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Roy Nathanson
Roy Nathanson has had a varied career as a saxophonist, composer, bandleader, poet, actor and teacher.
During the thirty years Nathanson has led the Jazz Passengers, the band has recorded 10 CDs and toured extensively. As primary composer for the band, Nathanson has written songs for a variety of singers including Elvis Costello, Deborah Harry, Jeff Buckley, Jimmy Scott and Mavis Staples. Nathanson also leads Sotto Voce, a band that investigates various relationships between text and music in performances and recordings.
His radio play, You’re The Fool, was performed and commissioned on NPR and his meditation on time, The Rock Concert, was commissioned by the Science Museum of the University of Wisconsin.
His first book of poetry Subway Moon is on Buddy’s Knife Editions and his poems have appeared in Natural Bridge, 5AM, the Brooklyn Rail and other publications. His non-profit organization, Subway Moon, connects teenage songwriter/musicians around the world with his Sotto Voce band in professional performances.
He has also collaborated in theatre and film with David Cale, Chantal Akerman, Peter Sollett and Ray Dobbins through composition, co-writing and acting. Nathanson has received two New York Foundation for the Arts composing awards, a Chamber Music America Award in composition and grants from the Rockefeller Foundation and NPR. He was a recipient of a Bessie Award and a Joseph Jefferson Award in Chicago. He has been featured in the NY Times, Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, The Brooklyn Rail, The Guardian, The London Independent and various other international publications.
He has been a guest lecturer/teacher at University of California, Berkley, Hampshire College, New England College MFA program and has run the music department at New York City’s Institute for Collaborative Education for 12 years.
Nathanson’s archives have recently been bought by NYU’s Fales Library for their permanent collection.
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Roy Nathanson, Leap Day Trio, Jimmy Rushing and a Lot More
by Jerome Wilson
This episode contains a wide range of jazz artists, from Roy Nathanson and the Leap Day Trio to Jimmy Rushing and Meredith d'Ambrosio. Playlist Henry Threadgill Sextett “I Can't Wait Till I Get Home" from The Complete Novus & Columbia Recordings of Henry Threadgill & Air (Mosaic) 00:00 Paul Smoker Notet “Goodbye, David II" from Cool Lives (Alvas) 00:56 Avram Fefer Quartet “Bedouin Dream" from Juba Lee (Clean Feed) 7:28 Host Speaks 15:10 Cathrine Legardh/Sigurdur Flosason “Empty Glasses" ...
Continue ReadingRoy Nathanson: Nearness And You, Duets and Improvisations
by John Sharpe
All the selections on Nearness And You come from saxophonist Roy Nathanson's June 2015 residency at the Stone in NYC, and feature a galaxy of current and past collaborators. Throughout his career, from the Lounge Lizards via the Jazz Passengers to Sotto Voce, Nathanson has brought an irreverent approach to the serious business of music making. Hoagy Carmichael's “The Nearness Of You" forms a golden thread that holds the program together. But as the reedman explains in the liners, it's ...
Continue ReadingRoy Nathanson: Nearness And You, Duets and Improvisations
by Mark Corroto
On saxophonist Roy Nathanson's 2009 disc Subway Moon (Yellowbird), he covers the R&B song “Love Train" a huge hit for The O'Jays in 1973. Nathanson's version was a relaxed take on the age old wish for world peace. By decelerating the music he accelerated the intimacy. He utilizes the same device on Nearness Of You, an album of duets and improvisations recorded with his friends and longtime playing partners during his 2015 residency at The Stone in New York.
Continue ReadingRoy Nathanson's Sotto Voce: Complicated Day
by Paolo Peviani
Roy Nathanson, Curtis Fowlkes, Sam Bardfeld... Non sono i Jazz Passengers, peraltro recentemente “Reunited," ma poco ci manca. Sono i Sotto Voce, band di cui Roy Nathanson è unico leader, e che si muove su territori simili a quelli dei Jazz Passengers ma con maggiore enfasi sull'orecchiabilità, sulle voci, sulla parola (tutti i brani dell'album sono cantati). L'approccio è quello consueto di Nathanson, che alterna composizioni originali a cover imprevedibili ("I Can See Clearly Now" di Johnny ...
