Eugene Marlow

About Eugene Marlow, Ph.D.

Eugene Marlow is a composer/arranger, producer, presenter, performer, author/journalist, and educator.

Composer/Arranger (Jazz & Classical)

P> Dr. Marlow’s jazz compositions include charts for big band in various genres, plus ballads, swing tunes, blues, and Latin-jazz flavored compositions for small ensembles. He has also arranged numerous Jewish liturgical pieces in various jazz and neo-classical styles.

His jazz compositions have been performed by theBMI Jazz Composers Workshop Big Band, the Primary Colors Trio, the SYOTOS Latin/Jazz Band with Chris Washburne, The Numinous Orchestra, The Andy LaVerne Trio, The Trevor Day Big Band, the Manhattan School of Music Latin Jazz Orchestra, the New School Afro Cuban Jazz Orchestra, the George Gee Big Band, and the Bobby Sanabria Big Band.

His big band chart “El Aché de Sanabria en Moderación” appears on Bobby Sanabria’s Grammy-nominated album “Big Band Urban Folktales” (2007 JazzHeads). Marlow signed with 3-2 Music Publishing to distribute this chart to educational institutions globally.

His classical works include fugues and “chansons” for solo piano, waltzes, lullabies, songs, string quartets, duets for flutes, various strings and piano, several purely electronic works, chamber works for winds, and winds and strings, and pieces for brass. His larger classical works include a suite (in progress) for chamber orchestra and an all strings chamber orchestra work based on octatonic scales, entitled “Undiminished.”

Classical solo and chamber works have been performed by the Kandinsky and Corigliano String Quartets, the Circadia Woodwind Quintet, the Sylvan Winds, the Alaria Chamber Ensemble, the Damocles Trio, Musica di autori Americana dalla New York University (Italy), and virtuoso pianistsNataliya Medvedovskaya, Natalie Synhaivsky and Nada Loutfi.

An electronic three voice serial fugue--“48 Rows in One Minute”--was featured in the November 2003 performance of 60x60, a concert organized by VoxNovus (New York City). The 60x60 project also received a performance in Bucharest, Romania and at Brooklyn College (New York City), both in March 2004.

A second electronic piece (“Arturo’s Reverie”) based on an improvised theme by jazz pianist Arturo O’Farrill for Marlow’s “Wonderful Discovery” album, was choreographed by Jeramy Zimmerman/CatScratch Theatre at Galapolus Performance Space (Brooklyn, NY) in September 2008.

In 2010 an electronic version of “Raices” performed by Bobby Sanabria on Marlow’s “Wonderful Discovery” CD received performances in New York City, Montreal and Toronto, Canada, Maribor, Slovenia, Denton, Texas, Lodève, France, Berlin, Germany, and St. Louis, MO as part of 60x60’s “Sanguine Mix,”

Marlow has studied with jazz with Andy LaVerne and Marty Sheller (jazz composition), Milt Hinton and Laurence Hobgood (jazz performance), and Manny Albam, Michael Abene, Jim McNeely, Grammy-winner Maria Schneider, and multi-Grammy nominee Bobby Sanabria (big band composition/orchestration). He has studied music scoring for film and television with Paul Chihara (at ASCAP), Scott Smalley, and Jack Smalley. For a time Marlow studied classical composition privately with 2004 Pulitzer-prize winning composer Paul Moravec. He has also studied with Maurice Peress and George Tsontakis.

Marlow earned a Ph.D. in media studies from New York University in 1988. In 1998 Dr. Marlow completed a CUNY BA in music composition, followed by a master’s in music composition at Hunter College in 2001. He has since completed doctoral level work in music at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.

He is a former member of the BMI Jazz Composers Workshop and the International Association for Jazz Education, and current member of the Jazz Journalists Association (immediate past treasurer), the New York Composers Circle, Chamber Music America, the American Music Center, and the National Academy for Recording Arts and Sciences.

Producer (MEII Enterprises Label)

Marlow’s most recent CD is “Celebrations: Eugene Marlow’s Heritage Ensemble Interprets Festive Melodies from the Hebraic Songbook” (MEII Enterprises 2010). This album includes various melodies from the Chanukah and Purim festivals re-cast in various jazz, Afro-Cuban and Brazilian styles, with a touch of classicism for good measure.

