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Roy Nathanson

Roy Jay Nathanson is an American saxophonist, composer, bandleader, actor and teacher. He became the leader and principal composer of the Jazz Passengers, a six piece group that he founded with Curtis Fowlkes in 1987. They have toured Europe many times and played at major festivals in Finland, Germany, Italy, France and Switzerland, as well as the J.V.C. Festival in New York, the Du Maurier Festival in Canada and toured throughout the United States and Canada. The band has recorded eight albums since their debut release.

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Radio & Podcasts

Roy Nathanson, Leap Day Trio, Jimmy Rushing and a Lot More

Read "Roy Nathanson, Leap Day Trio, Jimmy Rushing and a Lot More" reviewed by Jerome Wilson


This episode contains a wide range of jazz artists, from Roy Nathanson and the Leap Day Trio to Jimmy Rushing and Meredith d'Ambrosio. Playlist Henry Threadgill Sextett “I Can't Wait Till I Get Home" from The Complete Novus & Columbia Recordings of Henry Threadgill & Air (Mosaic) 00:00 Paul Smoker Notet “Goodbye, David II" from Cool Lives (Alvas) 00:56 Avram Fefer Quartet “Bedouin Dream" from Juba Lee (Clean Feed) 7:28 Host Speaks 15:10 Cathrine Legardh/Sigurdur Flosason “Empty Glasses" ...

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Album Review

Roy Nathanson: Nearness And You, Duets and Improvisations

Read "Nearness And You, Duets and Improvisations" reviewed by John Sharpe


All the selections on Nearness And You come from saxophonist Roy Nathanson's June 2015 residency at the Stone in NYC, and feature a galaxy of current and past collaborators. Throughout his career, from the Lounge Lizards via the Jazz Passengers to Sotto Voce, Nathanson has brought an irreverent approach to the serious business of music making. Hoagy Carmichael's “The Nearness Of You" forms a golden thread that holds the program together. But as the reedman explains in the liners, it's ...

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Album Review

Roy Nathanson: Nearness And You, Duets and Improvisations

Read "Nearness And You, Duets and Improvisations" reviewed by Mark Corroto


On saxophonist Roy Nathanson's 2009 disc Subway Moon (Yellowbird), he covers the R&B song “Love Train" a huge hit for The O'Jays in 1973. Nathanson's version was a relaxed take on the age old wish for world peace. By decelerating the music he accelerated the intimacy. He utilizes the same device on Nearness Of You, an album of duets and improvisations recorded with his friends and longtime playing partners during his 2015 residency at The Stone in New York.

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Album Review

Roy Nathanson's Sotto Voce: Complicated Day

Read "Complicated Day" reviewed by Paolo Peviani


Roy Nathanson, Curtis Fowlkes, Sam Bardfeld... Non sono i Jazz Passengers, peraltro recentemente “Reunited," ma poco ci manca. Sono i Sotto Voce, band di cui Roy Nathanson è unico leader, e che si muove su territori simili a quelli dei Jazz Passengers ma con maggiore enfasi sull'orecchiabilità, sulle voci, sulla parola (tutti i brani dell'album sono cantati). L'approccio è quello consueto di Nathanson, che alterna composizioni originali a cover imprevedibili ("I Can See Clearly Now" di Johnny ...

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Book Review

Subway Moon

Read "Subway Moon" reviewed by Jakob Baekgaard


Subway Moon Roy Nathanson Soft cover; 134 pages ISBN 978-3-00-025376-8 Buddy's Knife 2009

Poetry, like music, is about movement. Both art forms move from one note, or word, to another, trying to catch the essence of the moment. Saxophonist and composer Roy Nathanson has long worked with both words and music, sometimes uniting the two as he did on Sotto Voce (Aum Fidelity, 2006). Subway Moon, however, represents the first ...

