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David Aus

East coast native David Aus is a pianist, composer and arranger in Fresno, California. He is musical director for the monthly Jazz Mass at Bethel Lutheran Church in Fresno and plays regularly with the Jazz Composers Orchestra, Rumba 32, Lisa’s Big Night Out, the Stumble Weedz, his own trio Interspace, and other groups. He has performed with numerous Grammy award winning artists, including vocalists Carmen Bradford and Kevin Mahogany. In private music instruction, David focuses on working with proficient piano/keyboard students who are new to jazz.

He has collaborated with saxophonist Benjamin Boone on several recording projects, including a current-ongoing-project with U.S. Poet Laureate Philip Levine.

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10
Album Review

Benjamin Boone: The Poets Are Gathering

Read "The Poets Are Gathering" reviewed by Paul Rauch


Saxophonist Benjamin Boone continues his ambitious foray into jazz and poetry, this time recruiting an impressive cadre of poets for his aptly entitled release, The Poets are Gathering (Origin, 2020). The union of poetry and jazz has never been so powerfly presented, reflecting the past year of the worldwide Black Lives Matter movement, the universal role of the poet, and the power of art and voice to raise awareness and inspire change. The album employs the likes of US Poet ...

3
Album Review

Benjamin Boone: The Poetry of Jazz

Read "The Poetry of Jazz" reviewed by Duncan Heining


Lenny Bruce might have skewered it with his skit, “Psychopathia Sexualis." Mike Myers' mildly misogynist poet might have parodied it in the movie I Married an Axe Murderer (1993). It has been dismissed as a late-fifties fad associated with the Beats. And, yet, the desire of poets and jazz musicians to combine their art forms has proven surprisingly durable. Sometimes, the practice is just plain embarrassing and made worse by the reality that those involved, like the man ...

3
Album Review

Benjamin Boone: The Poetry of Jazz

Read "The Poetry of Jazz" reviewed by Mark Corroto


Benjamin Boone's The Poetry Of Jazz could easily have been titled The Jazz of Poetry because of the almost interchangeable nature of the terms. The composer/saxophonist's vision to put music to the U.S. Poet Laureate Philip Levine's prose is a reminder to listeners that jazz was birthed by the common man, and is not to be kept in an ivory tower.Both professors at Cal State Fresno, Levine and Boone had performed together before, and the saxophonist had used ...

3
Album Review

Benjamin Boone: The Poetry of Jazz

Read "The Poetry of Jazz" reviewed by Mark Corroto


Benjamin Boone's The Poetry Of Jazz could easily have been titled The Jazz of Poetry because of the almost interchangeable nature of the terms. The composer/saxophonist's vision to put music to the U.S. Poet Laureate Philip Levine's prose is a reminder to listeners that jazz was birthed by the common man, and is not to be kept in an ivory tower. Both professors at Cal State Fresno, Levine and Boone had performed together before, and the saxophonist had ...

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"Aus, I think, deserves a nice heaping of praise for both his composing and his keyboard playing." Mike Osegueda, Fresno Bee, March 5, 2012. http://fresnobeehive.com/archives/8169

On the performance of Philip Levine and the Benjamin Boone Quartet with David Aus on keyboards: "A one-of-a-kind event, a singular experience, an understated but profoundly moving hometown homage built on sturdy pillars of respect and devotion. If you weren’t there, you missed a moment in Fresno history." Donald Munro, Fresno Bee, March 19, 2012 http://fresnobeehive.com/archives/10559

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

The Poets Are...

Origin Records
2020

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The Poetry of Jazz,...

Origin Records
2019

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The Poetry of Jazz

Origin Records
2018

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Against Silence

From: The Poets Are Gathering
By David Aus

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