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
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.”
Audio Samples |
Order CD at Blujazz
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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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Real Audio Samples
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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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