Patrick Cornelius

After 18 years in New York City, alto saxophonist and composer Patrick Cornelius has cultivated a substantial body of work as a composer and bandleader, and performed his original music in some of the world’s top jazz venues. Hailed as “self-assured" and “resourceful" by The New York Times, “Elegant" and “Extraordinary" by DownBeat Magazine (in whose annual Critics Poll he has been listed among the “Rising Stars" multiple times), and “Bold and Gifted," by All About Jazz, Cornelius’ discography of six albums as a leader (and two as co-leader) features established masters (like Jeff Ballard and Frank Kimbrough) as well as rising stars (including Gerald Clayton, Kendrick Scott, and Miles Okazaki).

As a composer, Cornelius has earned an array of awards and commissions, including four consecutive ASCAP “Young Composer Awards," (now Herb Alpert Award) and Chamber Music America’s “New Jazz Works" in 2012, and has been commissioned to compose and arrange original music for ensembles across the globe. Cornelius’ latest album, This Should Be Fun (Posi-Tone 2019) sees him coming to terms with who he is as a musician, and embracing his own aesthetic after a career of being many things at once. He is joined on the album by veteran musicians Ben Allison, John Escreet, Nick Vayenas, and Mark Ferber.

An active music pedagogue, Patrick (who received a Bachelor’s Degree from Berklee College of Music, a Masters Degree from The Manhattan School of Music, and an Artist Diploma from The Juilliard School), has appeared as visiting artist or guest lecturer at many international institutions, including The Royal Academy, the Birmingham Conservatoire, Guildhall, Hull University, Trinity College, and Edinburgh University in the United Kingdom, St. Mary’s University and UTSA in Texas, The Centro Culturale and San Jose University in Costa Rica, The University of North Carolina, The Juilliard School, and Snow College in Utah. He is currently an adjunct professor of saxophone at Snow College in Ephraim, Utah, and a music faculty member at The United Nations International School in New York City. He currently lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife, two children, and seven neon tetras.

Awards

ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Awards: 2005, 2006, 2007, and Honorable Mention 2008. Billboard Magazine Endowed Scholarship: 1999 Downbeat Student Music Award, Best High School Soloist: 1997

Gear

Alto: 1958 Selmer, Yanigisawa 7 Rubber mouthpiece, Rico Jazz Select #3 Hard Reeds
Soprano: 1995 Selmer, Bari .65 rubber mouthpiece, Java #3.5 reeds
Tenor: 1939 Selmer, B&N Rubber Custom mouthpiece, Rico Jazz Select #4 soft

Tags

Patrick Cornelius saxophone, alto

Album Review

Maybe Steps by Mark F. Turner
Maybe Steps by Bruce Lindsay
Maybe Steps by Dan Bilawsky
Infinite Blue by Edward Blanco
While We’re Still Young by Roger Farbey
While We’re Still Young by Vincenzo Roggero
This Should Be Fun by David A. Orthmann

“Patrick Cornelius has devoted the bulk of his second recording to original works. The seven examples given here show a dusky elegance that owes much to Wayne Shorter while retaining a unique identity.” — Forrest Dylan Bryant, JazzTimes

“...Enjoyable, clever music, which does interesting things with what it inherits from the jazz tradition... Well-schooled music, but music played with feeling, commitment and imagination,” — Glyn Pursglove, MusicWeb international

“...In an impressive debut by one of the new young lions of jazz, Patrick Cornelius crafts a captivating and engaging recording... Lucid Dream is a disc worth more than a listen and sure to garnish critical acclaim.” — Ed Blanco, eJazzNews

“Throughout [Lucid Dream], Cornelius and company are utterly in sync, interacting and supporting each other to make sophisticated but powerful music.” — Peter Hum, The Ottawa Citizen

“[Patrick’s] solo debut CD, "Lucid Dream," is packed with excellent original compositions plus a sharp rendition of Charlie Parker's "Billie's Bounce" and a couple of other covers. It's Cornelius' originals, however, that serve notice the reedman is ready. In the straight-ahead vein, the songs on "Lucid Dream" are imaginative and accessible.” — Jim Beal, San Antonio Express-News

“From beginning to end, this music is a satisfying mix of contemporary sounds.” —Mark F. Turner, AllAboutJazz.com

“What a wonderful recording; a truly finished product. Keep on taking chances!!!” —David Liebman, Jazz Icon

“This fine effort from Patrick Cornelius and company is aptly titled, as the music is both lucid (accessible, musically logical) and dream-like (filled with fantasy and invention)... taking the listener on a fulfilling tour led by a multi-talented artist on a star-bright trajectory.” —Andrea Canter, JazzPolice.com

“a bold and gifted sax player” —All About Jazz

“a dynamic New York altoist” —The Guardian

"A new American name to watch" — JazzWise Magazine

"[a] fluent soloist with full tones and bags of technique" — The Financial Times

"a self-assured young saxophonist in the postmodern mainstream" —Nate Chinen, The New York Times

"The music and performances are inspiringly creative and the musicians are fully committed to the task of performing cohesively as a unit" —Frank Bongiorno, Saxophone Journal

"compositional smarts and a centered warmth in his attitude mark him out" —Michael Jackson, Downbeat

"streamlined, precisely crafted and keenly contemporary, as well as, at times, very powerful." —Peter Him, Ottawa Citizen

"a confident, highly accomplished assertive musician with a strong take-no-prisoners sound." —Tony Hall, JazzWise Magazine 1/12/2010

"bold performances that are creative and, yes, occasionally fierce" —Dan Bilawsky, All About Jazz 14/10/2010

"a warm, inviting and often rather measured

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Primary Instrument

Saxophone, alto

Location

New York City

Credentials/Background

BM in Performance, Berklee College of Music, full scholarship, graduated 2000, Magna Cum Laude

MM in Jazz Studies, Manhattan School of Music, full scholarship, graduated 2006, Summa Cum Laude

Artist Diploma in Jazz Studies, The Juilliard School, full scholarship, graduated 2011

Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance (1999)

Studied with George Garzone, Hal Crook, Dick Oatts, Shannon LeClaire, Garry Dial, Justin DiCioccio, Ron Blake, Kenny Barron, Carl Allen, Rodney Jones, Greg Hopkins, Billy Pierce

Music faculty in saxophone at PolyPrep Country School in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn

Given private saxophone (all levels), jazz improvisation (all levels), flute (beginners), and piano (beginners) Since 1997 in Boston, Los Angeles, San Antonio, Washington DC, New York

Visiting artist in jazz and saxophone at St. Mary’s University (TX), UTSA (TX), Texas State University (TX), Royal Academy of Music (London), Edinburgh University (Scotland)

Workshops and clinics in jazz at public schools in New York, Washington DC, Los Angeles, San Antonio, London, Jersey City

Published author on jazz improvisation in Saxophone Journal