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Lew Soloff

A consummate fixture on the New York jazz scene, Lew Soloff’s career is filled with a rich history of renowned sessions and world-class collaborations. From the time he eased into the east coast world of trend setting musicians in the mid 1960s, Soloff’s creative ventures have resulted in a respected body of work that places him in a category of true accomplishment and keeps his elegant and lyrical signatures in constant demand. Whether interpreting a standard or improvising on an original composition, his phrasing and note choices exemplify his unique voice. Soloff is known as a virtuoso with tremendous range and superior technical command, yet he exudes a wisdom for quietness and melody. Soloff’s expertise includes trumpet, flugelhorn, harmon mute, plunger mute and he is particularly recognized for his work on piccolo trumpet.

Soloff’s current schedule of engagements provides a varied platform for his music. Reaching back to his roots in Latin music, Lew Soloff And The Afro Cuban Ensemble is creating excitement around New York City. One of his early mentors was the acclaimed Cuban bandleader Machito and the lessons learned in that context have become an integral part of Soloff's repertoire. Stepping into the Gillespie tradition of melding American jazz and African-based Cuban rhythms, Soloff adds his own signature to this exciting ensemble, which features timbales, congas, electric bass and keyboards with traditional Cuban-style vocal harmonies. “This is one of the most wonderful bands I have ever played with, full of fire and beauty and capable of going in many directions,” explains Soloff. “When I was 21 and first came to New York I was very lucky to work with Machito, one of the best Afro-Cuban bands around. To top things off, the musical director was the great Cuban instrumentalist Mario Bauzá.”

The Lew Soloff Quartet, an all-star unit, which tours Europe regularly, features Jean-Michel Pilc (piano), Billy Hart (drums) and François Moutin (upright bass). Besides work with his quartet and the Afro-Cuban Ensemble, he is a regular in Carla Bley’s Big Band and remains a founding member, along with leader David Matthews of The Manhattan Jazz Quintet (with 30 recordings to their credit and a faithful following in Japan). Alumni of the quintet reads likes a who’s who of New York’s jazz elite; Steve Gadd, George Young, Charnett Moffett, Eddie Gomez, John Pattitucci, Dave Weckl, Peter Erskine, Danny Gottlieb, Bill Evans and Victor Lewis. Soloff is also part of Matthews’ Manhattan Jazz Orchestra, whose body of work includes nearly 20 album releases.

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5
Album Review

Blood Sweat & Tears: What The Hell Happened to Blood Sweat & Tears?

Read "What The Hell Happened to Blood Sweat & Tears?" reviewed by Doug Collette


The title of this release might rightfully be applied at various junctures of Blood Sweat & Tears' career, but for the purposes of this project, it's particularly apropos to the group's State Department-sponsored tour of 1970 behind the Iron Curtain. Innuendo about this band's hip cachet or lack thereof arising from this jaunt--the main premise of the film devoted to the occasion--becomes moot in hearing the 69 plus minutes of performances in Yugoslavia, Romania and Poland, from whence comes the ...

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Album Review

Christian McBride: The Movement Revisited

Read "The Movement Revisited" reviewed by Chris May


The spring 2020 release of The Movement Revisited: A Musical Portrait Of Four Icons is the latest chapter in Christian McBride's inspirational salute to the African American civil rights movement and to four of its heroes: Dr. Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali. Embracing big band jazz, small group jazz, gospel, funk and chorale musics, together with spoken word passages, the suite employs an eighteen-piece band, the ten-piece Voices Of The Flame gospel choir, two lead ...

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Album Review

Lew Soloff and the Harmonie Ensemble New York: Sketches Of Spain

Read "Sketches Of Spain" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay


Trumpeter Lew Soloff, and the Harmonie Ensemble New York, conducted by Steve Richman, release their version of Sketches Of Spain 50 years after Miles Davis' original Columbia recording. The 1960 version is accorded classic status by many, but Soloff and Richman have produced a worthy successor. So what's different? Well, one answer is “Not much." Soloff offers no radical reappraisal of the classic work. The album stays faithful to the Davis original: five tunes, each timed to ...

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Extended Analysis

Lew Soloff: Sketches Of Spain

Read "Lew Soloff: Sketches Of Spain" reviewed by Karl Ackermann


Lew SoloffSketches Of SpainSheffield Lab 2010 Sometimes it feels as though trumpeter Miles Davis never left the stage--his afterlife in airplay, books, t-shirts, reissues and tributes is ubiquitous. But even for those jazz fans who would rather not languish in nostalgia, Davis, like saxophonist John Coltrane, continues to set a standard against which to gauge a whole range of jazz styles, from traditional through fusion to avant-garde. Cover versions of Davis typically ...

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Album Review

Lew Soloff: With a Song in My Heart

Read "With a Song in My Heart" reviewed by Dave Hughes


With a Song in My Heartis a mellow, straight-ahead jazz quartet date. Soloff is full of expressiveness and solo ideas, and his session mates provide understated, sensitive support. Mulgrew Miller turns in some excellent solos, particularly on "I'm a Fool to Want You." The program is a blend of four standards, a couple classical pieces, and a couple Soloff originals. The Tchaikovski piece is especially interesting; Rob Mounsey's expert arrangement distills the essence of the symphony down to ...

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Recording

Trumpeter/Composer/Arranger/Big Band Leader Bill Warfield Pays Tribute To His Late Mentor, Colleague, & Friend, Trumpeter Lew Soloff," On "For Lew," Due Out March 9

Trumpeter/Composer/Arranger/Big Band Leader Bill Warfield Pays Tribute To His Late Mentor, Colleague, & Friend, Trumpeter Lew Soloff," On "For Lew," Due Out March 9

Source: Terri Hinte Publicity

Bill Warfield’s career as a trumpeter was launched the moment he heard Lew Soloff’s immortal solo on the Blood, Sweat & Tears hit “Spinning Wheel.” “It just completely knocked me out,” says Warfield, who was 18 at the time and gigging as a pianist, having given up hope of earning a living as a horn player due to dental problems. “I’d never heard anything like it. I decided at that point that I wanted to play the trumpet again.” Eventually, ...

