Home » Jazz Musicians » Gordon Au

Gordon Au

Since graduating from the Monk Institute, widely renowned as the highest-level jazz education program in the world, Gordon has been making waves in both traditional and modern jazz circles, all from his home base in New York City. His unique creative voice blends influences that span a full century: from the traditional/early jazz of Louis Armstrong and Bix Beiderbecke to the modern jazz of the new millenium.

BACKGROUND As an undergraduate, Gordon studied jazz composition and performance at Berklee College of Music, where he recorded with Danilo Perez, co-arranged and recorded with Tiger Okoshi, and performed with Max Weinberg, Jimmy Heath, Makoto Ozone, Bob Mintzer, George Garzone, and Ralph Peterson. Under the tutelage of Joe Lovano, George Garzone, Joanne Brackeen, Hal Crook, Tiger Okoshi, Phil Wilson, Ed Tomassi, and Dave Santoro, among others, Gordon graduated in 2007 with a full scholarship and top departmental awards in both jazz composition and performance.

Following Berklee, Gordon was selected as one of just seven fellows at the inaugural New Orleans class of the Thelonious Monk Institute for Jazz Performance, where, under the artistic direction of Terence Blanchard, he and his colleagues honed their skills at performing, composing, and teaching. They gave concerts, clinics, and private lessons in Louisiana as well as around the globe, including New Delhi, Mumbai, the Panama Jazz Festival, and Hollywood. Through the Institute, Gordon studied and performed with some of greatest living masters of jazz and beyond: Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Chaka Khan, Zakir Hussain, George Benson, Ravi Shankar, Shankar Mahadevan, Brian Blade, George Duke, Ron Carter, Benny Golson, Danilo Perez, Lewis Nash, Ellis Marsalis, Buster Williams, Nicholas Payton, John Scofield, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Jimmy Heath, Kenny Barron, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Terri Lyne Carrington, Steve Coleman, Barry Harris, Kurt Elling, Nnenna Freelon, James Genus, Kendrick Scott, Brice Winston, and artistic director Terence Blanchard.

TRADITIONAL/EARLY JAZZ While at the Monk Institute, Gordon co-founded the New Orleans Moonshiners, a group described in the press as "a trad jazz band with new souls" that has "taken the area by storm, gaining a huge fan base and lots of critical acclaim," and had their east coast debut at Lincoln Center in 2010. Their second album, including four of Gordon's originals, was nominated for traditional jazz album of the year by New Orlean's Offbeat magazine. In New York, Gordon leads the Grand St. Stompers, a traditional jazz band that performs around the nation. On the west coast, Gordon frequently appears as guest artist at jazz festivals and as leader of the Au Brothers Jazz Band. In addition, Gordon maintains a busy schedule playing at concerts, dances, festivals, exchanges, and camps, with popular groups including Vince Giordano & the Nighthawks, Gordon Webster, Baby Soda, Tamar Korn & Friends, and Glenn Crytzer.

Read more

Tags

5
Catching Up With

Gordon Au: Untraditionally Mad About Trad

Read "Gordon Au: Untraditionally Mad About Trad" reviewed by Nicholas F. Mondello


Gordon Au draws upon a palette ranging from the traditional jazz of Louis Armstrong to the modern jazz of today. In New York, Gordon leads the Grand St. Stompers, a traditional jazz band called “a pillar of New York's hot jazz scene" by The New York Times, and appears with the Grammy-winning Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks, the Louis Armstrong Eternity Band at Birdland, Dandy Wellington, and others. He is in demand around the country as a soloist (International Trumpet ...

Read more articles
"Comfortable in any idiom and fearless." - Michael Steinman, Jazz Lives
Primary Instrument

Trumpet

Location

New York City

Willing to teach

Beginner to advanced

Credentials/Background

Gordon is available in the greater New York City area for private lessons and other teaching engagements. For over a decade, he has taught private lessons, sectionals, ensembles, clinics, and school assemblies, at music camps, public schools, colleges, and jazz festivals worldwide, and helped students ranging from early grade school to adult professionals to unlock their full potential as musicians. Instruction topics can be customized for virtually any level and age group, and can include: jazz improvisation, trumpet and brass technique, jazz piano, ensemble playing, jazz fundamentals, jazz theory, specific styles (classical, traditional jazz, bebop, modern jazz, fusion, latin), composition/arranging, ear training. Gordon is a graduate of both the renowned Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance (M.M.) and Berklee College of Music (B.A. in Jazz Composition), where he studied with jazz legends such as Terence Blanchard, Wayne Shorter, Brian Blade, Ron Carter, Benny Golson, Danilo Perez, Lewis Nash, Ellis Marsalis, Buster Williams, Nicholas Payton, John Scofield, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Kenny Barron, Terri Lyne Carrington, Steve Coleman, Barry Harris, Joe Lovano, George Garzone, Tiger Okoshi, and Hal Crook. His professional credits include touring internationally with Herbie Hancock, Chaka Khan, and George Duke; performing with Wayne Shorter, George Benson, Terence Blanchard, Ellis Marsalis, Zakir Hussain, and Max Weinberg; writing for Terence Blanchard, Tiger Okoshi, and Chaka Khan; and recording with Danilo Perez. For more information and a list of present and past teaching engagements, please visit GordonAuMusic.com.

Clinic/Workshop Information

Read more

Photos

Concerts

Videos

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.