An eight-time JUNO Award (Canada’s Grammy) nominee for Best Contemporary Jazz Album, guitarist/

composer Michael Occhipinti’s inventive approach to creative music of all kinds has earned him a broad

array of listeners and the respect of critics and musicians alike. Crossing genres that include jazz, chamber

music, funk, world music, and anything involving modern guitar sounds, Michael is both a versatile musician

and an imaginative band leader. His Sicilian Jazz Project has been called “a masterpiece of cross-cultural

fusion” and has thrilled audiences in Canada, the U.S., Italy, and Mexico. Starting with field recordings of

forgotten Sicilian folk music and reinventing the music as a mix of global genres, the project earned Michael

a JUNO nomination, the Ragusani nel Mondo Award (which he and his musician brother Roberto received

together in Ragusa, Sicily for their contribution to Sicilian culture), and a Chalmers Award that allowed him

to live in Sicily from March – June 2010.  Michael Occhipinti & Shine On: The Universe of John Lennon is Michael Occhipinti’s newest project.

Typical of Michael’s willingness to challenge himself, the recording pulls off the tricky task of making some

the best known songs in the world sound original and fresh.