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Event

Musicians Join Together To Honor Lew Soloff

Musicians Join Together To Honor Lew Soloff

Source: Michael Ricci

A prestigious group of the jazz world's finest players will pay tribute to their colleague, legendary trumpet player Lew Soloff (Feb. 20, 1944-Mar 8, 2015) on Monday, June 8, 2015 at the John C. Borden Auditorium, located at the Manhattan School of Music (MSM). This event is free to the public and begins at 7:00 p.m. Doors open at 6:15pm. MSM and the Borden Auditorium are located at 120 Claremont Avenue (entrance on West 122nd Street, just steps West of ...

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Obituary

Lew Soloff dies at 71; trumpet player for Blood, Sweat and Tears

Lew Soloff dies at 71; trumpet player for Blood, Sweat and Tears

Source: Michael Ricci

Lew Soloff, a trumpet player who was an early member of Blood, Sweat and Tears and whose jazz career included performances with his own ensembles and with Gil Evans, Ornette Coleman, Chuck Mangione, Maynard Ferguson and other giants of the genre, has died. He was 71. Soloff suffered an apparent heart attack as he walked down a New York City street Saturday night with his daughter Laura Solomon, her husband, and their children. He died early Sunday, Solomon said. Soloff ...

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Obituary

Lew Soloff, 1944-2015

Lew Soloff, 1944-2015

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey

The sad notes keep coming. Trumpeter Lew Soloff died early today. His daughter, Laura Solomon, reported on her Facebook page that Soloff was with her and her family on their way home from a New York restaurant when he collapsed with a massive heart attack. He was 71. Born in jny: New York City, a trumpeter from age 12, Soloff developed into a stalwart in jazz who was also in demand in New York’s studios. He reached his greatest general ...

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Performance / Tour

Joe Caro, Adam Holzman, Andy Snitzer, Anton Fig, Conrad Korsch, Lew Soloff And Randy Brecker Live At Drom, NYC June 6th Presented By Innsbruck Records

Joe Caro, Adam Holzman, Andy Snitzer, Anton Fig, Conrad Korsch, Lew Soloff And Randy Brecker Live At Drom, NYC June 6th Presented By Innsbruck Records

Source: Roman Klun

In the New York City underground scene, Joe Caro led an allstar band which included trumpeter Chris Botti, saxman Lenny Pickett, Late show drummer Anton Fig, bassist Will Lee, trumpeter Randy Brecker and saxman Andy Snitzer among several other notables performing every Tuesday night at the NYC club, The Metropolitan Café. What started out as a two week gig, continued for eight years and became the home base for many New York City session musicians at a time when New ...

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Event

Lew Soloff Performs with New Ensemble in Boston on September 26

Lew Soloff Performs with New Ensemble in Boston on September 26

Source: Cheryl White

The Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline, Mass. will present Evidence: A Jazz Creation, a multi-layered live performance featuring trumpet virtuoso Lew Soloff, bassist François Moutin, and vocalist and cellist Anne Sila, in collaboration with LA-based dancer and choreographer Courtney Giannone, on Monday, September 26 at 7:30pm. Hailed for his tremendous range and superior technical command, Soloff has performed with a remarkable array of talent, including mentors Gil Evans and Machito, Joe Henderson, Maynard Ferguson, Mel Lewis, Thad Jones, Clark Terry, ...

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Book / Magazine

New Jazz Book Includes Interviews with Trumpeters Mark Rapp, Terence Blanchard, Lew Soloff, Freddie Hubbard, Chris Botti and more

New Jazz Book Includes Interviews with Trumpeters Mark Rapp, Terence Blanchard, Lew Soloff, Freddie Hubbard, Chris Botti and more

Source: Mark Rapp

How Jazz Trumpeters Understand Their Music: Twenty-Seven Interviews 1. Vince DiMartino, 2. Kenny Wheeler, 3. Terence Blanchard, 4. Lew Soloff, 5. Rick Braun, 6. Freddie Hubbard, 7. Dave Douglas..., 11. Eddie Henderson, 12. Donald Byrd..., 14. Herb Alpert, 15. Wallace Roney..., 19. Brian Lynch, 20. Mark Isham..., 22. Chris Botti..., 25. Tim Hagans..., 27. Mark Rapp This work is one of the most complete collections of in-depth commentary on the state of jazz music today. These interviews illustrate the interplay ...

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Festival

FONT Music Presents Masterclasses with the great Lew Soloff, Dave Douglas and many others!

FONT Music Presents Masterclasses with the great Lew Soloff, Dave Douglas and many others!

Source: All About Jazz

FONT Music Presents SEMINAR Week-A Week of Masterclasses and Concerts, At The Yamaha Artist Services Center-August 22-27 Masterclasses begin at 1:00 PM; concerts begin at 8:00 PM.  Single masterclass or concert - $10, masterclass & concert - $15, 689 Fifth Avenue, New York City Our mission to bring forth a varied and comprehensive educational opportunity is reflected by those who will teach and perform during the “Seminar Week' portion of the Festival of New Trumpet Music.     August 22 Masterclass: Lew ...

“One often chooses to listen on the presumption that it will transcend the infelicities of society, ameliorate anxiety or transport one to another emotional space. If this is the lift one seeks, the pleasures to be derived from the artful trumpet of Lew Soloff [With A Song In My Heart] are guaranteed.” —Zoë Ang, Bomb Magazine

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