Continue ReadingSubway Moon
by Jakob Baekgaard
Subway Moon Roy Nathanson Soft cover; 134 pages ISBN 978-3-00-025376-8 Buddy's Knife 2009
Poetry, like music, is about movement. Both art forms move from one note, or word, to another, trying to catch the essence of the moment. Saxophonist and composer Roy Nathanson has long worked with both words and music, sometimes uniting the two as he did on Sotto Voce (Aum Fidelity, 2006). Subway Moon, however, represents the first ...
Continue ReadingRoy Nathanson: Subway Moon
by Mark F. Turner
If the expression “renaissance musician" existed in the dictionary, it would probably show a picture of saxophonist Roy Nathanson. The leader of the Jazz Passengers has undergone numerous artistic rebirths throughout his career as a member of The Lounge Lizards, performing with Debbie Harry, Elvis Costello, and Marc Ribot, composing for film and theater, acting, teaching, and even hosting a radio drama. He also holds a degree in poetry, which is put to splendid use on Subway Moon. Inspired by ...
Continue ReadingRoy Nathanson: Subway Moon
by Joel Roberts
Subway Moon, alto saxophonist Roy Nathanson's ambitious new album of jazz and spoken word, defies easy categorization. It mixes an accessible brand of avant-garde jazz with R&B, hip hop, Jewish music and multi-vocal harmonies; poignant biographical revelations with humorous observations of urban life; high-art concept with a gritty New York street sensibility. This eclecticism should come as no surprise to those who've followed the co-founder of the playfully experimental Jazz Passengers through his collaborations with Elvis Costello and Deborah Harry ...
Continue ReadingCenter for Jazz Studies at Columbia University Presents Conversations with Composers: Roy Nathanson
Source:
Yulanda Denoon
The Center for Jazz Studies at Columbia University presents its Conversations Series, through which the Center's renowned faculty will engage leading composer Roy Nathanson in a reflection on the role of improvisation in his creative life. Roy Nathanson is a composer, saxophonist, songwriter, poet, actor, and teacher. He is the leader and principal composer of the Jazz Passengers, a band that for the past 23 years has played the major festivals, toured Europe, and developed a remarkable repertoire of original ...
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Roy Nathanson Interview
Source:
All About Jazz
This interview is part of the book project “under your skin" which includes Interviews with: Anthony Braxton, Ornette Coleman, Chuck D - Public Enemy, Taj Mahal, Yusef Lateef, Melvin Gibbs, Bob James, Skip Mcdonald, Erika Stucky, Living Colour, Rhonda Smith, Dj Rob Swift, Marilyn Crispell, Dick Griffin, Billy Bang, Kahil El Zabar, Michael Ricci - All About Jazz, Val-Inc, Chico Freeman, Esperanza Spalding, Eddie Henderson, J. Mascis - Dinosaur ...
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Saxophonist Roy Nathanson Interviewed at AAJ
Source:
All About Jazz
Saxophonist Roy Nathanson was in one of the earliest versions of The Lounge Lizards, which he left to found The Jazz Passengers, a group that slowly morphed into his new ensemble, Sotto Voce. In between he also co-led a duo with keyboardist and composer, Anthony Coleman and released, among others, the ground-breaking album I Could've Been a Drum (Tzadik, 1997).
As an independent composer he also scored the work of monologue artist, David Cole. He also scored music for several ...
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'Possible Fireworks' - Jane Scarpantoni, John Hollenbeck, Roy Nathanson, Stomu Takeishi
Source:
All About Jazz
On Friday February 6 at 8 PM, BRIC Studio (Brooklyn Information and Culture) opens its spring season and its “Possible Fireworks" series with alternative-music cellis Jane Scarpantoni, jamming with drummer John Hollenbeck, saxophonist Roy Nathanson and bass player Stomu Takeishi. The concert is at BRIC Studio, 57 Rockwell Place (off Fulton Street), in the heart of Brooklyn's downtown cultural district (subway: IRT Nevins Street, BMT DeKalb Avenue). Tickets are $10.00 ($8.00 for students, TDF vouchers accepted) - Telephone: (718) 855-7882, ...
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