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Jay Sawyer

Born in Grand Rapids, MI, Jay Sawyer has studied jazz drumming with several outstanding and well-respected jazz artists. Among them, the great Billy Hart, Tim Froncek, Keith Hall and Dana Hall. Each nurtured his passion and skill for the art of jazz percussion. As a student at Western Michigan University, Jay performed with the well-known WMU Jazz Orchestra and Jazz Nonet under the direction of Professors Trent Kynaston and Scott Cowan. These groups toured extensively and participated in several well-known jazz festivals that include the Notre Dame, Elmhurst and Detroit Jazz Festivals. Jay continued his studies as Graduate Assistant to Dana Hall while at The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. There he got work with such artists as Chip McNeill, Chip Stephens, Jim Pugh, Tito Carillo, Glenn Wilson, Ron Bridgewater, Dana Hall and many others. Jay received his Bachelors of Music from Western Michigan University and his Masters of Music from The University of Illinois. He has performed or shared the stage with artists such as Stefon Harris, Donny McCaslin and many others. He has also performed at the Detroit and Chicago Jazz Festivals as well as many other prominent venues around the USA. Jay currently resides in New York City.

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33
Album Review

Russell Kranes/Alex Levine/Sam Weber/Jay Sawyer: Anchor Points

Read "Anchor Points" reviewed by Jack Bowers


No leader is given on Anchor Points, simply the names of the four musicians who comprise the group on its debut recording. This is truly a co-op enterprise by jazz artists who have been performing together for a number of years in and around the New York City area. The studio session is divided roughly in half, with four numbers by a quartet balancing four others by a drummerless trio, a nod to similar groups once led ...

10
Album Review

Itamar Borochov: Arba

Read "Arba" reviewed by Jerome Wilson


Trumpeter Itamar Borochov is originally from the Middle East but is part of the New York jazz scene. He plays a quarter-tone trumpet which helps bring an unusual expressiveness and calm to his sound, This is well-suited to the music he plays which is steeped in the chords and scales of the Mediterranean area where he grew up. Tracks such as “Abraham" and “What Broke You?" spotlight the ethereal beauty of Borochev's sound as he broods over Rob ...

7
Album Review

Tito Carrillo: Urbanessence

Read "Urbanessence" reviewed by Paul Rauch


Trumpeter Tito Carillo's second bite of the apple on Origin was more than a decade in the making, following up his outstanding first release, Opening Statement (Origin, 2011). With Urbanessence (Origin, 2022), the Chicago-based artist is truly up to the task, producing a work which is an homage to everyday life in the city. The narrative makes the point that cities are home to creators, visionaries and an army of people who are motivated by the hope they provide. Cities ...

36
Album Review

Tito Carrillo: Urbanessence

Read "Urbanessence" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Urbanessence, the second album as leader from Chicago-area trumpeter, composer and educator Tito Carrillo, is a rhythmic showcase for ten of his buoyant original compositions, all of which embody his love of BAM (Black American Music) and the lyric legacy of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Brazil and Peru. Carrillo, a bold and burnished improviser from the Freddie Hubbard-Lee Morgan-Donald Byrd school of hard bop, shares the front line with the energetic and versatile saxophonist Troy Roberts (who plays ...

Album Review

Caroline Davis & Rob Clearfield PERSONA: Anthem

Read "Anthem" reviewed by Neri Pollastri


Disco di jazz moderno composto tutto da originali, con l'esclusione di “Miss Ann," omaggio a Eric Dolphy, Anthem ruota attorno alle personalità dei due leader, la sassofonista Caroline Davis e il pianista Rob Clearfield. Entrambi non ancora quarantenni, i due non sono ancora artisti di primissimo piano, ma hanno alle spalle diversi album a proprio nome e vantano collaborazioni interessanti: la Davis era ospite nell'ultimo disco pubblicato da Lee Konitz prima della scomparsa, Old Song New; Clearfield lo abbiamo apprezzato ...

23
Album Review

Tomoko Omura: Branches Vol. 1

Read "Branches Vol. 1" reviewed by Friedrich Kunzmann


Violinists come in many shapes, colors and sizes. In jazz, there are those who bridge the gap between classical music and a more improvised repertoire seamlessly, as seen with pioneers such as American avant-gardist Mark Feldman. There are others who go about their craft with a more rootsy approach to the improvised music tradition—as heard with virtuosos like Regina Carter. And then of course there's everything in between, from old guard veterans like Stephane Grappelli (also known as ...

3
Album Review

Nicholas Brust: Frozen In Time

Read "Frozen In Time" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky


Want to hear somebody who means business? Just listen to Nicholas Brust deftly drive through Frozen In Time's opener, “Work Ahead." That initial offering on this, the alto saxophonist's full-length debut, explores the travails and triumphs of breaking into the jazz world in New York. Judging by the way Brust burns, flows and blows the doors wide open with his playing, it would seem that he is making significant inroads in that area. An Eastman and New ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Break (Single)

Tiger Turn
2023

buy

Arba

Greenleaf Music
2023

buy

Anchor Points

OA2 Records
2023

buy

Falling

Tiger Turn Productions
2022

buy

Urbanessence

Origin Records
2022

buy

Unstuck in Time: The...

Sunnyside Records
2022

buy

Feint

From: Anchor Points
By Jay Sawyer

Break

From: Break (Single)
By Jay Sawyer

Bokonon

From: Unstuck in Time: The Kurt...
By Jay Sawyer

Momentum

From: Urbanessence
By Jay Sawyer

Orpheus

From: Falling
By Jay Sawyer

Sisyphus

From: Falling
By Jay Sawyer

Let's Fall

From: Falling
By Jay Sawyer

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