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Bobby Avey

Upon graduating in 2007 with a BA in Jazz Studies from Purchase Conservatory of Music, Bobby moved to Brooklyn, NY. In 2005, Avey was specially invited by the saxophone great David Liebman to adapt and arrange art songs from the Classical and Romantic era for re-interpretation, creating a vehicle for improvisation. The project, culminating with the album Vienna Dialogues, was released on ZOHO in 2006 and received rave reviews. Scott Albin of Jazz Times writes, "Highlights are many… Avey's strong chording; Avey's beautiful intro...Avey's sparkling solo and accompaniment on Debussy's "Fleur des Blés," graced with a bell-like sound, his playing here so impressive, it overshadows Liebman's." Bobby won the esteemed Pressor Scholarship while attending Purchase and was named the 2006 international Yamaha Young Performing Artist on piano.

An active composer, Avey has received multiple commissions since moving to NY, most recently a 30 minute score to a ballet and a four-movement work for piano and string quartet. Over the past five years, his composing has been the conceptual thrust behind the Bobby Avey Trio, as it focuses on exploiting the unique strengths of the members as well as those of the collective unit. A New Face, Bobby's first CD as leader features this band and continues his association with David Liebman, who appears on four tracks. The project, comprised exclusively of his originals, will be released in August 2010 on jayDell Records. Avey has appeared as a leader at esteemed New York Venues including: Symphony Space, the 55 Bar, and The Jazz Gallery.

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20
Album Review

Dave Liebman: Selflessness - The Music of John Coltrane

Read "Selflessness - The Music of John Coltrane" reviewed by Jack Bowers


It is always nice to have a goal in life, something that urges you to arise in the morning and face the day ahead. For saxophonist Dave Liebman, that goal means catching the “Trane" he has been chasing for more than sixty years--ever since, as a teenager, he first saw the legendary John Coltrane at Birdland in New York City. It is an admirable goal, made even more tantalizing because it is one that Liebman is quite sure he has ...

10
Album Review

Dave Liebman's Expansions: Selflessness - The Music of John Coltrane

Read "Selflessness - The Music of John Coltrane" reviewed by Troy Dostert


Finding one's inspiration in an iconic figure like John Coltrane presents a huge challenge for any musician. The sheer scope of the master's vision and the uniqueness of his instrumental voice can become overwhelming—particularly if the ultimate aim is to forge one's own path. But over a long and highly accomplished career, Dave Liebman has managed to do just that, even if it meant that for a time he had to break free of Coltrane's shadow by setting aside his ...

1
Album Review

Dave Liebman: Earth

Read "Earth" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi


Dopo Water (1997), Air (2006) e Fire (2016), Dave Liebman completa il ventennale progetto volto a rappresentare in musica i quattro elementi naturali che danno origine alla materia, il cui riferimento è comune alle antiche cosmogonie occidentali e orientali. Come alcuni ricorderanno al primo disco parteciparono Pat Metheny, Billy Hart e Cecil McBee; al secondo Walter Quintus e al terzo Kenny Werner, Dave Holland e Jack DeJohnette. Stavolta Liebman sviluppa la sua musica col suo quintetto Expansions ...

23
Album Review

Dave Liebman: Earth

Read "Earth" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki


When saxophonist, composer, and bandleader Dave Liebman groks a musical vision, he dreams big and deep. “In the late 1990s," Liebman recalls, “I embarked on a project to musically depict manifestations of the four natural elements. In 1997 I recorded Water with Pat Metheny, Billy Hart and Cecil McBee; in 2006, I did Air with the late genius engineer Walter Quintus; fast forward to 2016 for Fire featuring Kenny Werner, Jack DeJohnette, and Dave Holland; finally, with my present group ...

