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Shawn Baltazor

Drummer/ Composer Shawn Baltazor is a strong new voice amongst a thriving eclectic scene of performers and composers. He attended the renowned Jazz studies program at William Paterson University where he was featured in performance with Wynton Marsalis, Clark Terry, Joe Lovano, Kenny Garrett and Slide Hampton. After graduating with a B.M. Summa Cum Laude from WPU, Baltazor settled in New York City, to actively pursue his musical career. He has studied with numerous notable musicians, including Peter Jarvis, Kevin Norton, Kenny Washington, Bill Goodwin, and Dan Weiss. Baltazor has performed internationally at the Festival International des Musiques Noires d’Abidjan in Cote d’Ivoire, the Jazzablanca Festival in Morocco and the Risonanze Festival at the Teatro Fondamenta Nuove in Venice, Italy. He has performed more locally at the JVC Jazz Festival, the River to River Festival, and the Sonic Circuits Festival, as well as other NY venues including: Jazz at Lincoln Center's Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola, Aaron Davis Hall, BB King’s, the Tribeca Performing Arts Center, PNC Arts Center (NJ), the South Street Seaport, Sweet Rhythm, 55 Bar, CBGB’s, the Knitting Factory, and the Bitter End. In 2004, he was invited to attend the Staens Institute for Young Artists where he worked with Danilo Perez, Rufus Reid, James Moody, and Dr. David Baker. There he performed at the 100th anniversary of the Ravinia Festival in Chicago. In December 2008, Baltazor was commissioned to compose music for a new production, Timebomb, by the New York City-based Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Co. He was commissioned again in 2009 to compose the score for another DGDC original production, Tribe, which premiered in October 2009 at the Museum of Jewish Heritage. Shawn Baltazor currently resides in New York City, where he actively plays and tours with a wide range of musical groups including Eric Reed, Ergo, New Tricks, the Nathan Eklund Group, Adam Gilbert, Beninghove’s Hangmen, and Rebecca Frezza.

Gear

Cymbals: Supernatural Percussion, Custom Series Snare Drum: Anderson Drums, Custom Series


Tags

Album Review

Evgeny Sivtsov: Zoo

Read "Zoo" reviewed by Alberto Bazzurro


Ci sono reminiscenze di molto pianismo jazz, quello dell'albero maestro, ma anche qualche inflessione classicheggiante (moderata, invero), probabile frutto delle sue origini, nell'approccio che il giovane pianista russo Evgeny Sivtsov evidenzia in questo suo lavoro, inciso nel novembre 2017 ai Tedesco Studios, New Jersey, ma missato e masterizzato in quel di Mosca. C'è molta padronanza lessicale, come si diceva, brillantezza (senza esagerare) e totale regolarità di approccio, ma proprio questa eccessiva regolarità, questo inappuntabile rispetto delle regole ...

8
Album Review

Evgeny Sivtsov: Zoo

Read "Zoo" reviewed by Don Phipps


On Zoo, composer and pianist Evgeny Sivtsov reimagines and contrasts jazz styles in a clever and skillful manner. Sivtsov sounds like a cross between Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell, or even Lennie Tristano—not just in his technique, but in his attack as well. This makes for piano playing that, depending upon the number, is at times robust or subdued, but always steeped in the jazz tradition. On his six original compositions, he's joined by bassist Dan Chmielinski and drummer Shawn Baltazor. ...

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Album Review

Shawn Baltazor: Lionsong

Read "Lionsong" reviewed by David A. Orthmann


It's difficult to resist the temptation to praise Shawn Baltazor's startling, diverse, incisive, multifaceted drumming at the expense of his equally impressive abilities as a composer and bandleader. Baltazor is one of the legions of young, gifted New York City area artists whose catholic tastes in music are transformed into idiosyncratic, open-ended methodologies, which ultimately engender sounds that stand on their own and resist being shoved into conventional categories.Throughout the twelve tracks of Lionsong, his stunning debut as ...

5
Album Review

Shawn Baltazor: Lionsong

Read "Lionsong" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky


Never judge an album by its title. That parallel to the book-and-cover adage is worth remembering, as you can never truly know what sits beyond a name or an idea until you give something a listen. Take Lionsong, for example. The roar and thunder that one might associate with the most majestic of wildcats is a far cry from much of the music that greets the ears on this protean production from drummer-composer Shawn Baltazor. Everything from dream sequences with ...

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Live Review

Shawn Baltazor New York, NY September 17, 2011

Read "Shawn Baltazor  New York, NY  September 17, 2011" reviewed by David A. Orthmann


Shawn Baltazor Quartet:New York, NYSeptember 17, 2011 It's always night time at Smalls. Thirty minutes prior to a Saturday afternoon showcase of drummer Shawn Baltazor's Quartet, the basement club was a virtual world of its own, devoid of natural light and removed from the hustle and bustle of the West Village. Operating seven days a week, ten to twelve hours a day, Smalls is a no frills environment ideally suited to serious performance and equally serious listening. ...

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Rhythm In Every Guise

Introducing Shawn Baltazor

Read "Introducing Shawn Baltazor" reviewed by David A. Orthmann


Forty-five minutes prior to New Tricks' opening set, Shawn Baltazor began to tote his drum kit from a parking space down the street from Trumpets Jazz Club. Four drums were neatly stacked and secured to a rolling luggage carrier. An oversized sack contained bulky metal hardware and miscellaneous equipment. A cymbal bag with a shoulder strap completed the load. Despite the weight and mass, Baltazor cheerfully refused help on the fifty yard trek, explaining with a smile that it's all ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Zoo

Rainy Days Records
2019

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Lionsong

Fresh Sound Records
2017

buy

Lionsong

Fresh Sound Records
2016

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Videos

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