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Duane Andrews
"Where Django's Gypsy Jazz meets Newfoundland Trad."
About Me
Press Quotes
�the music might be best described as Folk music played by a top Jazz guitarist and the result is refreshing and stunning. Highly recommended.� --Folkworld Magazine, Germany
�...startlingly good...� --NOW Magazine, Toronto
�Congratulations to Duane Andrews for his successful blending of two disparate worlds into a cohesive and very musical experience.� --Whole Note Magazine, Canada
Heavily influenced by the brilliance of early twentieth century French Gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt, Duane Andrews� unique blend of jazz and folk music is consistently recognized by both industry and fans with awards and accolades.
Bio
A virtuosic guitarist, Duane melds traditional Newfoundland music with it's mix of French, Irish, Portuguese and English influences with Manouche (Gypsy Jazz) in the same way that Django Reinhardt infused Jazz with Gypsy melody.
An award winning multi-instrumentalist, record producer and filmmaker, Andrews has worked with a variety of artists including Canadian Jazz legends such as Mike Murley and Doug Riley, Folk icon Ken Whiteley, Icelandic guitarist Bjorn Thoreddson, Afro-Newfoundland group Mopaya, Irish fiddle master Seamus Creagh and the Chieftains to name a few. From his home in Newfoundland he has literally toured around the world with stops at the Ten Days on the Island Festival in Tasmania, the Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island and the Montreal Jazz Festival.
A graduate of the Jazz Studies program at St.FXU (BA Music, Honours), Duane spent several years studying music composition initially at the Conservatoire International de Paris with Michel Prady and eventually with Georges Boeuf and Regis Campo at the Conservatoire National de Region in Marseille, France.
It was during his time in France that Reinhardt's music had a profound impact on Duane. Upon returning to his home province of Newfoundland and Labrador in 2002 Duane began fusing traditional Newfoundland music with Reinhardt�s style and his own original compositions. This work resulted in the 2004 release of his dynamic debut solo CD, simply titled, Duane Andrews and the 2006 release of his latest recording �Crocus�.
He is currently in the production stage of his third full length album which is set for release in early July 2008.
Awards
USA Songwriting Competion
2007 Jazz Category Winner
Independent Music Awards
2007 Jazz Album Award
ECMA
2007 Jazz Album of the Year Award
2006 Instrumental Album of the Year Award, Male Artist Nominee
2005 Jazz Album of the Year Award, Emerging Artist Nominee
Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council
2006 Emerging Artist of the Year Award
MusicNL
2006 Jazz/Blues Artist of the Year Award
2004 Jazz/Blues Artist of the Year Award
Rising Star Nominee
International Songwriting Competition
2006 �A Birch Broom In The Fits� received Honourable Mention in the Instrumental category
Canadian Folk Music Awards
2007 Best World Artist (Solo) Nominee
2005 Best Instrumental Artist (Solo) Nominee
Best World Artist (Solo) Nominee
Pushing the Boundries Nominee
PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS
2007 Newport Folk Festival. Newport, RI
2007 10 Days on the Island. Tasmania, Australia
2006 Rochester Jazz Festival. Rochester, NY
2006 Festival La Grande Rencontre. Montreal, QC
2005 Montreal Jazz Festival. Montreal, QC
2005 Sunfest. London, ON
2004 Halifax International Celtic Feis. Halifax , NS
2004 MusicNL Rising Star Tour. Throughout NL