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Woody Witt

Composer, performer and educator, Woody Witt is a saxophonist setting his tone as a leader in the jazz world today. His fresh ideas and original approach to improvisation and composition have earned him a place to perform with some of the top names in the industry.

Born in Omaha, Nebraska in 1969, Woody discovered his love for music at the early age of 8. He manages a diverse music career centered in Houston, TX. To quote Grammy Award Winning trumpeter and composer, Randy Brecker, "Woody Witt continues the tradition of great 'Texas Tenors' with a big fat sound, fresh ideas and a decidedly modern and original approach to improvisation and composition. A perfect combination of building on the past and searching for the future." Woody's style can be recognized instantly - it is that weaving of the old with the new that catches the listener's ear. His sound is distinctive and sought after by many jazz artists: Tim Hagans, Louis Hayes, Adam Nussbaum, James Moody, Conrad Herwig, David Liebman and others.

Woody's first CD, released in 2002, launched him into the recording industry with a sense of newfound passion. With the international release of his second CD, "Square Peg, Round Hole," on Apria Records, the world jazz community should take notice. Woody teamed up with world renown jazz artists Randy Brecker (trumpet), David Kikoski (piano), Johannes Weidenmueller (bass) and Ari Hoenig (drums) to record eight of his original compositions.

Woody has established himself as a notable musician in the area and has performed with the Houston Symphony Exxon-Mobil Pops Series backing artists including Ray Charles, Kenny Rogers and Tony Bennett. His musical journey has offered him stints with the touring Broadway production of 42nd Street as well as Tommy Tune. He has premiered new works that break down barriers between the musical genres of classical and jazz as a featured soloist on "Up South" for jazz ensemble and orchestra and "Three Musicians," a work for soprano saxophone, guitar and bass, both by noted composer, Dr. Robert Nelson. Woody is also the manager/artistic director of one of the city's only jazz clubs, Cézanne. In addition to maintaining a full performing schedule, his career has led him to adjudicate many jazz festivals: University of Houston, University of Texas, GCIC, McNeese State, Harlingen and others.

While attaining his Doctorate in Musical Arts at the University of Houston Moores School of Music, he discovered improvisation is the most free form of musical expression - this is his tool in striving for purity of sound and clearly presenting musical ideas. Many forms of music have influenced Woody, ranging from classical to jazz, to popular music and more. Woody's educational career and vast experience have fueled his drive to pursue purity in music. With an ear for complex melody, he has composed some of the most interesting and memorable melodies reinforced by colorful harmonies. He produces songs that provide a source of inspiration upon which the improviser can create their own variations.

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Album Review

Joe Locascio: Book of Days

Read "Book of Days" reviewed by Geannine Reid


Pianist and composer Joe LoCascio has released his seventh album, titled Book of Days. The album was recorded in Houston's famed Wire Road Studios and featured his long-time collaborator Woody Witt on saxophone, bassist Richard Mikel and drummer Daniel Dufour. The project was initiated by Witt, who asked LoCascio to play a few gigs with these two dynamic musicians. As a result, LoCascio composed these specific compositions for this group and this recording. “Fantomas" opens the ten-song set ...

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Album Review

Larry Ham/Woody Witt: Presence

Read "Presence" reviewed by Geannine Reid


Larry Ham and Woody Witt's collaborative effort has brought forth the fruit of Presence, with the sophistication and melodic harmonic relationships that used to grace hard bop jazz, while still sporting just the right amount of abstract modernism from today's sound to supply a strong underpinning of the ensemble current. Woody Witt, a Houston based tenor-saxophonist, composer, and educator, with the Larry Ham Trio, comprised of pianist Ham, bassist Lee Hudson and drummer Tom Melito are a highly ...

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Album Review

Woody Witt Quintet with Randy Brecker: Square Peg, Round Hole

Read "Square Peg, Round Hole" reviewed by Woodrow Wilkins


At a time when a lot of new music sounds prefabricated, particularly pop and R&B, it's easy to understand why some people believe that artists are just going through the motions and not putting any feeling into them. However, anyone who feels that way about jazz hasn't heard the Woody Witt Quintet. The no-frills approach of Square Peg, Round Hole is most engaging. A composer, performer and educator, Witt is a native of Omaha, Nebraska. He discovered ...

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Album Review

Woody Witt: Woody Witt

Read "Woody Witt" reviewed by Dave Nathan


Omaha, Nebraska native Woody Witt now works out of the Houston, TX area where he holds down the chair as Assistant Director of Jazz Studies at Houston University. Most of what you will hear on his maiden CD are his compositions played in a quartet setting. One hears in Witt an amalgamation of many of the modern saxophone players of the last several decades, starting with John Coltrane, but with obvious mannerisms of John Henderson, Sonny Rollins and Michael Brecker ...

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Recording

Woody Witt - Pots and Kettles (2011)

Woody Witt - Pots and Kettles (2011)

Source: Something Else!

If you're a jazz fan in the Houston, Texas, area, you've surely heard of saxophonist Woody Witt. A tireless music educator around town, the manager and artistic director of one of Houston's few jazz clubs, and a recording artist in his own right, Witt has a long list of credentials that could easily make up an entire long article on its own. But for now, we'll focus on his eighth album in just nine years, Pots and Kettles. On this ...

"Top line contemporary jazz by Woody and his friends, covering all the bases and done with passion and grace." - David Liebman Saxophonist with Miles Davis, Elvin Jones and others.

"a confident storyteller of depth and distinction." - Miles Willis "Milestones" on 90.5 KPFT

"rare control of the upper register and a warm, fat tone belying his classical training and deep jazz roots." - Jeff Gardner Jazz Pianist

"his tenor sound is quite firmly in the here and now." - Kelly Dean Jazzhouston.com

"There is nothing academic about his approach. It is all soul and emotion and his solos ring out with authority." - Frank Rubolino Cadence

Primary Instrument

Saxophone

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