Born: August 3, 1986 Primary Instrument: Various
Remy and Pascal Le Boeuf (saxophone and piano) are part of a growing New York jazz scene characterized by odd time signatures, alternative rock, and the influences of artists such as Radiohead, Brian Blade and Kurt Rosenwinkel. What makes the 23-year-old Le Boeuf Brothers sparkle among other young jazz musicians is their uncanny ability to communicate with each other using their own secret musical language. This isn't surprising when you discover that Pascal and Remy Le Boeuf are identical twins.
In their short musical career, the Le Boeuf Brothers (pronounced “le buff”) have garnered an impressive tally of national and international awards and accomplishments, the most notable being the ASCAP/IAJE Commission honoring Quincy Jones, which premiered at the 2004 IAJE conference and featured tenor saxophonist Chris Potter. The Le Boeuf Brothers have also received awards from Downbeat Magazine, the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, and dominated the 2006 Independent Music Awards, winning Best Jazz Album and Best Jazz Song for their prior release “Migration”. Most recently, the track “Code Word” on their new album “House Without A Door” received 1st place in the International Songwriting Competition.
Upon graduating from the Manhattan School of Music in 2007, Remy and Pascal made the difficult decision to separate for a year. Pascal explains, “we decided it would be best for the two of us to pursue our individual interests for a year and share our knowledge with each-other upon reuniting.” This gave Remy the opportunity to develop multiple projects incorporating 20th century classical composition, while allowing Pascal a chance to travel around the U.S. and Canada, writing and collaborating with various artists for a soon to be released rock/electronica album under the alias “iPascal”.
The Le Boeuf Brothers have since reunited to record their most recent album “House Without A Door.” Described by the New York Times as an “impressively self assured new album… which reaches for the gleaming cosmopolitanism of our present era.” “It showcases their evermore-confident composing. While half of the album features a tough, young rhythm section of their musical peers, the other half finds the twins keeping company with stellar New York cats like drummer Clarence Penn, trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire and tenor saxophonist Marcus Strickland.” (Monterey County Weekly).
Pascal describes ‘House without a Door’ as “an attempt to create the perfect balance between intellect and emotion. After spending time apart working on contemporary classical composition and rock/electronica individually, it made sense for us to combine forces on this album.” These influences shine on tracks such as Remy's “Tabula Rasa,” a thru-composed maze of colorful saxophone arpeggio's resembling Claude Debussy and Miguel Zenon, and Pascal's “Wetaskiwin,” a dreamlike hymn clearly influenced by Radiohead. “Our hope is that by connecting with our own personal emotions through music, we can connect with our audience.”
For More Information �” www.lbjazz.com
Awards:
2008 International Songwriting Competition (1st Place in Jazz Category) 2008 National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts - Astral Grant 2006 Independent Music Awards for Best Jazz Song and Best Jazz Album 2004-Present Various ASCAP young COmposer Awards 2004 ASCAP/IAJE Commission in Honor of Quincy JonesHouse Without A Door
Le Boeuf Brothers Music
2009
Personnel: Pascal Le Boeuf (piano/keyboards) Remy Le Boeuf (Alto Sax) Ambrose Akinmusire (Trumpet) Marcus Strickland (Tenor/Sop Sax) Janelle Reichman (Tenor Sax) Matt Brewer (Bass) Billy Norris (Bass) Clarence Penn (Drums) Greg Ritchie (Drums)
Migration
Le Boeuf Brothers Music
2005
Personnel: Pascal Le Boeuf (piano/keyboards) Remy Le Boeuf (Alto/Tenor Sax) Pat Carol (Alto Sax) Dominic Thiroux (Bass) Miles Perkins (Bass) Marcus Gillmore (Drums) Donald Barett (Drums)
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Primary Instrument:
Various
Location:
New York, NY
Willing to teach:
Advanced students only.
Credentials/Background:
The Le Boeuf Brothers experience as an educators ranges
from working for the
National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, to private
lessons, to teaching
on faculty at the Stanford Jazz Workshop. They frequently
perform clinics and
master classes at educational institutions.
Clinic/Workshop Information:
Ensemble Interaction:
So often in today's jazz education world students get into the
habit of filling
roles within the context of ensemble playing, and they often
end up
forgetting what possibilities are at their disposal. This
workshop is geared
towards opening up the creative possibilities within an
improvising ensemble,
both for the individual and the group as a whole.
Key topics covered are:
-dynamic contrast and development
-density and textural development
-tension and release (harmonic, rhythmic, motivic)
-motivic development
-juxtaposition of ideas
-thinking about the song as a whole, rather than just the solo
-awareness/space/listening
-communication
-shape/form
-emotion
-repetition
-melodic/harmonic vocabulary
Odd meters:
This workshop is geared towards the improvisor interested
in how to become
comfortable improvising in odd meters, how to compose in
odd meters, and
how to super-impose one meter over another.
For those just learning about odd time signatures, we would
begin our
workshop with an analogy to meter in poetry. Different
meters often have
different moods associated with them; 5/4 and 3/4, for
example, have a
certain bouncy quality to them, while 4/4 and 6/4 are more
grounded. For
the student just getting started with odd meters, it is good to
break the
meter down into 2's and 3's (Ex. 5/4 = 3/4 + 2/4). From
doing this, one ends
up with a sort of "clave." The improviser can begin by
stressing accents that
fit this clave. The next step would be to break the meter
down further into
smaller parts and create another clave (Ex. 5/4 = 3/8 + 3/8
+ 2/8 + 2/8).
Then one can change the order of these parts to create a
new more
rhythmically challenging clave (Ex. 5/4 = 3/8 + 2/8 + 2/8 +
3/8). Once this
has been achieved, the next step would be to create over-
the-bar-line
claves that are two bars long, thus enabling irregular
phrasing. After going
through these processes, one becomes much more
comfortable with odd
times. By the end of the workshop we would ask a few
volunteers to join in
playing a standard in an odd time.
Pascal Le Boeuf's "House Without a Door" provides an
example of meter over
meter application (5/4 over 7/4, and 3/4 over 5/4). This is
an especially
interesting topic for more advanced students. We may or
may not go into this
depending on the level of students at the workshop.
