Born: September 4, 1978 Primary Instrument: Sax, alto
Over the past several years, alto saxophonist Patrick Cornelius has emerged as an exciting and dynamic new voice in the New York jazz scene. An instrumental virtuoso who counts Charlie Parker, Louis Armstrong, Wayne Shorter, Claude Debussy, and Peter Gabriel among his greatest influences, Patrick has made a name for himself as an emerging artist with seemingly limitless potential.
The son of a highly decorated US Air Force officer, Patrick was raised in such diverse locales as Germany, Georgia, Texas, and Great Britain. His parents took great pains to nurture his deep love and appreciation for the fine arts from an early age, exposing him and his brothers to the theater, concerts, museums, poetry readings, and classic literature. Patrick began studying the piano at the age of 5, and gravitated towards the alto saxophone as a teenager, shifting his musical focus from the works of Debussy, Grieg, and Bartok, to the sounds of Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, and John Coltrane. He cut his teeth playing local gigs around his native San Antonio while still in high school, before attending both Berklee College of Music and The Manhattan School of Music on full scholarships for undergraduate and graduate studies respectively. More recently, Cornelius garnered back-to-back Young Jazz Composer awards from ASCAP in 2005, 2006, and 2007, and completed an Artist Diploma from the world famous Juilliard School.
Patrick’s latest album Maybe Steps, which releases this September on Posi-Tone, takes its title from a tune Patrick first recorded for his last album Fierce (2010‘s trio outing), and combines old and new works into a deeply introspective tone poem, by far his most ambitious. The quintet format from Cornelius’ first album Lucid Dream is back, as is drummer Kendrick Scott, joined by bassist Peter Slavov, another former Berklee classmate, pianist Gerald Clayton, and guitarist, composer and iconoclast Miles Okazaki, whom Cornelius met during post-graduate studies at Juilliard, and describes as “an incredibly intellectual and compositional improviser, yet really swinging and earthy at the same time.” Nine of Maybe Steps' eleven tunes are originals (Kurt Weil/George Gerschwin and George Shearing penned the remaining two) and many are programmatic, representing life events from the birth of Cornelius' daughter to the day he proposed marriage to his wife. Maybe Steps’ willingness to show vulnerability is its greatest strength. While Cornelius’ last recording Fierce was about the alto, Maybe Steps is about the altoist.
But the defining theme of Cornelius' career is not how he felt facing the various “big decisions” in his life, but that he did face them. His albums showcase the pursuit of an individual voice by any means necessary and a keen understanding of what makes him unique.
Cornelius, whose bands have in recent years been featured at venues such as Ronnie Scott's, London Jazz Festival, and Pizza Express in London, and The Blue Note, The Rubin Museum, The Jazz Gallery, Smalls, and The Bar Next Door in New York, continues to be one of New York's most respected up-and-coming young jazz musicians. Maybe Steps releases this September on Posi-Tone Records.
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“...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”thoughtful, considered and reflective”collection of lovely tunes.” --Bruce Lindsay, All About Jazz 18/10/2010
Maybe Steps
Posi-Tone Records
2011
Tracks: Christmas Gift, Maybe Steps, Bella's Dreaming, Brother Gabriel, Shiver Song, Into the Stars, A Day Like Any Other, Echoes From Summer, My Ship, Conception, Le RendezVous Final
Personnel: Patrick Cornelius: Alto Saxophone; Gerald Clayton: Piano; Miles Okazaki: Guitar; Peter Slavov: Bass; Kendrick Scott: Drums; Assen Doykin: Guest Pianist
Fierce
Whirlwind Recordings
2010
Tracks: Fierce; Hopscotch; Maybe Steps; Two Seventy-Eight; First Dance; The Incident; Home with You; One Thing; New Blues
Personnel: Patrick Cornelius: Alto Saxophone; Michael Janisch: Bass; Johnathan Blake: Drums; Nick Vayenas: Valve Trombone; Mark Small: Tenor Saxophone
Lucid Dream
Self-Released
2006
Tracks: This Chair is Broken; Winds of Change; Pretty Self-Explanatory; Billie's Bounce; Alone Now; The Woods; Don't Give Up; April Rain
Personnel: Patrick Cornelius: Alto, Soprano Saxophones; Aaron Parks: Piano; Sean Conly: Bass; Kendrick Scott: Drums; Nick Vayenas: Valve Trombone; Gretchen Parlato: voice
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Primary Instrument:
Sax, alto
Location:
Astoria, NY
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
Clinic/Workshop Information:
I have given workshops and seminars on the following topics
- Saxophone performance and practice techniques
- Improvisation techniques, ensemble interaction, and original
composition
- Musical Entrepreneurship and career development
- A Life in Music: practicing, performing, teaching, and
composing
Soprano: 1995 Selmer, Bari .65 rubber mouthpiece, Java #3.5 reeds
Tenor: 1939 Selmer, B&N Rubber Custom mouthpiece, Rico Jazz Select #4 soft
