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Andy Farber

Andy Farber is an award winning jazz composer, arranger and saxophonist and has spent years performing with the likes of Jon Hendricks and Wynton Marsalis. Since 1994, Farber has been part of the Jazz @ Lincoln Center stable of writers and performers. Through J@LC, Farber has toured with the J@LC Orchestra, written originals compositions and arrangements and been a guest artistic director. Farber has written arrangements for people like Wynton Marsalis, Jon Hendricks, Shirley Horn, Bobby Short, Ann Hampton Calloway, Frankie Laine, Alan Harris, Cynthia Scott, Billy Stritch, Stevie Wonder, B.B. King, Bob Dylan, Ray Charles, Joe Lovano, Lee Konitz, Joe Piscopo, Joe Cocker, George Benson, Robert Downey Jr, Kevin Spacey, Wynona Judd, Fantasia, Ernestine Anderson, Vanessa Williams, and Roseanna Vitro. Farber's arrangements have been performed by The Boston Pops Orchestra, the Philly Pops Orchestra, the Boca Pops Orchestra and several symphony orchestras throughout Europe. Farber has been a guest conductor of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra, and in 2004 made his symphonic conducting debut with the Bronx Arts Ensemble. In April 2010, Farber was the guest music director for Jazz @ Lincoln Center’s “The Music of Fats Waller”. His work as an arranger, conductor and instrumentalist can be heard on numerous recordings, commercials and television/film scores.

As a leader, Farber leads an 8-piece band (Andy Farber & his Swing Mavens) and a17-piece big band, Andy Farber & his Orchestra. The orchestra enjoyed a 2-year residency at Birdland in NYC. A new CD with the orchestra is due out Fall 2010.

When he’s not playing jazz, Farber composes music for TV and film and is a staff composer at Duotone Audio Group. Farber also teaches jazz composition and arranging at The Juilliard School in New York City.

Gear

RS Berkeley artist Virtuoso alto & tenor saxophones + an assortment of vintage Conn and Selmer saxophones. Buffet clarinet, Leblanc bass clarinet, Haynes flute Logic pro audio and Sibelius software


Tags

23
Album Review

Andy Farber and His Orchestra: Early Blue Evening

Read "Early Blue Evening" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Saxophonist Andy Farber's New York-based orchestra came together and cut its teeth as the onstage band for three hundred performances of After Midnight, a Broadway revue that paid tribute to Jazz Age nightclub luminaries from Duke Ellington, Jimmie Lunceford and Count Basie to Harold Arlen, Dorothy Fields and Jimmy McHugh. As one might presume from the orchestra's provenance, echoes of Ellington and Basie can readily be discerned on its first recording since After Midnight closed in 2014--but Farber, who wrote ...

122
Album Review

Andy Farber and his Orchestra: This Could Be the Start of Something Big

Read "This Could Be the Start of Something Big" reviewed by Edward Blanco


Composer Andy Farber writes musical scores for television commercials and movies, but This Could Be The Start of Something Big is Farber's big band debut, showcasing his talents as a multi-reed musician and bandleader. Recorded in late 2009, after a two-year stint playing every Sunday evenings at New York's famed Birdland, the album features an eighteen-piece orchestra with legendary vocalist Jon Hendricks and veteran alto saxophonist Jerry Dodgion as special guests. Providing all of the arrangements, Farber produces an explosive ...

185
Album Review

Andy Farber and His Orchestra: This Could Be the Start of Something Big

Read "This Could Be the Start of Something Big" reviewed by Woodrow Wilkins


It's like strutting down memory lane. Andy Farber and His Orchestra present 14 big band pieces with This Could Be the Start of Something Big. A product of Long Island, Farber grew up listening to Art Blakey and Miles Davis. He began attending jazz workshops at the age of 10 and developed into a multifaceted woodwinds player. On this outing, he plays alto, tenor and baritone saxophones and flute. The ensemble features a full-size horn section and a ...

109
Album Review

Andy Farber and his Orchestra: This Could Be The Start Of Something Big

Read "This Could Be The Start Of Something Big" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky


Whatever happened to big bands that swing? While the big bands of yesteryear provided music for dancing and a healthy appreciation for swinging soloists and hip arrangements, that isn't the case today. Many of the most popular--and critically acclaimed--large ensembles in modern times are winning fans with highbrow conceptualism and compositions that, as brilliant as they are, won't have anybody dancing anytime soon. Fortunately, a few venues in New York City are still happy to house some ...

221
Album Review

Andy Farber and His Orchestra: This Could Be The Start Of Something Big

Read "This Could Be The Start Of Something Big" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay


The sight and sound of one of the classic big bands in full flight must have been something to behold. For those fans of big band jazz who never got to experience such a thing, as well as for those who did and remember it fondly, Andy Farber And His Orchestra bring the sound back with a bang on This Could Be The Start Of Something Big. Saxophonist Farber arranged and conducted all of the tunes, as ...

546
Take Five With...

Take Five With Andy Farber

Read "Take Five With Andy Farber" reviewed by AAJ Staff


Meet Andy Farber:Andy Farber is an award-winning jazz composer, arranger and saxophonist and has spent years performing with the likes of Jon Hendricks and Wynton Marsalis. Since 1994, Farber has been part of the Jazz @ Lincoln Center stable of writers and performers. Through J@LC, Farber has toured with the J@LC Orchestra, written originals compositions and arrangements and been a guest artistic director. Farber has written arrangements for people like Wynton Marsalis, Jon Hendricks, Shirley ...

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93

Recording

Andy Farber: Making Beautiful Sounds

Andy Farber: Making Beautiful Sounds

Source: Jazz Lives by Michael Steinman

Having a large jazz orchestra in this century has often posed challenges besides the economic ones. Many “big bands" get formed only for special occasions and are thus not well-rehearsed. Then there's the matter of repertoire: should a band made up of improvising jazz players go into the past or boldly plunge into the future, however one defines it? Or should such an orchestra bridge Past and Present—not an easy thing: it means more than letting the saxophone soloist play ...

188

Performance / Tour

Andy Farber & His Orchestra Featuring Hilary Kole

Andy Farber & His Orchestra Featuring Hilary Kole

Source: All About Jazz

Composer and saxophonist Andy Farber will lead his 17-piece jazz orchestra at Birdland every Sunday. The Birdland residence will begin on the 16th of March 2008 with a preview on the 24th of February. In addition to newly composed works, Andy Farber & his Orchestra will play new arrangements from the American popular songbook and the world of jazz. Featured with the band will be the up and coming vocalist and composer, Miss Hilary Kole. Also along for the ride ...

Primary Instrument

Saxophone

Willing to teach

Advanced only

Credentials/Background

Contact for info

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Justin Page and...

Temporal Acuity Publishing
2021

buy

Early Blue Evening

ArtistShare
2021

buy

This Could Be The...

Black Warrior
2010

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