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Nate Birkey

Current Nate lives in New York City and has been working with some of the area’s finest musicians. His current quintet includes pianist Jim Ridl; saxophonist Sal Giorgianni; drummer Marko Marcinko; and bassist Tony Marino. Nate recorded two albums in 2008 (Almost Home and Christmas) ��" his 7th and 8th as a leader, and has a loyal and growing fan base across the United States, Canada and Europe.

As a studio musician Nate has appeared on over sixty different recordings, and has performed with among others, pianists Roger Kellaway, Gerald Clayton, Mark Soskin, Doug Carn and Steve Rudolph; saxophonists Phil Woods and Dave Liebman, drummers Bill Goodwin, Ignacio Berroa, and Mike Clark; and bassists Francoise Moutin and David Piltch. Nate recently opened for singer Diana Krall at the Santa Barbara Bowl; has made television appearances on ABC’s Good Morning America; has been invited to play at music festivals in Europe, Canada and the U.S., and has performed at such notable venues as Catalina’s in Hollywood; Birdland, Irving Plaza, 55 Bar, Kitano, Joe’s Pub and The Knitting Factory in New York City; Upstairs in Montreal; Yoshi’s in Oakland; Dazzle Jazz Club in Denver; Santa Barbara Bowl and SOhO in Santa Barbara; and Adagio Jazz Club in Savannah, GA.; as well as the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Los Angeles’ Getty Center, and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles.

Past Nate spent his early childhood in South Bend, Indiana before moving to Colorado at the age 10. He began studying piano at age six, but soon picked up the trumpet after discovering his father’s old cornet in the closet "I believe the instrument chose me - it felt more natural." Nate attended the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston where he studied Jazz performance and composition and later went on to study classical trumpet and composition at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Nate has recently received awards from the Santa Barbara Arts Fund and the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers.

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5
Album Review

Nate Birkey: Rome

Read "Rome" reviewed by Victor L. Schermer


With this listenable and relaxed album, trumpeter Nate Birkey joins with four excellent musicians he hooked up with while playing in Italy to deliver a set of mostly ballads in his signature style with introspective improvising, empathic warmth, and minimal vibrato. His playing here is reminiscent of Bix Beiderbecke, one of Chet Baker's formative influences. The band, consisting of Roberto Tarenzi and Manuel Magrini alternating on piano, Luca Bulgarelli on bass. and Alessandro Marzi on drums is well attuned to ...

9
Extended Analysis

Nate Birkey: Just a Closer Walk

Read "Nate Birkey: Just a Closer Walk" reviewed by Victor L. Schermer


Nate Birkey is a fine New York-based trumpeter who traveled a biographical route from childhood in Colorado to Boston's Berklee School of Music, then to various parts of the West Coast, living and working in the Los Angeles area for a while, and finally settling into the big-time jazz scene in NYC a few years ago. His travels are important, for they formed the foundation for an understanding of the American spirit that infuses his playing. He has made nine ...

411
Album Review

Nate Birkey: Christmas

Read "Christmas" reviewed by Victor L. Schermer


This may be the most laid back Christmas album ever. The more typical holiday records bring to mind sleigh-bells, snowmen, parties, families, caroling, mistletoe, chestnuts on an open fire, and fond memories of past holidays. What comes to mind in connection with Nate Birkey: Christmas are dry martinis, The New Yorker magazine, twilights by the ocean, and being half-asleep as embers glow in the fireplace. Even though the songs are mostly regulars for Christmas and New Years, the style provides ...

394
Album Review

Nate Birkey: Almost Home

Read "Almost Home" reviewed by Victor L. Schermer


This laid-back, mostly cool jazz album with echoes of the West Coast 1950s sound also bespeaks a certain dramatic intensity. Further, it invokes a shade of country blues as it goes along. Nate Birkey's trumpet and vocal renditions of both his own songs and some standards are enjoyable to hear, partly because they are strongly reminiscent of Chet Baker (with muted resonances to Miles Davis) while representing Birkey's own persona and interpretations, which possess a sincerity that contrasts with Baker's ...

380
Album Review

Nate Birkey: Shortest Day

Read "Shortest Day" reviewed by Florence Wetzel


Make way for Nate Birkey, a talented trumpeter/vocalist/composer who has been honing his talents in the Santa Barbara jazz scene and is now getting the national exposure he deserves. Birkey's latest release, Shortest Day , recorded live in 2004, showcases his considerable gifts and puts him front and center among jazz's most promising musicians. The CD is composed of eight tracks, an eclectic mix including Mingus' “Nostalgia in Times Square," the hymn “Abide with Me," “Tennessee Waltz," “You ...

174
Album Review

Nate Birkey: Ballads

Read "Ballads" reviewed by AAJ Staff


There is a mystical quality to Nate Birkey that manifests itself in both his vocals and Trumpet style. Birkey has been compared to both Miles Davis and Chet Baker, and his playing has more than a touch of the former and a whole lot of the latter. And Mr Birkey with a nod to his influences, adds his own message that makes this recording a most enjoyable endeavor.

“I'll Be Seeing You" Nice relaxed vocal. Trumpet solo ...

124
Album Review

Nate Birkey: The Mennonite and Ballads

Read "The Mennonite and Ballads" reviewed by Jim Santella


Based in Southern California, trumpeter Nate Birkey has been affiliated with both the mainstream and avant-garde scenes since he finished his studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The leader, who released both albums this year, grew up in Colorado, where he began studying piano at an early age and “fell in love with" his father's trumpet in the 5th grade. Birkey's cohesive band has been together for several years, and has learned to anticipate one another's actions. The ...

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• “Nate Birkey, he of mysterious charisma, subtle gossamer trumpet lines and understated voice, hunches over the microphone and leans into his phrases, shutting out the world.” ~ Josef Woodard, Los Angeles Times

�-� “This is where today's jazz should be. The tradition remains intact, while familiar elements from rock, pop, and world music serve to provide an avenue for growth.” ~ Jim Santello, All About Jazz

• “Too many jazz recordings today reflect attempts to squeeze the last drop of virtuosity and clever turns of phrase from the proud legacy of the idiom, mixing it with various flavors of classical and world music. This album is instead straightforwardly a man's expression of who he is, and that is the true essence of jazz. Eminently listenable, Almost Home is also a valid musical expression of the human heart.” ~ Victor Schermer, All About Jazz

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Primary Instrument

Trumpet

Willing to teach

Beginner to advanced

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Rome

Household Ink Records
2017

buy

Nate Birkey: Just a...

Household Ink Records
2014

buy

Nate Birkey: Just a...

Household Ink Records
2014

buy

Almost Home

Household Ink Records
2008

buy

Christmas

Household Ink Records
2008

buy

Water in My Hand

Household Ink Records
2005

buy

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