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Biography
Jazz saxophonist Anton Schwartz has been drawing listeners in with the power, spirit and
subtle complexity of his music since he bounded onto the San Francisco jazz scene in 1995. At 27,
Anton was answering the call of his long-standing passion for jazz, stepping away from the high-level
research in Artificial Intelligence he'd carried out at Harvard and Stanford. Quite a career change. Once
in action as a musician, Anton quickly gained an enthusiastic following as music fans responded to
what the San Francisco Chronicle recently called his warm, generous tone, impeccably developed solos
and infectious performance energy.
In the years since, Anton has won over listeners and critics at high-profile jazz venues
across the country, including the Blue Note in New York, Washington D.C.'s Blues Alley and
the Monterey Jazz Festival. His frequent appearances at Yoshi's in Oakland draw sellout
crowds; one such concert was broadcast nationwide on NPR's JazzSet with Dee Dee
Bridgewater in December, 2005. Each of his four CDs has earned sterling reviews and
strong airplay, with his most recent Radiant Blue landing Top Five on the national jazz radio charts.
While his own writing earns consistently high praise, Anton remains as much at home with
the great jazz standards as he is with his own compositions.
What I require for music to really captivate me, Anton says, is groove
and intellect working in tandem. Music that gets into your bones, into your head and into
your heart. I want to create music that conveys something intriguing--through the
rhythm, the structure, the interplay of melody and harmony--and distill that down into
something clear and beautiful.
Anton was born in 1967 and raised in New York City. He began playing clarinet at twelve
and switched to the saxophone at fourteen. He quickly became enchanted with jazz, and
his early development got a jump start when he came under the tutelage of jazz masters
Warne Marsh and Eddie Daniels. While in high school, Anton formed a group with future
stars Peter Bernstein and Larry Goldings and got a taste of the big time, appearing in
concert with both Lionel Hampton and Woody Herman.
In college, however, Anton pursued other passions. He earned a B.A. in Mathematics and
Philosophy at Harvard, graduating magna cum laude in 1989. Next came Stanford, where,
as a National Science Foundation fellow, Anton performed doctoral research in Artificial
Intelligence. But all the while, Anton continued to play music. He held the prestigious first
tenor sax chair in the Harvard Jazz Band, after Don Braden and before Joshua Redman.
And inevitably, Anton's heart drew him to a full-time jazz career. In '95 he jumped feet
first into the San Francisco jazz scene that has remained his home, even as he's traveled
the country.
Praise for Anton's performances and recordings has been unceasing. Jazz Improv
Magazine called Anton's 2004 Christmas CD,
Holiday Time, A superb album,
bubbling with a combination
of imaginative and sweet sounding playing--enjoyable year round. Of his 2000
release, The Slow Lane, Billboard
Magazine wrote, Schwartz savors the implications of each note, allowing the listener
to delight in the endless melodies created by his stirring improvisations. Anton's
first CD, When Music Calls (1998),
inspired the San Francisco Bay Guardian to report, Anton Schwartz has everything
you want to hear in a modern jazz saxophonist--an appealing, consistent tone, an
abundance of ideas fueling both his compositions and his improvis
ations, and superb
taste in musical collaborators.
Perhaps famed saxophonist Illinois Jacquet put things most succinctly when he told Anton,
You play the tenor sax like it's meant to be played.
A well-rounded professional, Anton is also in great demand as a teacher. He's a faculty
member of the Stanford Jazz
Workshop and The Jazzschool,
where he has designed courses ranging from The Physics of Musical Sound to
Improvising Eighth Note Lines.
He is also a clinician at the Brubeck Institute.
It's especially gratifying to me to see so many people reacting so wholeheartedly to
my music. Indeed, longtime jazz aficionados and newcomers alike rave about his
performances. That ability to capture hearts and minds at all ends of the jazz spectrum
has made Anton a force to be reckoned with in the world of modern jazz, now and for
years to come.
MORE INFORMATION. A full digital media kit, including high-resolution photo
images and review reprints, is available at
www.antonjazz.com/pr.
Born:
July 16, 1967
Home
Oakland, CA
Related Articles
Radiant Blue
Radiant Blue
Holiday Time
The Slow Lane
The Slow Lane
The Slow Lane
When Music Calls
When Music Calls
Management
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Jason Byrne, Red Cat Publicity
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Last Updated: 2008-04-29 08:27:55