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Jacob Varmus
Evolving parallel to his love of music was an interest and talent in using language artistically thru poetry, critical essays, and autobiographical stories. In high school he won awards for poetry and sports journalism (an avid San Francisco Giants fan) as well as music. His first year of college, Jacob was admitted to the undergraduate Iowa Writers Workshop for poetry where he studied closely with MacArthur grant recipient Jorie Graham. At Iowa he also had the good fortune of studying with classical trumpet virtuoso David Greenhoe.
An initiation to the music and mastery of John Coltrane, as well as inspiring lessons with progressive trumpeter (and Iowa alum) Paul Smoker led Varmus to focus primarily on learning jazz music to the fullest. In 1994 he decided to move to New York to finish his BFA at the New School Jazz program where he received timeless lessons from a long list of artists including Arnie Lawrence and Billy Harper. Here he became known to his peers and elders as a composer of harmonically intricate yet compellingly simple and striking tunes.
In his senior year he was selected by the Jazz Composers' Collective to write a suite combining jazz quintet with string quartet which featured Ted Nash and Frank Kimbrough. Continuing with his interest in developing as a composer (and helping others do the same) he founded Workshop 39, a jazz composers' workshop in Long Island City, and found work as an incidental music composer for theater companies like Yankee Rep. In 2005 he won a commission from the Queens Council on the Arts to present 'Queensboro Plaza' a suite for jazz quintet drawing on the types of rhythmic cross currents associated with Steve Reich, a harmonic language close to Stravinsky's and Scriabin's, and the collective improvisation of early jazz.
Awards
First Place International Trumpet Guild Student Jazz Competition, 1994; KJA Jazz Advocate Top Ten Albums of the Year (All the Things We Still Can Be, 2006) Queens Council on the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs Grant for Queens Library Jazz Series, 2008 Banff Centre For the Arts scholarship, 2005 Queens Council on the Arts commission, 2005
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Jacob Varmus Septet: Aegean
by Dan Bilawsky
The existence of this album is firm proof that you never know just when or how a benefactor can come into view. Lifelong jazz fan Apostolos Georgopoulos was passing through upstate New York and he had the opportunity to spend a weekend with Connie Casey and Harold Varmus. Upon hearing some music at their home that piqued his interest, Georgopolous learned that their son, Jacob Varmus, was a jazz trumpeter. Then, after being exposed to Jacob Varmus' All The Things ...
read moreJacob Varmus: Terminal Stillness
by Dan Bilawsky
Jazz is always caught up in the idea of looking forward or backwards, but whatever happened to the idea of looking around? Much ado about movement--toward the future, the past, the next chord in the progression or the next stage of a career--often gets in the way of the simple act of creation. The jazz community, by-and-large, prefers the time-lapse version of music, but that doesn't mean that some within this tight-knit club aren't fond of stills. Take trumpeter Jacob ...
read moreJacob Varmus: All the Things We Still Can Be
by Dan McClenaghan
Some influences are readily apparent on trumpeter Jacob Varmus' debut disc, All the Things We Still Can Be, especially Chet Baker and Miles Davis, circa mid-'50s to mid-'60s. The set opens with a buoyant Varmus original, Ecstatic Little Porpoises." Varmus' tone is warm and round and a bit soft-tufted, like Baker's, as he blows a bright and engaging melody.The title tune explores gentle mid-tempo lyicism, while Untimely Intrusion" slips into darker territory, with an insistent rhythm and an ...
read moreJacob Varmus: All The Things We Still Can Be
by Michael P. Gladstone
On Jacob Varmus' debut recording he proves to be an exciting trumpeter, composer and bandleader. Hailing from San Francisco by way of the University of Iowa, Varmus originally planned to be a poet but was also drawn to the music of jazz trumpeters, of whom Chet Baker and Woody Shaw were early favorites. He has worked with local guitarist/bandleader Steve Grismore, gigged with Tom Harrell and studied with Iowa trumpeter Paul Smoker. Varmus placed first in the International Trumpet Guild's ...
read moreThe Jacob Varmus Quintet Every Tuesday at Cup in Queens, NY--Free!
Source:
Kari-On Productions
Jacob Varmus Quintet Every Tuesday 8-11PM Cup 35th Ave at 36th St. Astoria, Queens, NY 718-937-2322 Free To Public
The Jacob Varmus Quintet focuses on music that sounds natural without adhering to any theory or dictum--except perhaps Debussy's pleasure is the law." Varmus the composer favors the tradition of great jazz composers like Wayne Shorter and Thelonious Monk who have a penchant for creating pieces with ...
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Jacob Varmus Releases His New CD "Adhering To The Law Of Pleasure"
Source:
Kari-On Productions
Varmus Releases His New CD; All the Things We Still Can Be With an Adherence to Pleasure Is the Law The Jacob Varmus Quintet focuses on music that sounds natural without adhering to any theory or dictum--except perhaps Debussy's 'pleasure is the law'. Varmus the composer favors the tradition of great jazz composers like Wayne Shorter and Thelonious Monk who have a penchant for creating pieces with hummable, memorable melodies and an approach to harmony and texture that imbues the ...
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New Release by Jacob Varmus
Source:
All About Jazz
Jacob Varmus is pleased to announce the release of his 2004 recording All the Things We Still Can Be. It is the first mass-produced recording for Mr. Varmus as a leader and features five of his early compositions with an outstanding group including Toru Dodo (piano), Nate Radley (guitar), Yoshi Waki (bass), and Brian Woodruff (drums).
The silky-toned trumpeter and cornetist is a New School Jazz graduate and currently artistic director of Astoria Music Society's jazz concert series.
First also ...
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Primary Instrument
Cornet
Willing to teach
Advanced only