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Andrew Janak
Andrew Janak is the Instructor of Jazz Saxophone at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley and active saxophonist/composer/arranger/educator throughout the Midwest and Mountain West.
Andrew has shared the stage with jazz greats Randy Brecker, Jeff Hamilton, Phil Woods and Jimmy Heath. Recently he has worked with some of the Midwest’s finest jazz musicians such as Mitch Towne, Marcus Lewis, Peter Schlamb, Nebraska Jazz Orchestra, Bob Lark’s Alumni Band Band and the Tom Matta Big Band. Andrew has several creative projects specializing in original music such as the Andrew Janak Organ Trio, Andrew Janak and Wind Armada and the Andrew Janak Octet. He also has performed/recorded with national acts such as the Temptations, Aloe Blacc, Johnny Mathis, Wayne Brady, Michael Feinstein and Justin Townes Earle.
Also a prolific composer, some of Andrew’s compositions have been performed/recorded by groups around the United States including the UNL Jazz Orchestra with Victor Lewis, DePaul Jazz Ensemble with Randy Brecker, Bob Lark's Alumni Big Band and the Nebraska Jazz Orchestra. He was also a finalist for the ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Awards and received a Downbeat Outstanding Performance award for outstanding graduate college arrangement.
Dr. Janak is also an active scholar with research interests in jazz composition, jazz saxophone and jazz improvisation pedagogy. He has presented at the International Society of Jazz Arrangers and Composers (ISJAC) Symposium, North American Saxophone Alliance (NASA) Conference and the Jazz Education Network (JEN) Conference. Andrew graduated with a bachelors degree in music education from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, a masters of music in jazz composition from DePaul University, and a DMA in jazz studies/composition from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. His sophomore album No Second was released in 2024. Andrew joined the faculty of the University of Northern Colorado in Fall 2021 where he teaches applied jazz saxophone, jazz improvisation, jazz arranging and jazz theory.
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David 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 ReadingAndrew Janak: Borrowed Time
by Troy Dostert
Although Lincoln, Nebraska isn't yet ready to announce itself as a bona fide jazz mecca, it is home base for saxophonist Andrew Janak, who recently returned to his alma mater the University of Nebraska to pursue a doctoral degree in music after spending some time honing his craft in Chicago. Borrowed Time is his debut record with his group Wind Armada, a septet with which he performed a good deal while in Chicago via weekly gigs at Phyllis' Musical Inn ...
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