Avram Fefer

Avram Fefer is a musical force to be reckoned with. He has led or co-led bands through ten highly regarded albums, and contributed to many more as a sideman. With a distinctive voice on alto, tenor, and soprano saxophones, as well as Bb and bass clarinet, he brings depth, intelligence, and soulfulness to every situation he's in. These include performances and recordings of straight-ahead and avant-garde jazz, as well as jazz-funk, West-African, modern orchestral music, and free jazz. His latest release, Eliyahu (NotTwo Records 2011), brings these varied passions and explorations into a beautiful unity, resulting in perhaps his best album yet.

Eliyahu (NotTwo Records 2011) is his tenth release as a leader and features his trio with long-time collaborators --- bassist Eric Revis and drummer Chad Taylor. Building on the strength of their previous release, Ritual ( Clean Feed Records 2009), Eliyahu brings their diverse influences together in a powerfully moving way that reinforces the group's status as one of the scene's preeminent sax-bass-drum trios. The compositions are memorable and infectious, yet brimming with improvisation. They feature deep and soulful groove, distinctive individual musicianship and sophisticated group interplay, resulting in an album that is both accessible and rewarding to the listener.

Their previous trio release, Ritual (2009), featured original compositions as well as group improvisations, and received rave reviews from critics and musicians alike.

Avram grew up on both coasts of the United States, received a liberal arts degree at Harvard University and studied music at Berklee College of Music and New England Conservatory. He then moved to Paris, France (1990) for several years where his music career officially began. During this time, he performed in Europe, Africa and the Mideast and was featured on diverse recordings, including by rap originators, the Last Poets (Scatterap/Home), and with jazz legend Archie Shepp on drummer Steve McCraven's Song of the Forest Boogeraboo [World McC Music]. He was also one of the founding members and featured soloists of the French “acid jazz” group, Beigels Daisy Toast, recording two top-selling CD's for Virgin France in 1994 and 95.

After spending the 1990’s as a soloist with a number of different groups, his first several recordings as a leader were singled out as among the Best of 2001 and Best of 2002 in publications such as Downbeat Magazine, Cadence magazine, the Village Voice, the Chicago Weekly Standard, and JazzPortugal. Now, with ten recordings as a leader or co-leader, Fefer has established a distinctive personal style reflecting his taste for adventure and experimentation while drawing on his command of the jazz tradition.

In New York, Fefer's diverse musical interests have kept him busy. In addition to his trio, he has been a part of several long-term musical collaborations:

**His four releases with 75 year old piano legend Bobby Few received both critical acclaim and international radio play, leading to several successful tours and a lasting musical partnership. Live and on record, these two consistently reconcile their mastery of the jazz tradition with their embrace of the avant-garde to create performances full of emotional power and musical sophistication.

**He has been a member of the quartet of bass virtuoso Michael Bisio (bassist of the Matt Shipp Trio) since 2004. They recorded four highly regarded CD's and delivered powerful performances in the U.S. and abroad, most notably at the Vision Festival XII (in NYC) and the CIMP Festival (in Austria).

** His inventive musicianship has also been consistently tapped by bassist and composer Adam Lane in various forms--- from trios and quartets to octets and big bands. Their recent CD's together include Ashcan Rantings (Clean Feed Records) and The Blue Spirit Band (CIMP).

**Greg Tate's Burnt Sugar has employed Avram's creative attributes to astonishing effect on numerous recordings and performances, as well as on several tours in the states and abroad. He played a vital part as both actor and musician in their recent collaboration with award-winning director Melvin Van Peebles in his theatrical production of Sweet Sweetback’s Baaadaaaas Song.

**His 6-piece psychedelic jazz-funk band, Electric Kool-Aid, has recently been wowing audiences all over Manhattan and will be going into the studio soon to record a much-anticipated debut album. Featuring original compositions and improvisations by some of NYC’s most creative groove players, the music has a variety of influences, including Ornette Coleman’s Primetime, Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew, Moroccan Gnawa music, and Stanley Turrentine.

Fefer has led numerous groups of his own with musicians like Reggie Washington, Roy Campbell, James Zollar, Curtis Fowlkes, Sean Conly, Ben Allison, William Parker, Tomas Ulrich, Kenny Wollesen, and Brad Jones. He has been featured in a number of large ensembles, including the David Murray Big Band, Butch Morris Orchestra, Joseph Bowie Big Band, Mingus Big Band, Frank Lacy's Vibe Tribe, the Rob Reddy Octet, Famoro Dioubate’s Kakande, and Adam Rudolph’s Organic Orchestra.

He has performed at clubs and festivals around the world, including the Montreal Jazz Festival, the Free Music Festival in Antwerp, Belgium, the Burlington Jazz Festival, the JVC Jazz Festival at Carnegie Hall, the Heineken Jazz Festival, the Verizon Jazz Festival, the Knitting Factory What is Jazz Festival, the Tel-Aviv Jazz Festival, the Williamsburg Jazz Festival, Sons D’Hiver in Paris, and the Casa del Popolo Festival in Montreal, among others.

In addition to performing, composing, and recording, Avram also maintains a thriving private teaching practice in downtown Manhattan which he enjoys tremendously.