Born: September 9, 1968 Primary Instrument: Trumpet
Jesse Selengut is a Brooklyn-based trumpeter, composer and multi-instrumentalist. He has had success as a bandleader, film scorer, producer and sideman on over a dozen albums, most noticeably, Huge Voodoo's Affordable Magic ('03).
Recently, Selengut has been splitting time between the Williamsburg Jazz Festival (which he founded) and Noir, a quartet blending electronica and groove-infused jazz. Noir is cutting-edge jazz, fusing the best of tradition with today's beats and electronic flavors. Noir has opened for Chris Potter, Dave Douglas, George Garzone and Joe Lovano.
Selengut's conception has made him a sought-after film scorer. Fin, which he wrote all music for, won “Best Short” at the Santa Fe (NM) and La Boca del Lobo (Madrid) International Film Festivals, “Honorable Mention” at the Hamptons Film Festival and praise from Independent Film Monitor for its “excellent sound design.”
He had the good fortune of studying with Joe Lovano, Ted Nash, Don Friedman, Tim Hagins, Laurie Frink and Eddie Henderson. Selengut cites influences enveloping 20th century improvised music, from Armstrong, Miles, Lee Morgan and Eddie Henderson to Nils Molvaer, Sly & Robbie and Ornette Coleman.
Selengut's rich background has forged a sound at once hard to pin down - yet truly his own. He combines the best of avant-garde and remains influenced by the masters; creating music with an intellectual edge, and that inspires foot tapping. As the Boston Globe said, playing “both psychedelic and primal...It's all good for the head, good for the heart.”
