Jeff Newell

 
Jeff Newell & The Lady of the HouseJeff in the Borough of Churchespicture 7 really cool guys & 1 gal hangin' on the stoop with horns & stuff


While Jeff Newell delights music lovers with his distinctive interpretation of jazz, he continues to enhance and develop his sound - a lifetime endeavor for a true professional. That critically acclaimed sound embellishes the Jeff Newell Quartet, where he is able to share his wry sense of humor and distinct jazz saxophone sound on original compositions as well as on contemporary arrangements of jazz standards.

Though his formal education is completed, Newell believes his musical learning never ends. In 1978, armed with a music degree - conferred with distinction - from the University of Nebraska and with a year of graduate school under his belt, he moved to Chicago to continue that education through additional study and playing jazz clubs and festivals. In the summer of 1994, always eager to expand his musical horizons, Jeff relocated again to New York City to take advantage of the opportunities only the "Jazz Mecca of the World" can provide.

Newell spent two years studying with nationally-acclaimed jazz performer and educator Bunky Green and a year with well-known teacher and tenor man Joe Daley. In 1989 he received a National Endowment for the Arts jazz study fellowship to study in New York with master jazz musician David Leibman.

 Newell has performed on numerous Chicago Jazz Festival stages (in 1993 and 1995 with his own groups) and has fronted his own band on the jazz stage of Chicagofest. He has brought his sound to the Newport Jazz Festival in Madarao, Japan, and has performed at the Mellon Jazz Festival in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh and many other cities in the USA.

In time for Mardi Gras 1994, Jeff formed the New-Trad Octet as a vehicle for his arranging skills and to pursue his interest in the rich musical history of New Orleans. Conceived to blend the traditional "second line" New Orleans brass band with a modern rhythm section and a fresh approach to harmony and improvisation, the New-Trad Octet was immediately met with critical acclaim. Jeff continues to keep the octet and his quartet busy in clubs and festivals throughout the country, while still enjoying the role of sideman with such performers as Kevin Mahogany and Marshall Vente. Jeff can also he heard in New York City on most Friday evenings at the world Famous Birdland Jazz Club with the Friday Night Big Band.

In addition to giving clinics, master classes, and adjudicating student jazz festivals, Newell has shared his musical knowledge as a faculty member at the American Conservatory of Music and is currently the Coordinator of the Jazz Faculty at the Brooklyn Music School, where he teaches woodwinds, jazz improvisation, and coaches jazz ensembles. Jeff also became a part of the music ministry at Brooklyn's New Baptist Temple in 1996, serving as worship leader and Coordinator of Music and Worship from 2000 to 2005. All of these activities being part of his dream "to contribute something to the music - to be an influence - and to pass it on."

Adding to Newell's credits are the people he has worked with. He has played on stage or recorded alongside such jazz names as Ron Carter, Cedar Walton, Phil Woods, Charles Earland, Houston Person, Brian Culbertson, Johnny Coles, Von Freeman, Ira sullivan, Paul Wertico, Paul Smoker, Bobby Broom, Fareed Haque, Richie Cole, Don Menza, Terrance Blanchard, Bobby Watson, and Kevin Mahogany.

Jeff Newell selected discography:

  • Jeff Newell: "Jack the Ripper," IGMOD Records - IGM49806-2
     

  • Charles Earland: "Whip Appeal," Muse Records - MC5409
     

  • Guy Fricano: "The New York Sessions," AFP Records - GF81242
     

  • Damon Short: "All of the Above," Southport Records - S-SSD 0028
     

  • Andre Caporaso: Pathways," Blue Room Records - BRR005
     

  • picture a really cool Cd cover

    Brownstone

     This CD celebrates the brass band tradition of that bygone era when hymns and marches were the popular music of the day, played on parade grounds as well as in churches and gazebos throughout the U.S. Newell and his aptly named New-Trad Octet take a reverent, yet contemporary look at this period in our musical heritage, when ragtime and other idioms sowed the seeds of syncopation that blossomed into jazz. The CD showcases Newell’s innovative arrangements and his ensemble’s inspired interpretations of three works by John Philip Sousa, updated with Haitian “Kompa” music and other recent Caribbean immigrant flavors; “Hymn Pan Alley,” a suite by Newell incorporating melodies from Gospel hymns written by 9 composers who lived and worked in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, during the “Brownstone” era; and the enduring classic “Amazing Grace.”

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    Order CD at Blujazz    

    Blujazz Productions

     

    Hymn Pan Alley!

    Do the Mardi Gras Mambo to "Shall We Gather at the River." How about a Bourbon Street strut to "We're Marching to Zion?"

    Excerpts from "Hymn Pan Alley"
    Movement 1, March

     Movement 2, Bolero

      Movement 3, Mambo

    Movement 4, Waltz
     

      Movement 5, Zydeco

     

     

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    "The Old Rugged Cross"

     "Softly and Tenderly"

     "Amazing Grace"  

     

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     For more info about Jeff Newell visit:

    www.new-trad.com

     

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