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Josh Shpak

“I love connecting with people,” says young trumpeter, Josh Shpak. “Whether they be teenagers or your grandma, if I can see that they’re feeling the music, I’m happy.”

This breaking of generational gaps has become somewhat of a habit for the 21-year-old Berklee College of Music student. With a rich style evident of influences from classic jazz to electronica, Shpak has made himself a wanted commodity in the music world. This cross-generational quality has launched a career playing with jazz heavy-weights, such as Cedar Walton and Jimmy Heath, soul legends Tower of Power, and young cross-over innovators like Esperanza Spalding, Christian Scott and John Daversa.

A protégé of jazz icon Clark Terry, Josh Shpak is dually driven by a great respect for the past, and a drive to put his own mark on the future. “Every great musician in history has been completely present in his or her own time period, while using their knowledge of the tradition to drive their creative forces.”

Among his numerous awards and accolades are being named 1 of the 4 trumpet finalists for the 2012 and 2014 Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, being chosen as a recipient of the 2014 ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award, being selected as a jazz finalist for the 2014 National Trumpet Competition, named a 2014 Downbeat Magazine Student Award Winner for Small Ensemble Original Composition for his piece, "LET GO", receiving a 2013 Downbeat Undergraduate Outstanding Jazz Trumpet Soloist award, being chosen as a resident of the Kennedy Center’s 2013 Betty Carter Jazz Ahead Program and the 2013 Banff International Workshop in Jazz & Creative Music, being commissioned to compose music for the 2013 French documentary film, “California Dream 3D”, as well as being named the 2012 Yamaha Young Performing Artists jazz trumpeter, and the 2012 National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts “YoungArts” jazz trumpet winner.

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Album Review

Alain Mallet Mutt Slang 2: A Wake of Sorrows Engulfed in Rage

Read "A Wake of Sorrows Engulfed in Rage" reviewed by Paul Rauch


The art of jazz would seem to be a mystery to most, and at the same time, a language understood by many. In the entirety of its history, it has served as a central location for idiomatic change, a virtual jumping off point for explorative ventures into both new and traditional world forms. The wide lens of the music of pianist/composer Alain Mallet mirrors in a way, the large embrace of all humankind necessary globally to build a meaningful dialog ...

4
Album Review

Josh Shpak Band: Astatic

Read "Astatic" reviewed by James Nadal


If one is driven to the edge of sound and requested to hear the future of jazz, whoever is spinning the tunes might consider the Josh Shpak Band to open the show with music from Astatic . Led by trumpet prodigy Josh Shpak, who was personally mentored by the legendary Clark Terry, this outfit is propelled by the vitality of youth and exuberance with a wisdom well beyond their collective years. The cosmic throb which opens “The Vibe," ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

A Wake of Sorrows...

Origin Records
2020

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Astatic

Interrobang Records
2015

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