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Nate Radley

Nate Radley is Brooklyn-based guitarist and composer who leads his own group, can be heard with a variety of collaborative projects, and works as a sideman in numerous bands both in the New York area and around the world.

Nate’s first cd as a leader “The Big Eyes” came out in January of 2012 on the Fresh Sound/New Talent label. The cd includes nine of his original compositions performed by Nate on guitar, Loren Stillman on saxophone, Pete Rende on fender Rhodes, Matt Pavolka on bass, and Ted Poor on drums.

In addition to leading his own band Nate performs frequently with the collaborative band “Bad Touch” which includes Loren Stillman and Ted Poor, as well as Gary Versace on organ. This band has recorded one cd under its own name “Like a Magic Kiss” and a second “Winter Fruits” under the name of the Loren Stillman quartet. Together the band has toured Europe in 2011 and the U.S. in 2009.

Nate performs with a variety of groups as a sideman and since moving to New York in 2004 has recorded on over 20 cds. Some of the bands Nate has performed and recorded with include the Alan Ferber Nonet and Large Ensemble, Marc Mommaas’ “Landmarc”, the Jon Gordon group, Akiko Pavolka’s House of Illusion, the Andrew Rathbun ensemble, and the Dave Smith Quartet. Other bandleaders that Nate has performed with include John O’Gallagher, Tony Moreno, John McNeil, David Scott, Tom Beckham, Andy Statman, the Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra, Aruan Ortiz, and Eric Rasmussen. Nate also plays regularly with the country band Hope Debates and North Forty.

Nate has recorded for labels such as Fresh Sound/New Talent, Sunnyside, Steeplechase, Artistshare, Pirouette, and Tone of a Pitch. He has performed throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe and at jazz festivals such as the North Sea Jazz Festival, the Montreal Jazz Festival, and the Atlanta Jazz Festival.

Nate studied jazz guitar and composition at New England Conservatory in Boston, MA where he received a Master’s in Music. He studied with John Abercrombie, Bob Brookmeyer, Jerry Bergonzi, and George Russell. He also has a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Chicago.

Nate has over ten years teaching experience, and currently teaches jazz guitar, music theory, and jazz ensembles at the Center for Preparatory studies in Music at Queens College and at Hunter College. In addition Nate has taught clinics at high schools and universities throughout the Unites States.

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Album Review

Andrew Rathbun: Atwood Suites

Read "Atwood Suites" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi


Sassofonista e orchestratore canadese, Andrew Rathbun ha 47 anni e una ricca carriera alle spalle, svolta negli Stati Uniti con studi al New England Conservatory sotto la guida di Ran Blake e dal 1997 professionalmente a New York in vari contesti. A partire dal debutto del 1999 con Scatter Some Stones, ha inciso alcuni dischi da leader, il più noto dei quali è Sculpture (Fresh Sound 2002) inciso in quintetto col suo mentore Kenny Wheeler. Con quest'ultimo Rathbun ha collaborato ...

4
Album Review

Andrew Rathbun Large Ensemble: Atwood Suites

Read "Atwood Suites" reviewed by Jerome Wilson


Andrew Rathbun is a Canadian saxophonist who has made a major musical statement here with this collection of suites, two of which are based on the poetry of author Margaret Atwood. Rathbun's writing shows the influence of another Canadian, Kenny Wheeler, in its lush sonority, the frequent gorgeous flugelhorn solos by Tim Hagans and the role of Luciana Souza, who both sings Atwood's poetry with gentle forcefulness and moans wordlessly within the orchestral ensembles, the same way Wheeler often utilized ...

4
Album Review

Andrew Rathbun: Atwood Suites

Read "Atwood Suites" reviewed by Paul Rauch


The mingling of jazz music and poetry is not a new concept. It has always been an amiable, yet at times, uncomfortable fit. From a verse standpoint, it is in many ways liberating. While most vocalized lyrics and spoken word forms rely on rhyme to speak to cadence and rhythm, free verse poetry liberates the narrative from the confinements of structure, and much like an improvising instrumentalist, takes spoken language into a intertwining duality with the melody within harmonic dimension. ...

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Album Review

Andrew Rathbun: Atwood Suites

Read "Atwood Suites" reviewed by Friedrich Kunzmann


In a way, the Atwood Suites have been in the works for almost two decades. When Kenny Wheeler approached Toronto native Andrew Rathbun in search for a band in 2001, the former furthermore inquired if the latter would like a composition of his own penning to be performed beside Wheeler's “Suite Time Suite." Consequently, the “Power Politics Suite," which makes for the second half of the first CD, was born, with Wheeler's and vocalist Luciana Souza's sound specifically in mind. ...

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Album Review

Andrew Rathbun Large Ensemble: Atwood Suites

Read "Atwood Suites" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky


The marriage between jazz and poetry is having a true moment in the present artistic sphere. The two have long mixed and mingled, oft proving sympathetic and symbiotic in their multidirectional moves, unique cadences, and improvisational capacities. But never before has the connection been so strong and centralized. With drummer Matt Wilson's triumphant encounter with the work of Carl Sandburg, soprano saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom's exploration of Emily Dickinson's writing, saxophonist Benjamin Boone's collaboration with Philip Levine, and a handful ...

3
Album Review

Nate Radley: Morphoses

Read "Morphoses" reviewed by Budd Kopman


Jazz keeps taking twists and turns, and the joy of hearing something completely new can instead turn into surprise. For Morphoses, guitarist Nate Radley has brought together his band mates from Bad Touch-- saxophonist Loren Stillman and drummer Ted Poor, along with bassist Matt Pavolka to produce an album of Americana filtered through a jazz mindset. The result is enjoyably enticing, with a sense of depth and intensity produced more through its emotional content rather than the intellect. ...

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Album Review

Nate Radley: Morphoses

Read "Morphoses" reviewed by Ian Patterson


It took Nate Radley a while to graduate from sideman/band member to leader, but The Big Eyes (Fresh Sound New Talent, 2012) was an impressive debut that called for a quick follow-up. Happily, Radley seems to be on a roll. Carillon (Steeplechase, 2013) pitted Radley alongside Ted Poor, Chris Cheek and Matt Clohesy on an eclectic set of atmospherically diverse originals and swinging standards. On Morphoses the guitarist once again surrounds himself with frequent collaborators Poor, Loren Stillman and Matt ...

Read more articles
“Nate Radley eschewed the overindulgence of most jazz guitarists, in pursuit of a soloing style that flowed with thematic movement and intent compositional logic.” -Daniel Lehner, All About Jazz

“Radley is a mood architect who’s able to move from states of desolation to anger to repose with relative ease.” -Dan Bilawsky, All About Jazz

“Radley plays from his home-base in order to reference outer space.” Ariel Bitran, Stereophile.com

Photos

Concerts

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Live at LunÀtico

Origin Records
2023

buy

Atwood Suites

Origin Records
2018

buy

Morphoses

Fresh Sound Records
2015

buy

The Big Eyes

Fresh Sound Records
2012

buy

Haflat Zifaf

From: Live at LunÀtico
By Nate Radley

Two Islands III

From: Atwood Suites
By Nate Radley

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