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Quinsin Nachoff

New York-based saxophonist/composer Quinsin Nachoff gained early recognition as an award-winning tenor saxophonist, establishing a name as a formidable player “parsing shimmers of Sonny Rollins, Wayne Shorter and Mark Turner” (DownBeat). He has since carved out a unique career connecting the worlds of jazz and classical music.

A consistently impressive output of albums, projects and commissions demonstrate his ability to explore both with equal conviction, whether through his saxophone concerto Winding Tessellations with contemporary chamber group Turning Point Ensemble, his 2018 commission for the Molinari String Quartet, or his remarkable group Flux, which features the stellar talents of David Binney, Matt Mitchell, Kenny Wollesen and Nate Wood. Their JUNO-nominated second release, Path of Totality (Whirlwind Recordings), thrives in the spaces between genres, styles and inspirations, and garnered spots on numerous year-end best-of lists including DownBeat’s The Year’s Top Rated Albums (4.5 stars), which said “Path of Totality is a stunning, deep dive of an album, the sort of music in which one could spend hours submersed.” Nachoff’s 2020 release Pivotal Arc (Whirlwind Recordings) brought together virtuoso violin soloist Nathalie Bonin with a jazz-inflected unit featuring two established giants of the NY scene, bassist Mark Helias and drummer Satoshi Takeishi, and a wind and string ensemble.

His upcoming release, Stars and Constellations (Adhyâropa Records), features himself with bassist Mark Helias, drummer Dan Weiss, the Bergamot Quartet and the Rhythm Method string quartets exploring adventurous new directions.

Nachoff’s most ambitious project yet, Patterns From Nature: a multimedia work collaborating with physicist Dr Stephen Morris, whose area of research is Emergent Patterns in Nature, along with filmmakers Udo Prinsen, Gita Blak, Lee Hutzulak, and Tina de Groot. For this project Nachoff composed a score for a modern chamber orchestra with unique improvisers that bridges the jazz and classical worlds that will premiere at Hunter College, NYC in October 2023 and at Isabel Bader Theatre, Toronto in November 2023.


Tags

1
Album Review

Erica Seguine: The New Day Bends Light

Read "The New Day Bends Light" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi


Impegnandosi nel ruolo di produttore, Darcy James Argue dà particolare considerazione al debutto discografico di quest'ensemble, fondato nel 2011 a New York dalle compositrici Erica Seguine e Shon Baker. La prima è anche arrangiatrice e guida dell'orchestra, la seconda entra nel cast come sassofonista. Dopo varie esibizioni in locali chiave della Big Apple, le due leader hanno selezionato sette composizioni originali dal loro repertorio, incidendole con un ampio organico comprendente talentuosi solisti della metropoli. Alcuni di essi ...

7
Interview

Quinsin Nachoff: The Science of the Sublime

Read "Quinsin Nachoff: The Science of the Sublime" reviewed by Lawrence Peryer


New York-based tenor saxophonist and composer Quinsin Nachoff creates at the intersection of jazz and classical music--and his work history demonstrates he is equally at home in both worlds. From saxophone concertos, chamber music and string quartet to his stellar group Flux--featuring David Binney, Matt Mitchell, Kenny Wollesen and Nate Wood--Nachoff is obliterating genre divides. It is in the context of two projects, his multimedia live work Patterns from Nature and album Stars and Constellations (Adyhâropa ...

31
Album Review

Erica Seguine/Shon Baker Orchestra: The New Day Bends Light

Read "The New Day Bends Light" reviewed by Jack Bowers


The New Day Bends Light, the debut recording by the twelve-year-old Erica Seguine/Shon Baker Orchestra, is interesting on a number of levels, not the least of which is emotional. The leaders and their twenty-one piece ensemble are clearly committed to the music and do their best to breathe life into each of the album's seven numbers, three of which were written by Seguine, three by Baker and the other ("Ose Shalom") by Nurit Hirsh. Aside from that, there is the ...