14
Album Review

Dave Liebman: Earth

Read "Earth" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic


It's taken over two tumultuous decades for Dave Liebman to fully realize and execute his poetic, elemental suite. Alongside Pat Metheny,Billy Hart, and Cecil McBee, Water: Giver of Life (Arkadia Jazz, 1997) birthed the the long journey. Teaming with violinist/sound engineer Walter Quintus for 2006's Air (Finetunes) led to 2016's free-jazz flame torch with Dave Holland, Kenny Werner, and Jack DeJohnette Fire (Jazzlines.) Wholly cognitive of his music's inert ability to rouse a myriad of cinematic possibilities and ...

Album Review

Bobby Avey: Inhuman Wilderness

Read "Inhuman Wilderness" reviewed by Neri Pollastri


Un trio che si allarga a quartetto in metà delle tracce interpreta Inhuman Wilderness, quinto lavoro a nome del trentaduenne pianista Bobby Avey, ancora poco noto da noi ma piuttosto affermato negli USA. Giustamente, si può dire ascoltando l'album, che ne documenta le idee musicali moderne e inquiete, ma anche la maestria alla tastiera. Collaboratore di Dave Liebman e studioso della musica haitiana, alla quale si ispira in certi passaggi reiterati e percussivi, Avey ha scelto per tema ...

5
Album Review

Bobby Avey: Inhuman Wilderness

Read "Inhuman Wilderness" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky


The failings and callousness of mankind have long served as muse and model for artists, but rarely have such negative stimuli yielded such powerful, probing, and positively mesmerizing work as what can be heard on Inhuman Wilderness. This fifth album from pianist Bobby Avey provides extraordinarily intense and thoughtful musical commentary on topics ranging from the unknown heroes and history-makers of our time to U.S. drone actions in the Middle East and Africa. In doing so, it ...

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Recording

Pianist Bobby Avey To Release Authority Melts From Me, A Three-Part Suite Exploring Haitian Vodou Drumming & Its Role In Haitian Revolution

Pianist Bobby Avey To Release Authority Melts From Me, A Three-Part Suite Exploring Haitian Vodou Drumming & Its Role In Haitian Revolution

Source: Matt Merewitz

Pianist Bobby Avey is an emerging star on the international jazz scene. In 2005, while a student at the Purchase Conservatory of Music, Avey was invited by NEA Jazz Master David Liebman to adapt and arrange art songs from the Classical and Romantic eras for reinterpretation creating a vehicle for improvisation. The project, which culminated with the album Vienna Dialogues, was released in 2006 on ZOHO to rave reviews. In 2011 Avey won the esteemed Thelonious Monk Competition for composition ...

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Performance / Tour

Jazz Iconoclast performing at Turtle Bay Music School

Jazz Iconoclast performing at Turtle Bay Music School

Source: Jillian MacNamara

The Music of Bobby Avey: A Solo Concert New York, NY—Bobby Avey, pianist & composer will be the first to present at Turtle Bay Music School's innaugural Jazz Series featuring some of New York's premier Jazz “up-and-comers." Bobby will present a first-rate concerts followed by a Q&A session. The Jazz Series is Thursday, April 14th at 9pm, free-of-charge and open to the public. This year's Jazz Series include: Bobby Avey, Piano, Thursday, April 14th, 9pm, The Richmond Room Pianist and ...

"Avey’s solo interlude here suggests how Debussy's romanticism influenced the harmonic sense and pedal technique of Evans..." --Victor Verney, All About Jazz

"The results on Vienna Dialogues are steeped in a kind of melancholy beauty that makes for satisfying listening." --Nic Jones, All About Jazz

"Richly melodic in origin, deftly arranged (mainly by Avey), and superbly performed, this is music that while rooted in the past is very much of today and will most certainly still be valid tomorrow." --Bruce Crowther

"Avey's playing is also consistently rewarding." --Ken Dryden

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Selflessness - The...

Dot Time Records
2021

buy

Earth

Whaling City Sound
2020

buy

Inhuman Wilderness

Innervoice Jazz
2017

buy

Inhuman Wilderness

Innervoice Jazz
2016

buy

Authority Melts From...

Whirlwind Recordings
2014

buy

A New Face

Jay Dell Records
2010

buy

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