On Spectrum, New York City-based saxophonist and composer David Crowell fuses strictly notated composition with jazz and ambient improvisation. A love for the music of composers Steve Reich, Philip Glass and John Zorn merges with his roots in jazz and improvised music to create a focused and original sound. Satisfying for its diversity but coherent in its message, Spectrum travels a vivid emotional landscape.
Each member of the David Crowell Ensemble contributes a distinctive artistic vision to the music on Spectrum. Crowell’s saxophone is in turn forceful, insistent, and lyrical and Mcmurray’s haunting guitar loops help define the sections of ambient improvisation. Jason Nazary is a versatile and dynamic presence on the drums while Chiavaro’s beautiful electric bass sound is steady throughout. Guest artist Red Wierenga adds a vintage Fender Rhodes to the textures of “Great Wide Open.â€
David Crowell is a featured composer at the 2009 MATA Festival, a New York City forum for presenting the new music of emerging composers from around the world. In 2007, he was a composer-in-residence at the Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival. David’s work was featured in a recent U.S./Mexico tour by the NOW Ensemble, praised by Time Out New York for combining “the formal elegance of chamber music with a pop-honed concision and rhythmic vitality." He has written for the JACK Quartet, noted by the New York Times for giving one of the most memorable classical music performances of 2008.
David recently completed a commission for the University of Kentucky Percussion Society, three-time winners of the Percussive Arts Society International Collegiate Percussion Ensemble Competition. Most recently his compositions have been performed at MASS MoCA, University of North Texas, University of Kentucky, Brooklyn College, Gallerie Icosahedron, Le Poisson Rouge, Teatro de Camara, the Stone, Tonic and Joe’s Pub.
A member (woodwinds) since 2007, David performs internationally with the Philip Glass Ensemble.
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