Born: August 8, 1974 Primary Instrument: Sax, tenor
Repeatedly cited as “Best Jazz” by Metroland magazine, Brian Patneaude is one of the busiest musicians in New York's Capital District. In addition to leading his own quartet, the saxophonist maintains an active performance schedule with the award winning Empire Jazz Orchestra, the seventeen piece juggernaut Big Soul Ensemble and drummer Michael Benedict's hard-bop quintet Bopitude. He has performed at the Montreal Jazz Festival, the Kingston International Jazz Festival, the Newport Jazz Festival Saratoga, the Albany Riverfront Jazz Festival, the Rochester International Jazz Festival and countless clubs and concert halls throughout the Northeast including an eight and a half year weekly residency at Albany's premiere jazz club - Justin's. Over the years he has performed with saxophonists Jimmy Heath, Lee Konitz & David “Fathead Newman”, trombonists Curtis Fuller, Slide Hampton & Wycliffe Gordon, trumpeters Randy Brecker, Lew Soloff & Byron Stripling, guitarist Mike Moreno, pianists Bruce Barth & Armen Donelian, bassist Rufus Reid, and vocal sensations The Four Freshmen. Patneaude's latest release “Riverview” (WEPA Records) features guitarist Mike Moreno, organist Jesse Chandler and drummer Danny Whelchel performing a collection of six original compositions and songs by Don Grolnick and Billy Strayhorn.
Brian Patneaude was born on August 8, 1974 in Schenectady, New York. Although his parents encouraged his musical interests at a young age, it wasn't until he heard the music of saxophonists Michael Brecker and David Sanborn that he decided to pursue a career in music. In the fall of 1992 Brian entered The College of Saint Rose in Albany, New York to study saxophone with Paul Evoskevich and went on to earn a degree in music education. While at the college he participated in numerous performing ensembles and took part in a two-week tour of Russia. During this time Brian was profiled in the “Auditions” section of Downbeat Magazine (August 1994).
Upon graduation Brian received a full-tuition scholarship to the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati to pursue a master's degree in saxophone performance. While at the Conservatory he studied saxophone with Rick Van Matre and Tom Walsh and jazz improvisation with Pat Harbison. After an intense period of study he returned to the Capital District of New York and performed with some of the region's most popular groups including Alex Torres & His Latin Orchestra, the Empire Jazz Orchestra, the Refrigerators, the Adrian Cohen Quartet, Doc Scanlon, the Tom Healy Band, and many more.
The Brian Patneaude Quartet was formed in 2002 and currently features pianist David Caldwell-Mason, bassist Mike DelPrete, and drummer Danny Whelchel. Their music is an organic blend of modern jazz styles, featuring accessible melodies and harmonic textures that appeal to the casual listener and jazz aficionado alike. The group’s close-knit musical relationship and seamless interplay is a result of performances at numerous venues throughout the Northeast. The quartet has been repeatedly cited as “Best Jazz Group” by the writers and readers of Metroland magazine and has gained increasing attention, both nationally and abroad. Tracks from the group’s CDs on WEPA Records - “Riverview” (2009), “As We Know It” (2007), “Distance” (2005) and “Variations” (2002) - have been played on over 50 radio stations worldwide, including the nationally syndicated “Jazz After Hours” with Jim Wilke and “Listen Here!” hosted by Neil Tesser & Mark Ruffin.
In addition to performing, Brian teaches at Schenectady County Community College and Blue Sky Music Studios and maintains albanyjazz.com, an online guide to the region's jazz community. He spends most of his free time listening to, playing and composing music, rooting for the Boston Red Sox and Cincinnati Bengals and speaking in the third person.
- Bill Milkowski, JazzTimes Magazine
”‘Riverview’ is a truly fine collection of original compositions and
tunes by Don Grolnick and Billy Strayhorn that have been given
a modern shine.”
- CD Baby “Editor's Pick”
”The quartet seemingly plays all the right notes during this
irrefutably compelling album that should find itself on a legion of
2009 top-ten lists. (Don't miss out...)”
- Glenn Astarita, JazzReview.com
”Honest, direct, and highly enjoyable music from a fine
tenorist/composer and his cohorts in art.”
- Nicholas F. Mondello, AllAboutJazz.com
”The vibe tends toward the pensive, dark, and subdued with a
priority of mood and groove over harmonic gymnastics or
chops flexing. Inspired improvising brightens the landscape
adding new colors to the composed material and shaping a
balance between potential and kinetic energies.”
- John Dworkin, AllAboutJazz.com
”Patneaude always brings a questing and highly organized
intelligence to his projects, but there’s something special, a real
advance, in the melodic flow and force of this music. The
saxophonist, composer, arranger and bandleader has hit a new
plateau of inspiration and performance in this eight-song album:
six originals plus Billy Strayhorn’s “Chelsea Bridge” and Don
Grolnick’s “The Cost of Living.” He takes more risks than on
previous efforts, confident in the expert support of his
bandmates, and the risks pay off every time.”
- Michael Hochanadel, The Daily Gazette
”Music need not be overly cerebral, deep, or out there, to evoke
meaningful contemplation. Sometimes a strong melody, solid
musicianship, and intelligent composition are all that is needed,
and Riverview proves that point.”
- Mark F. Turner, AllAboutJazz.com
”With any justice, Riverview will reward Patneaude's initiative,
pushing his horn and his hometown band up to the next level.”
