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James Emery
Co-founder of the chamber ensemble The String Trio of New York, virtuoso guitarist and composer James Emery has received international recognition for his distinctive and highly original approach to both improvisation and composition. Utilizing a full range of musical information, his sensibility draws in nearly equal measures upon formal notions of structure and technique and a robust willingness to improvise, experiment, and follow his musical knowledge – both as composer and player.
Artistic Director of the highly accomplished Sound Directions, Inc., James has been active as performer, oft-commissioned composer and inspiring educator on the international jazz and contemporary music scene since 1975, with over two dozen CDs as a leader or co-leader and live performances in more than 25 countries worldwide. His recordings have been described as “innovative and imaginative” and “utterly distinctive” by the Penguin Guide to Jazz, which selected his orchestral recording, Transformations for its edition titled "The History of Jazz in the 1001 Best Albums." He has received international critical acclaim for his work leading various ensemble formations of jazz and creative music, particularly the String Trio of New York which is entering its fifth decade in 2019.
His unique artistic expression has resulted in many commissions including a Guggenheim Fellowship. He has also received awards and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Cary Trust, and the New York Foundation for the Arts. His compositions have been commissioned with funding from Chamber Music America, the Meet the Composer/Rockefeller/AT&T program, Meet the Composer’s Commissions USA program and the MTC/Lila Wallace Jazz Program.
As a distinguished sideman Emery has performed and recorded with a variety of contemporary music heavyweights, including Steve Reich, Wadada Leo Smith, Anthony Braxton, Henry Threadgill, Joe Lovano, Leroy Jenkins, and many others. A composer of great scope and depth, he has composed over 150 works for chamber groups, jazz ensembles, solo guitar, chamber orchestra and symphony orchestra.
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James Emery Neo Trio: Inner Drive
by Glenn Astarita
Before forming this trio, James Emery established himself as a prominent figure in the New York jazz scene, notably as a founding member of the acclaimed String Trio of NY. This unique ensemble, blending classical and jazz influences, garnered critical acclaim for its inventive arrangements and dynamic performances. And Inner Drive highlights the virtuosic talents and ingenious interplay of the Neo Trio: Emery on acoustic guitar, Chris Jonas on saxophones and Cyrus Campbell on bass. The album presents a compelling ...
Continue ReadingJames Emery: Inside Outlier
by Glenn Astarita
Emerging in the 1970s, renowned guitarist James Emery quickly became a name to drop in the jazz scene, synonymous with that 'new jazz smell' of innovation. A founding member of the String Trio of New York, his career has been an outstanding potluck of collaborations, bringing to the table dishes seasoned with the genius of Anthony Braxton, Leroy Jenkins, and Roscoe Mitchell. His style? Imagine if Bach had an affair with bebop and raised their lovechild on a strict diet ...
Continue ReadingJames Emery: Transformations
by AAJ Staff
Something about orchestrated jazz makes it an intellectualized endeavor, and James Emery's Transformations exemplifies this rule as much as Gunther Schuller or any other members of the Third Stream. The guitarist and composer takes advantage of the rich sonic spectrum provided by the 22-member Klangforum Wien orchestra to complement his jazz quartet, represented by the five- movement “Transformations" suite and five subsequent pieces respectively. The foursome comprises Emery alongside saxophonist Tony Coe, flugelhorn player (and Between the Lines frequent flyer) ...
Continue ReadingJames Emery Septet: Spectral Domains
by Glenn Astarita
Solo artist and member of the critically acclaimed “String Trio of New York”, guitar virtuoso James Emery has produced a bonafide winner in Spectral Domains. Emery is one of the world’s finest guitarists and possesses an encyclopedic jazz vocabulary as a technician and composer. The James Emery Septet is an assemblage of modern, cutting edge jazz musicians who have been shaping and to some extent, reinventing modern jazz through refreshingly new concepts and adept technical proficiency.
Emery’s 1997 ENJA release, ...
Continue ReadingJames Emery Trio Performs at Erie Art Museum
Source:
All About Jazz
The Erie Art Museum's Contemporary Music Series presents the String Trio of New York on October 4. The performance will be held in the Erie Art Museum Annex, 423 State Street. This tour is made possible by a grant from the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts Regional Touring Program and is sponsored locally by Connoisseur Media. The String Trio of New York will present a workshop for parents and their preschoolers as ...
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“...ground-breaking...unmistakable beauty...radiance at every turn...”
Jim Macnie, Down Beat
“Emery is one of the world’s finest guitarists and possesses an encyclopedic jazz vocabulary as a technician and composer...staggering technical virtuosity, remarkable creative spirit...”
Glenn Astarita, All About Jazz
“...the guitarist succeeds in something astonishing: shaping modernistic sound dimensions in an extraordinarily delightful way and making them accessible to a wider audience...”
Bert Noglik, Stereo
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James Emery
Location: Santa Fe
Instrument: Guitar, acoustic