Marlow’s first CD was the critically acclaimed “A Summer Afternoon With You” (MEII Enterprises 2005), a collection of 10 original jazz compositions for quintet led by pianist/composer Michael Abene. This CD remained on the JazzWeek chart for 11 weeks. Various cuts from the album are still aired on XM Radio and Australian radio.

A second CD, “Making the Music Our Own” (MEII Enterprises 2006), is a collection of nine Hebraic melodies recast in various jazz styles. Collectively, these two CDs have aired on radio stations in 22 countries, including the United States. Both have been aired on Australian radio for over 125 weeks.

A third CD, “Les Sentiments D’Amour” (MEII Enterprises 2006) with Lebanese-born virtuoso pianist Nada Loutfi, was his first classical CD project.

His fourth CD, “Wonderful Discovery: Arturo O’Farrill & Friends Play the Music of Eugene Marlow,” (MEII Enterprises 2007) was described as “. . .one of the finest Latin-jazz albums of 2007” and was considered one of the best Latin-jazz album of 2007 (The Village Voice).

Album five is entitled “A Bouquet of Classical and Jazzy Love Songs from the Pen of Eugene Marlow” (MEII Enterprises 2009). This is an album that draws on tracks from Marlow’s “Sentiments” and “Wonderful Discovery” albums. All these albums are available from www.cdbaby.com.

Performer

In addition to composing, Dr. Marlow is the leader/founder of The Heritage Ensemble, a quintet dedicated to the in-concert performance of Hebraic liturgical and folksong melodies in various jazz, Afro-Cuban, Brazilian, with a touch of classicism for good measure. He received a 2010 “Meet The Composer” grant for his work with The Heritage Ensemble.

Marlow also leads The Gene Marlow Ensemble, a group ranging in format from duet to sextet that performs at various private events in the New York Metropolitan area.

Presenter

Marlow is senior co-chair of the Milt Hinton Jazz Perspectives Concert Series at Baruch College (The City University of New York), now in its 19th year. An original member of the Hinton Committee when it was formed in 1992, Marlow was appointed co-chair in 2000. He immediately expanded the series from one concert to four events a year��”in October, December, February (to coincide with Black History Month), and April (to coincide with Jazz Appreciation Month). This latter event usually spotlights a jazz journalist who provides a multimedia presentation on some aspect of jazz, either past or present.

Dr. Marlow is also formerly Director, Media Relations and treasurer for the New York Composers Circle. Marlow helps produce NYCC’s four-concert season as a member of the group’s Steering Committee.

Author/Journalist

Dr. Marlow has authored eight books dealing with communications, technology and culture and 130+ articles and chapters that have been published in professional and academic journals in the United States, Germany, Greece, Japan, China, and Russia.

He is currently drafting a book on Jazz in China. Marlow was a regular contributing editor to www.jazz.com. For this work, Dr. Marlow received the prestigious 2010 James W. Carey Award for Journalism Excellence from the Media Ecology Association

Educator

Dr. Marlow is a professor at Baruch College (The City University of New York) where (since 1988) he teaches a panoply of undergraduate and graduate courses in media and culture.

Professor Marlow has received distinguished teaching awards and fellowships from the Direct Marketing Educational Foundation and the Poynter Institute for Media Studies. He is a seven-time honoree, Weissman School of Arts and Sciences Authors, Editors, Artists/Performers annual reception (1996-2002), and has been an honoree at Baruch’s Annual Faculty Recognition Ceremony, A Celebration of Faculty Scholarship and Creative Achievement every year since 2003.

Marlow holds five degrees: Ph.D. (Media Studies/New York University, 1988), MBA (General Management/Golden Gate University, 1972), MS (Music Composition, Hunter College, 2001), BS (Music Composition/CUNY, 1998), BA (English/Hunter College, 1966).

Awards:

Dr. Marlow received the prestigious 2010 James W. Carey Award for Journalism Excellence from the Media Ecology Association for a series of 21 articles he wrote for www.jazz.com between December 2007 and August 2009.