- Michael Eck, Times Union
”The poll-winning young saxophonist has become one of the most prominent jazz voices in New York's Capital Region. This performance gave proof, if proof were needed, that youthful, vibrant jazz still exists outside of New York City.” - Alexander Stern, AllAboutJazz.com
”Patneaude and crew explore a post-Michael Brecker world of
accessible,
melodically astute and
harmonically textured music”
- Jazzwise, UK
”... high-caliber jazz performed with gusto, determination and a
persuasive
vibe.”
- Glenn Astirita
”This is smart music that doesn't brag about its IQ, or its
hipness quotient.
It's music that embraces
melody and adventure in equal parts without a trace of irony. It's
music that's
fearlessly spiritual
without ever preaching. It's music with heart.”
- Greg Haymes, Times Union, Albany, NY
”As We Know It is another collection of well-written,
well-
performed
originals ... Patneaude's
lines and fills here have the clarity and conciseness that were
hallmarks of
Michael Brecker; however,
the beauty and maturity Patneaude brings to As We Know
It is
all his
own. Like the Albany jazz
scene, the Brian Patneaude Quartet keeps moving towards the
future.”
- J Hunter, albanyjazz.com
”This band is a very adept working unit, performing memorable
original
compositions and comfortable
at any tempo that they choose to perform, making this a
consistently good
album of modern
jazz.”
- Tim Niland, Jazz & Blues Music Reviews
“ … lyrical, melodic, musical, & tasteful. Every note has its
meaning.
Distance makes a
statement - a beautiful one.”
- Jeff Waggoner - contributing writer, Jazz Times
”Distance continues on in the pattern established by
Patneaude’s
debut, seamlessly
incorporating world rhythms and textures, tasteful shadings of
free-jazz
inspired oddity, and smoky
slow groove, all of which are threaded together by Patneaude’s
unfailingly
lyrical and melodic
tenor.”
- Metroland
”Distance is a solid winner from start to finish.”
- Greg Haymes, Times Union, Albany, NY
”Distance has muscular, straight-ahead blowing,
some lyrical
ballads
and some change of pace
surprises.”
- Michael Hochanadel, The Daily Gazette, Schenectady, NY
”The group is extremely tight and its music is like nothing else.
Sounding at
various turns exuberant,
soaring, grooving, or longing, it leaves you in suspense from
one track to the
next about what is going
to happen. Even within a track, the music is never predictable,
and many
times the band's total sound
can sweep you away.”
- AllAboutJazz.com
”... deceptively accessible, flavored with rhythm and melody
that’s fun and
funky and sure to lift your
spirits. Distance stays with you.”
- B.A. Nilsson, Metroland
”[Distance is] an outstanding CD, absolutely no
question, one of
the
5 best I've heard this
year.”
- Albert Khalis Pride, Jazz Exodus (5/5 stars)
” ... teaches listeners a thing or two about pace ... The disc is
filled with
winding build-ups and fresh
timing.”
- Mark Bialczak, Syracuse Post Standard
”The musicians are in total control of their instruments on
brilliantly
composed, eclectic music - a blend
which gives the listener further reason to celebrate the music of
Distance. Patneaude, as a
composer and tenor player, glistens with great potential and the
group's
strong presence compliments
his efforts 100%.
- Rob Young, Abstract Grooves
”A highly accomplished debut recording that truly is the sum of
some
excellent parts”
- The All Music Guide (****)
” ... a super-hip sound ... perfectly balances inventive
improvisation with
slippery-smooth melodies for
a sound as refreshing as it is classic.”
- Seven Days, Burlington, VT
”Variations is the work of young professionals who
have
developed
their own ideas about the
direction of their music and customize their compositions to fit
their musical
personalities ... the
tightness of the quartet establishes a distinctive style that
constantly catches
the listener off guard with
it's unpredictability ... you'll be hearing more of Patneaude's
quartet in the
future”
- Cadence
” ... a fabulous recording ... amazingly fresh in both concept and
execution”
- Mike Schwartz KSJS 90.5 FM, San Jose, CA
”We'll be hearing a great deal from this group in years to come.”
- AllAboutJazz.com
”... a wonderful, tightly supportive combination of a wide variety
of elements
... performed at the
highest level of musicianship”
- “A Place For Jazz”
All Around Us
WEPA Records
Riverview
WEPA Records
2009
As We Know It
WEPA Records
2007
Distance
WEPA Records
2005
Variations
WEPA Records
2003
As A Side Musician
I Thought About You
Colleen Pratt
Nova Records
2007
Tough Dog
Tom Healey Band
2006
25 To Life
Alex Torres y Su Orquesta
WEPA Records
2005
Dispatch
Erftones
WEPA Records
2005
House of Hearts
Rick Whispers
2004
Anniversary
Empire Jazz Orchestra
2003
Punto de Vista
Alex Torres y Su Orquesta
WEPA Records
2002
The Cutting -Room Floor
Collider
2002
Away From Here
Sirsy
2002
The End Of October
Sean Rowe
2002
So Long Baby
Joe Glickman & The Zippity Doo Wop Band
2001
Elementos
Alex Torres y Su Orquesta
WEPA Records
2000
Live @ The Parting Glass
Sam Whedon & The Grim Orchestra
1999
The Gravity Of Rivers
Mark Mollica
WEPA Records
1997
Disclaimer: All About Jazz is not responsible for the accuracy of the discographical data at the website(s) provided. If a link is no longer valid, please contact discography@allaboutjazz.com. Thank you.
Primary Instrument:
Sax, tenor
Willing to teach:
Beginners
