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Drew Zaremba
Selmer artist Drew Zaremba enjoys worldwide reputation as an award-winning writer, a passionate conductor, and fiery performer. He has composed and arranged pieces for/performed by the BBC Orchestra, the WDR and NDR Big Bands, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the Metropole Orkest, the Airmen of Note, Wycliffe Gordon, Dick Oatts, Randy Brecker, Eddie Gomez, Lee Loughane of “Chicago”, the Vietnam Classical Players, and the Pyramid Jazz Orchestra in Kanazawa, Japan. At the age of 27, Drew joined the faculty of the award-winning University of Northern Colorado (UNC) jazz studies department in 2018 to teach jazz composition and arranging. One of Drew’s most ambitious projects was writing a concert of music entitled “Crossing Chinese Opera with Jazz” during a two month residency in Zhuhai, China. Drew has published music through Alfred Music, Sierra Music, and has self-published over 70 works at his website, drewzaremba.com. Drew was ecstatic to receive the Sammy Nestico Award for his original composition “Kangaroo Bruise Blues” in 2018, which includes a follow-up commission with the elite jazz ensemble, the Airmen of Note. In 2015, Drew was awarded 1st prize of $10,000 in the Sherman/Barsanti Inspiration Award at the University of North Texas (UNT) for his premier concert with his orchestra, the Unity Orchestra, which featured Eddie Gomez. Finally, Drew is proud to be a 3-time Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer winner.
In addition to writing music, Drew is an active saxophonist, keyboardist, and woodwind artist. He is equally comfortable on lead alto in big band, playing hammond organ in a trio setting, or executing the high reed book in a musical pit orchestra. Drew’s music releases have been as varied as his experiences – from YouTube big band video releases, to his albums “Two Sides of the Same Coin” and “Hologram”, and recently, short, home-made multi-tracked videos in the style of Jacob Collier.
Teaching is a fundamental part of being a jazz musician today, and Drew is delighted to be in demand as a clinician and guest artist. He was given the title of visiting professor for his work at the Contemporary Music Institute in Zhuhai, China. Additionally, he has given clinics and guest artist performances in Melbourne, Brussels, Tokyo, London, Hannover, The Netherlands, and in dozens of colleges and high schools in the United States. Drew has taught at the UNC and UNT summer jazz camps, as well as Arrowbear Music Camp in California, and the Golden Jazz camp in Zhuhai, China.
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Socrates Garcia Latin Jazz Orchestra: Shadows of Tomorrow
by Jack Bowers
Do not let the word “Latin" in front of the Socrates Garcia Jazz Orchestra's name sway you. Shadows of Tomorrow is bright and spirited contemporary jazz albeit with a southerly twist. The salute to Latin America is for the most part rhythmic; everything else leans resolutely toward el norte, and the orchestra (which is actually based in Colorado, where Garcia teaches at the University of Northern Colorado) lends its considerable weight and savvy to every one of the leader's half-dozen ...
Continue ReadingDavid Caffey Jazz Orchestra: At the Edge of Spring
by Jack Bowers
With his album, At the Edge of Spring, composer and arranger David Caffey and his Colorado-based Jazz Orchestra not only defy the widely-held belief that big bands are dead, they emphatically blow that axium out of the water. This is an ensemble with no discernible weaknesses, as proficient and powerful as any that have come before it or are likely to follow. To verify that impression, you need only couple your ears with an open mind. As ...
Continue ReadingBrasuka: A Vida Com Paixão
by Katchie Cartwright
The big lockdown buried a lot of music that was ready to roll when Covid struck in 2020. Tours and gigs were canceled, album launches fizzled. Some of us are still discovering good sounds we missed out on. These include Brasuka's debut album, which arrived several years post lockdown in a large packet of CDs sent by the group's publicist, stamped with an October 8 street date. Who knew that meant October of 2021? Nevertheless... The name Brasuka ...
Continue ReadingBernie Senesky, Ahmad Jamal & Drew Zaremba
by Joe Dimino
We start the 829th Episode of Neon Jazz with rising star Drew Zaremba and music from his 2023 release Reunion. From there, we get into a band he's had some history with in the US Air Force Airmen of Note. We also hear a heavy helping of new music from Valeria Matzner, Bernie Senesky, Alex Hitchcock and JC Sanford, plus rmore from Ahmad Jamal's Emerald City Nights. Finally, we get a live cut from the great Sam Ross at the ...
Continue ReadingBrasuka: A Vida Com Paixão
by Chris M. Slawecki
Brasuka first came together as a side project, led by keyboardist and vocalist Rosana Eckert and percussionist Ricardo Bozas, from out of a Sergio Mendes tribute band. You can still hear these roots in this full-length debut. But you can also hear where and how Brasuka's sound branches out into different styles and frameworks and yet retain the warm, inviting and bright sound of their original inspiration. Eckert's lead vocal on the title track to A Vida Com ...
Continue ReadingComposer, Saxophonist, And Organist Drew Zaremba's 'Reunion' Is An Eclectically Jubilant Take On The Big Band Genre
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Outside in Music
Drew Zaremba is saxophonist, organist, and rightfully lauded powerhouse of an arranger and composer. Drawing eclectic influence from icons of big band, heroes of classical music, and the luminaries of British Rock, Zaremba combines, concocts, and creates with a refreshing originality in the wildest of never-before-imagined manners. Described as a musician who “writes and plays from his heart” and who “knows and speaks the language of music” (Eddie Gomez), Zaremba presents Reunion, an unequivocally celebratory big band debut rich with ...
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Colorado Jazz Repertory Orchestra
band / ensemble / orchestraMusic
Metamorphosis
From: Golden LadyBy Drew Zaremba
Money
From: ReunionBy Drew Zaremba