3
Album Review

Mike Fahie Jazz Orchestra: Urban(e)

Read "Urban(e)" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky


There's a rocky history surrounding jazz-classical hybrids. But, in truth, that has little to do with any potential incompatibility. Instead, it's usually misguided maneuvering and/or an excessive show of dominant traits from one side or the other that mars said unions. When done right a wedding of those worlds can truly birth brilliance. Just listen to Urban(e) for proof. Noted trombonist, composer, arranger and educator Mike Fahie's unabashed love for classical music and jazz is clear and ...

11
Album Review

Quinsin Nachoff: Pivotal Arc

Read "Pivotal Arc" reviewed by Friedrich Kunzmann


Canadian saxophonist and composer Quinsin Nachoff's newest outing out on Whirlwind Recordings once again proves what was established long before: that nothing about his approach to jazz is common. As a matter of fact, if his name weren't almost exclusively mentioned in jazz publications, jazz wouldn't necessarily be the first thing that came to mind when confronted with his music. A fact that appears even more valid with regard to his new effort, Pivotal Arc. Opening with a ...

1
Album Review

Mike Fahie Jazz Orchestra: Urban(e)

Read "Urban(e)" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Most Western music, irrespective of its origin and premise, inhabits the same harmonic, chordal and rhythmic universe. So it should not be surprising that classical music, in the hands of a skilled arranger, can be readily recast in a jazz idiom, even one that is housed within a big-band framework. On Urban(e), trombonist Mike Fahie's New York-based Jazz Orchestra braves that challenge, quickening Fahie's translations of works by Frederic Chopin, Igor Stravinsky, Claude Debussy, Bela Bartok, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky and ...

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 ...

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Music Industry

Composer Quinsin Nachoff Jazzed up for New York Trip

Composer Quinsin Nachoff Jazzed up for New York Trip

Source: All About Jazz

The coming year promises to be a very good one for local saxophonist and composer Quinsin Nachoff. The musician was recently awarded a $35,000 Ontario Arts Council Chalmers grant to spend a year immersed in New York's bustling jazz community. That news would be a boon for any performer, but it is particularly welcome for Nachoff, who has spent the past few years touring and teaching at Humber College and the University of Toronto. “One of the reasons for the ...

For Flux, Path of Totality: 4.5 stars. "Path of Totality is a stunning, deep dive of an album, the sort of music in which one could spend hours submersed." – J.D. Considine, DownBeat, February 2019 4.5 stars. "an imaginative and ground breaking suite of compositions" – Roger Farbey, AllAboutJazz, January 2019 For Flux (self-titled debut): ★★★★ "...an intensity and modernity, a brashness and in-your-face confidence of delivery." —Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz "Marked by an impenetrable unity, 'Flux' overflows with great resourcefulness, becoming a distinct echo of modernity and inspiration." —Critic Pick, JazzTrail ★★★★ "The quartet's self-command is engaged in a battle with each individual player's sense of freedom, making for that agitation that marks all great music." —Mark Corroto All About Jazz ★★★★ "...the quartet projects a cunning musical personality as large and small surprises trickle through the seams on a recurring basis...", —Glenn Astarita, All About Jazz

Primary Instrument

Saxophone

Location

New York City

Willing to teach

Intermediate to advanced

Credentials/Background

MMus, University of Toronto (2007) BMus Honours, University of Toronto (1997) Teaching @ University of Toronto (2004-2008) (Improvisation, Ensembles, Private Lessons) Teaching @ Humber University, Toronto (2007-2008) (Improvisation, Private Lessons) Teaching @ York University, Toronto (2002-2003) (Private Lessons)

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Stars and...

Self Produced
2023

buy

The New Day Bends...

Self Produced
2023

buy

Pivotal Arc

Whirlwind Recordings
2020

buy

Urban(e)

Greenleaf Music
2020

buy

Path of Totality

Whirlwind Records
2019

buy

Atwood Suites

Origin Records
2018

buy

Two Islands III

From: Atwood Suites
By Quinsin Nachoff

Clairvoyant Jest

From: Quinsin Nachoff's Ethereal Trio
By Quinsin Nachoff

Tilted

From: Flux
By Quinsin Nachoff

Videos

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Charles Tyler
saxophone, baritone
ETHEL
band / ensemble / orchestra

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