickafoose began playing with Ani DiFranco in 2004 after opening for her on tour.[10]

Critic Steve Greenlee of JazzTimes states Sickafoose's 2008 release Tiny Resistors is one of that "year’s most compelling listens."[11] The CD also received positive reviews from NY Times and USA Today.[10]

Discography

  • Dogs Outside (Evander, 2000)
  • Blood Orange (Secret Hatch, 2006)
  • Tiny Resistors (Cryptogramophone, 2008)
  • Bear Proof (A-Train/Divine Earth 2023)

References

  1. 1 2 3 Biography All About Jazz
  2. 1 2 3 4 Biography allmusic.com, Retrieved February 22, 2009
  3. ↑ "Todd Sickafoose Adjunct Instructor Jazz Bass, Jazz Studies, & Film Composition". University of Oregon. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
  4. ↑ John Kelman Tiny Resistors allaboutjazz.com June 03, 2008
  5. ↑ "Hadestown | National Theatre". www.nationaltheatre.org.uk. Retrieved 2018-09-27.
  6. ↑ 2019 Tony Award Winners: Full List New York Times, May 2019
  7. ↑ "62nd Annual GRAMMY Awards". 19 May 2020.
  8. ↑ "Season Four: Time to 1.5". Threshold Podcast. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  9. ↑ "Threshold poscast twitter post". Threshold podcast. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  10. 1 2 Rex Butters Todd Sickafoose: The Art of Non-Resistance allaboutjazz.com September 22, 2008
  11. ↑ Steve Greenlee CD Reviews: Tiny Resistors JazzTimes, September 2008
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