I grew up in the 90s and 2000s here in Ottawa. Two distinct musical worlds shaped my musical upbringing: this hits I heard on the radio, and the jazz songs I played with my family. While these worlds may seem different, they really just the top songs of different eras.
Jazz music rose in popularity because it was the popular music of the time. Musician's would play the hits and contribute their own voice to the music through improvisation. Listeners were able to connect with the repertoire because it was the popular music. People knew the songs so listeners were able to hear that the musicians were doing something new and exciting with the the material they already loved.
Jazz musicians today are still playing the same songs. Very few new tunes have been added to the standard repertoire very little from the last 50 years. The old ones are fantastic songs that stand the test of time... but our audience has long moved on. Jazz is still popular today, but younger listeners especially are more drawn to the Vibe that jazz brings rather to the music itself.
There's nothing wrong with liking jazz for the vibe! The vibes are stellar. It's us as musicians that are doing our audience (and therefor ourselves) a disservice. We're not playing music that people can actually connect with. My goal with Millennial Mixtape is not just to have my own quartet to play hits from the 90s and 2000s but to inspire musicians of all ages to take a leap and bring some fresh material to their sets alongside the time honored classics.
Millennial Mixtape doesn't stop at the 90s and 2000s either! I've donef arrangements of newer songs like Golden from K-Pop Demon hunters and Man I Need by Olivia Dean.
I've had the pleasure of working with some of Ottawa's finest jazz musicians. Along side them, I deliver the jazz vibes along side songs that the audience know and loves. Have you ever heard an audience sing along to a song a JAZZ QUARTET is playing? At The Robo Lounge on April 26, 2026, we had the audience singing I Want It That Way by Backstreet Boys, Livin’ La Vida Loca by Ricky Martin, and a bunch of other songs WITH us! I've heard patrons at the Chateau Laurier in Ottawa singing Basket Case by Greenday with us from the hotel bar!
More than just vibes and hits, my Millennial Mixtape Quartet (or Trio) brings a unique and memorable experience to our listeners. If you're interested in having us at your next event, please use the contact form below!
When I wanted to bring this music to the bandstand, finding charts was a challenge. Piano reductions are long and have too many page turns or lack chord changes. The realbook has a lot of leadsheets but the forms are convoluted and stick too closely to the original recording. Once you finally find a chart, what the heck do you do for a solo form and are the changes even interesting enough to solo over? We're you even able to find a Bb or Eb part?
My goal with every leadsheet that I write to let you figure everything out on the bandstand within 30 seconds. I try keep everything to one page and if I can't, then I go for two pages with no mid-solo-form page turns. I keep the solo form simple and easy follow. Lyrics are important to learning and phrasing the melody, so I keep those in as much as I can. Every tunes gets an Bb and Eb part made available with the C part.
Ultimately, I wan't to create a leadsheet that an experienced jazz musician sight read and bring their unique voice to the song, even if they’ve never heard the original recording.
If you're interested in purchasing a leadsheet or collected volume, my arrangements are available through Sheet Music Plus and Sheet Music Direct via Hal Leonard's ArrangeMe.
And aside from my own arrangements, if you're interested in leadsheets for video game music, I'd strongly recommend checking out sheet music freely available from www.vgleadsheets.com