Primary Instrument: Percussion
“Percussionist Jeff Arnal’s balletic sense of time and imaginative deployment of colour have combined into a highly original concept.” (The Wire)
Jeff Arnal frequently performs and collaborates with a wide range of musicians and choreographers in the U.S. and Europe. Recent performances include: Ausland (Berlin), Berlin Exploratorium, deSingel (Antwerp), Festival of Music & Literature (Paris), German Nordwestradio - NDR (Bremen), Hallwalls (Buffalo NY), Music at the Anthology (NYC), Music Gallery (Toronto), Roulette (NYC), and Vision Festival XIII (NYC).
He studied orchestral percussion at the Peabody Conservatory and later drumset with visionary-percussionist Milford Graves. From 1993-1996 he studied composition and contemporary music with Stuart Saunders Smith. It was during this time that he began performing improvised music concerts pulling from his interests in new music, jazz and rock - setting into motion a life journey investigating sound, percussion and improvisation as composition.
Arnal has received grants and fellowships from ASCAP, Brooklyn Arts Council, Meet the Composer and Art Omi International. In 2010, he was endorsed by Istanbul Agop cymbals. His music can be heard on a number of independent record labels, including Tripwire with Lars Scherzberg & John Hughes (Creative Sources 2006, Oaksmus 2000), Transit with Seth Misterka, Nate Wooley & Reuben Radding (Clean Feed 2009 & 2005), Rogue States with Gordon Beeferman (Generate 2006), MEJA with Michael Evans (C3R 2006), Brookyn Mantra 7” with Ernesto Diaz-Inafante (Generate 2009) and with Dietrich Eichmann (Broken Research 2007 & Leo 2004).
New releases include: Silver Ash 7” with Aaron Dugan & Casey Block + Pail Bug with Astrid Weins, John Hughes & Dietrich Eichmann (Generate 2011).
Jeff has been active as an organizer of music, dance and multimedia events in the NYC music community since 2000. From 2001-2006 he was Co-Artistic Director of Improvised and Otherwise, an annual experimental music and dance festival in Brooklyn, NY. Between 2003-2007 he was curator of On The Way Out, a monthly music series in Brooklyn.
In a parallel life Jeff works as a modern dance accompanist and teaches percussion. His collaborations with choreographers have been produced at PS 122, Joyce SoHo, Danspace Project at St. Mark's Church, The Chocolate Factory and Judson Church.
Arnal holds a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies: Music Composition and Filmmaking from the University of Maryland and an MFA in Music from Bennington College.