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Album Review

Roy Nathanson: Subway Moon

Read "Subway Moon" reviewed by Mark F. Turner


If the expression “renaissance musician" existed in the dictionary, it would probably show a picture of saxophonist Roy Nathanson. The leader of the Jazz Passengers has undergone numerous artistic rebirths throughout his career as a member of The Lounge Lizards, performing with Debbie Harry, Elvis Costello, and Marc Ribot, composing for film and theater, acting, teaching, and even hosting a radio drama. He also holds a degree in poetry, which is put to splendid use on Subway Moon. Inspired by ...

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Album Review

Roy Nathanson: Subway Moon

Read "Subway Moon" reviewed by Joel Roberts


Subway Moon, alto saxophonist Roy Nathanson's ambitious new album of jazz and spoken word, defies easy categorization. It mixes an accessible brand of avant-garde jazz with R&B, hip hop, Jewish music and multi-vocal harmonies; poignant biographical revelations with humorous observations of urban life; high-art concept with a gritty New York street sensibility. This eclecticism should come as no surprise to those who've followed the co-founder of the playfully experimental Jazz Passengers through his collaborations with Elvis Costello and Deborah Harry ...

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Event

Center for Jazz Studies at Columbia University Presents Conversations with Composers: Roy Nathanson

Center for Jazz Studies at Columbia University Presents Conversations with Composers: Roy Nathanson

Source: Yulanda Denoon

The Center for Jazz Studies at Columbia University presents its Conversations Series, through which the Center's renowned faculty will engage leading composer Roy Nathanson in a reflection on the role of improvisation in his creative life. Roy Nathanson is a composer, saxophonist, songwriter, poet, actor, and teacher. He is the leader and principal composer of the Jazz Passengers, a band that for the past 23 years has played the major festivals, toured Europe, and developed a remarkable repertoire of original ...

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Interview

Roy Nathanson Interview

Roy Nathanson Interview

Source: All About Jazz

This interview is part of the book project “under your skin" which includes Interviews with: Anthony Braxton, Ornette Coleman, Chuck D - Public Enemy, Taj Mahal, Yusef Lateef, Melvin Gibbs, Bob James, Skip Mcdonald, Erika Stucky, Living Colour, Rhonda Smith, Dj Rob Swift, Marilyn Crispell, Dick Griffin, Billy Bang, Kahil El Zabar, Michael Ricci - All About Jazz, Val-Inc, Chico Freeman, Esperanza Spalding, Eddie Henderson, J. Mascis - Dinosaur ...

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Interview

Saxophonist Roy Nathanson Interviewed at AAJ

Saxophonist Roy Nathanson Interviewed at AAJ

Source: All About Jazz

Saxophonist Roy Nathanson was in one of the earliest versions of The Lounge Lizards, which he left to found The Jazz Passengers, a group that slowly morphed into his new ensemble, Sotto Voce. In between he also co-led a duo with keyboardist and composer, Anthony Coleman and released, among others, the ground-breaking album I Could've Been a Drum (Tzadik, 1997).

As an independent composer he also scored the work of monologue artist, David Cole. He also scored music for several ...

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Event

'Possible Fireworks' - Jane Scarpantoni, John Hollenbeck, Roy Nathanson, Stomu Takeishi

'Possible Fireworks' - Jane Scarpantoni, John Hollenbeck, Roy Nathanson, Stomu Takeishi

Source: All About Jazz

On Friday February 6 at 8 PM, BRIC Studio (Brooklyn Information and Culture) opens its spring season and its “Possible Fireworks" series with alternative-music cellis Jane Scarpantoni, jamming with drummer John Hollenbeck, saxophonist Roy Nathanson and bass player Stomu Takeishi. The concert is at BRIC Studio, 57 Rockwell Place (off Fulton Street), in the heart of Brooklyn's downtown cultural district (subway: IRT Nevins Street, BMT DeKalb Avenue). Tickets are $10.00 ($8.00 for students, TDF vouchers accepted) - Telephone: (718) 855-7882, ...

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Nearness And You,...

Clean Feed Records
2016

buy

Complicated Day

Enja Records
2014

buy

Subway Moon

Enja Records
2009

buy

Sotto Voce

AUM Fidelity
2006

buy

Fire At Keaton's Bar...

Six Degrees Records
2000

buy

Videos

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