Home » Member Page

Duane Andrews

"Where Django's Gypsy Jazz meets Newfoundland Trad."

About Me

Press Quotes �the music might be best described as Folk music played by a top Jazz guitarist and the result is refreshing and stunning. Highly recommended.� --Folkworld Magazine, Germany

�...startlingly good...� --NOW Magazine, Toronto

�Congratulations to Duane Andrews for his successful blending of two disparate worlds into a cohesive and very musical experience.� --Whole Note Magazine, Canada

Heavily influenced by the brilliance of early twentieth century French Gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt, Duane Andrews� unique blend of jazz and folk music is consistently recognized by both industry and fans with awards and accolades.

Bio A virtuosic guitarist, Duane melds traditional Newfoundland music with it's mix of French, Irish, Portuguese and English influences with Manouche (Gypsy Jazz) in the same way that Django Reinhardt infused Jazz with Gypsy melody.

An award winning multi-instrumentalist, record producer and filmmaker, Andrews has worked with a variety of artists including Canadian Jazz legends such as Mike Murley and Doug Riley, Folk icon Ken Whiteley, Icelandic guitarist Bjorn Thoreddson, Afro-Newfoundland group Mopaya, Irish fiddle master Seamus Creagh and the Chieftains to name a few. From his home in Newfoundland he has literally toured around the world with stops at the Ten Days on the Island Festival in Tasmania, the Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island and the Montreal Jazz Festival.

A graduate of the Jazz Studies program at St.FXU (BA Music, Honours), Duane spent several years studying music composition initially at the Conservatoire International de Paris with Michel Prady and eventually with Georges Boeuf and Regis Campo at the Conservatoire National de Region in Marseille, France.

It was during his time in France that Reinhardt's music had a profound impact on Duane. Upon returning to his home province of Newfoundland and Labrador in 2002 Duane began fusing traditional Newfoundland music with Reinhardt�s style and his own original compositions. This work resulted in the 2004 release of his dynamic debut solo CD, simply titled, Duane Andrews and the 2006 release of his latest recording �Crocus�.

He is currently in the production stage of his third full length album which is set for release in early July 2008.

Awards USA Songwriting Competion 2007 Jazz Category Winner

Independent Music Awards 2007 Jazz Album Award

ECMA 2007 Jazz Album of the Year Award 2006 Instrumental Album of the Year Award, Male Artist Nominee 2005 Jazz Album of the Year Award, Emerging Artist Nominee Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council 2006 Emerging Artist of the Year Award

MusicNL 2006 Jazz/Blues Artist of the Year Award 2004 Jazz/Blues Artist of the Year Award Rising Star Nominee

International Songwriting Competition 2006 �A Birch Broom In The Fits� received Honourable Mention in the Instrumental category

Canadian Folk Music Awards 2007 Best World Artist (Solo) Nominee 2005 Best Instrumental Artist (Solo) Nominee Best World Artist (Solo) Nominee Pushing the Boundries Nominee

PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS 2007 Newport Folk Festival. Newport, RI 2007 10 Days on the Island. Tasmania, Australia 2006 Rochester Jazz Festival. Rochester, NY 2006 Festival La Grande Rencontre. Montreal, QC 2005 Montreal Jazz Festival. Montreal, QC 2005 Sunfest. London, ON 2004 Halifax International Celtic Feis. Halifax , NS 2004 MusicNL Rising Star Tour. Throughout NL