Donovan Mixon

Donovan MixonAmerican composer/guitarist has performed with Alan Dawson, Billie Pierce, George Garzone, Eddie Henderson, Mineu Cinelu, Joe Ford, Bob Cranshaw, Lee Konitz, Steve Nelson, John Blake and many other notable musicians during his career. In Italy he often performs as a leader in jazz clubs and festivals including the famous Umbria Jazz Festival as part of the annual Berklee College of Music jazz clinics. Among the many Italian musicians with whom he has performed are: Bruno Cesselli, Dario Deidda, Enzo Zirilli, Massimo Manzi, Paolo Ghetti, Agusto Mancinelli, Fabrizio Puglisi, Luca Garrischelli, Franco D’Auria, Ares Tavolazzi, Lele Barbieri, Silvio Zalambani, Ferdinando Faraò and many others. In Turkey, Mr. Mixon performs with some of the top jazz names in the country such as: Neset Ruacan, Can Kozlu, Ali Perret, the famous neyzen Ercan Irmak, Senova Ulker and Onder Focan. In 2002, the Don Mixon Quartet performed at the Istanbul Jazz Festival featuring Italian pianist Fabrizio Puglisi, Turkish drummer Cem Aksel and bassist Kursot And. In the summer of 2003 he led a quartet at the premier of Kas ‘N Jazz, of which he is a co-founder.His multi-media concert production, ‘Language Of The Emotions’ combines original music with literature has been performed in Italy and at Koc Allianz Auditorium in Istanbul, Turkey.For Philology Records Donovan has made three CD recordings: Look Ma, No Hands!” (1993) featuring saxophonist George Garzone, “Free With Lee” (1994) recorded in trio with Lee Konitz, and “Language Of The Emotions” (1999) his most recent as leader that features Eddie Henderson on trumpet and three famous Italian musicians; Bruno Cesselli, Dario Deidda, and Enzo Zirilli. In 2005 his fourth CD, “Donovan Mixon’s Hybrid Project, The Dance of Life” was released on DMC Records of Istanbul. “Hybrid Project” performed at the 2005 Istanbul Jazz Festival.He was distinguished as a composer in the year 1989 when his work Culmination, written for chamber orchestra and jazz rhythm section won an award for jazz composition from the National Endowment for the Arts in Washington, D.C.Shortly after completing a four year period working in the casino concert halls of Atlantic City as a first chair guitarist, Donovan went on to earn a Masters of Music degree from Manhattan School of Music. This distinction allowed him to fulfill one of his long held dreams to become a professor of music. In fact he taught at the prestigious Berklee College for seven years, eventually rising to the rank of Associate Professor.His continued interest in music education culminated into an evolving series of seminars on the subject of ear training. The seminar is entitled after his text “Performance Ear Training” that was published in 1998 by Advance Music of Rottenburg, Germany. He has presented at major institutions of higher education in America, Europe and China.During the seven years when he lived in Italy, Donovan continued his research in the teaching of musical aural perception in performance. In the year 2000 he began a new career chapter on the music faculty of the progressive institution of Bilgi University in Istanbul, Turkey where he presently lives.Donovan Mixon’s Jazz-Play Studio in Istanbul, Turkey works simultaneously as a teaching studio and performance space. Entering it’s second season, the studio is gaining a reputation on the Istanbul music scene for innovative private and group studies in improvisation.donmixon.com jazzplay.edublogs.org