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Sandy Eldred

Sandy Eldred is an internationally acclaimed bassist, composer, producer, and music educator residing in Philadelphia, PA. He is known for his inventiveness and command across music genres. Eldred is the founder of record label, Each and Only, and is a recording artist for Ukrainian record label, LabelWhoAble.

​Eldred is the leader of U.S.E. Trio and the Sandy Eldred Trio. He is an active member of Multi Mansions, the Bogdan Gumenyuk Quartet, the Nick Lombardelli Quintet, the Michael Hudson-Casanova Sextet, Playlist, Combo Theory, and Norman David & The Eleventet.

Eldred has held the bass chair for various large ensembles including, Ian O’Beirne’s Slowbern, Jamal Jones’ Bureau of Sonic Wonderland, Matt Gallagher’s Philly Big Band, and the Earl Phillips Big Band. He has performed with the Lars Halle Jazz Orchestra, the South Philly Big Band, and Bobby Zankel and the Warriors of the Wonderful Sound, alongside the late, Muhal Richard Abrams.

​Eldred is a founding member of "Jazz Mission", an international educational project that helps to inspire the younger generation of musicians in Ukraine. He is the curator of Philadelphia’s "Creative Concepts in Jazz Series" & "Jazz Night at the Ukrainian League". 

Eldred studied double bass performance at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA (M.M. 2013). He operates a studio in Philadelphia, where he offers one-to-one lessons. He is also available for on-site lessons, masterclasses & workshops. Eldred has taught students at colleges and universities in the United States, Canada, and Europe.


Tags

8
Album Review

Michael Hudson-Casanova: Echoes of Thought

Read "Echoes of Thought" reviewed by Richard J Salvucci


Art Blakey would always open with a theme. Over the years, the theme changed, just as did Bu and his musicians. But the context was always the same. “Pay attention, y'all. This is Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers." If a listener is old enough to remember that moment, and willing to make due allowance for a Philly band “in the tradition," well, there you are. “Spin the Context" starts us. “The Old Days, Whenever They Were," is right on ...

12
Album Review

U.S.E. Trio: Twilight

Read "Twilight" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic


Stealing conspiratorially under your feet, the dark balladry of Twilight speaks modal, stark, humorous. Then perhaps it recoils and rebuilds. Shifts shapes and defines. Says yes when it means no and vice versa. So, at the behest of their own slippery, interior curvature, U.S.E. Trio, saxophonist Andrew Urbina, drummer Matt Scaranoand bassist/leader Sandy Eldred, follow-up the enjambments of Impact (LabelWhoAble, 2020) with the rhizome like Twilight. A boisterous, worthy successor, Twilght opens with “Tonal Gravity," and maybe your ...

31
Album Review

U.S.E. Trio: Impact

Read "Impact" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic


There is an underlying, unsettled tone in the music of Philadelphia bassist Sandy Eldred which can only be likened to earthquakes and their subsequent tremors. Just when you think you are on solid ground the whole landscape shifts, the whole perspective tacks left, bends right, veers down the wrong center lane and u-turns. It is quite intriguing really, which makes listening to Impact--the third release by Eldred and his U.S.E. Trio of drummer Matt Scarano and saxophonist Andrew Urbina--a truly ...

6
Album Review

Norman David: The Eleventet - Please Call

Read "The Eleventet - Please Call" reviewed by Victor L. Schermer


Clarinetist and soprano saxophonist Norman David founded and has been leading Philadelphia's Eleventet for over three decades. After thirty years playing in in and around the city, the band found their recording groove with their first CD, At This Time (Norman David/Coolcraft, 2011). Now, in this new release, they deliver swinging and ear-popping sounds while at the same time offering nuances, subtleties, and creative ideas that generate interest for the more serious listener. David plays a mean soprano sax, while ...

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"There is an underlying, unsettled tone in the music of Philadelphia bassist Sandy Eldred which can only be likened to earthquakes and their subsequent tremors. Just when you think you are on solid ground the whole landscape shifts, the whole perspective tacks left, bends right, veers down the wrong center lane and u-turns." - Mike Jurkovic (All About Jazz)

"Sandy Eldred immediately draws attention to the extreme expressiveness of his game, which is unusual for double bass players, whose role most of the time is limited to the function of the rhythm section. In between sets, I decided to check my suspicions

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Primary Instrument

Bass

Location

Philadelphia

Willing to teach

Intermediate to advanced

Credentials/Background

Eldred has administered workshops, masterclasses, and lessons at the following institutions: The University of the Arts (Philadelphia, PA) Temple University (Philadelphia, PA) Settlement School of Music (Philadelphia, PA) Camden County College (Camden, NJ) The Kimmel Center (Philadelphia, PA) McGill University (Montreal, Quebec) Zhytomyr Music College (Zhytomyr, Ukraine) Berdychiv Music School (Berdychiv, Ukraine) Lviv National Music Academy (Lviv, Ukraine) Vinnitsa College of Culture and Arts (Vinnitsia, Ukraine) Kharkiv National Kotlyarevsky University of Arts (Kharkiv, Ukraine) Dnipropetrovsk State Music College (Dnipro, Ukraine) Krivorizhke The Regional Musical College (Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine) Mykolaiv State Higher School of Music (Mykolaiv, Ukraine) Cherkasy Musical College (Cherkasy, Ukraine) All Music Is Jazz Festival (Kiev, Ukraine)

Clinic/Workshop Information

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Photos

Concerts

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Echoes of Thought

Self Produced
2021

buy

U.S.E. Trio - Impact

LabelWhoAble
2020

buy

On Point

CoolCraft
2020

buy
https://soundcloud.com/sandy-eldred

K.W.

From: Echoes of Thought
By Sandy Eldred

Drum Wrecked

From: vehicles
By Sandy Eldred

Mars Apes

From: Mars Apes
By Sandy Eldred

Videos

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