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Evan Tate was born in the jazz captial of the world New York City in 1961. As a born and raised Manhattanite, he was exposed to music at an early age due to his parents, father Neal Tate and mother Marquita, both pianists and mother also a vocalist. Living on New York's Upper West Side he grew up hearing not only popular black music but also Salsa and Merengue. At the age of 12 he began studying guitar, alto saxophone and music theory. Shortly after he began to sing in the church choir and play in a rockband.
During his attendance at New York's famous La Guardia High School of the Arts, he began playing Big Band Jazz, composing and formed his first jazz quintet as well as playing guitar in a Top 40 band at age 15.
After a short stint as a jazz/composition major at the University of Bridgeport (Connecticut), he went on to attend the Manhattan School of Music (New York City) where he studied under the Master Teacher Joe Allard. During his attendance he also studied privately with former Miles Davis and Elvin Jones saxophonist Steve Grossman. Evan concentrated further on composition and formed the jazz-fusion band "REWIND" which he wrote and/or arranged all composiitons. By graduation he was a concert soloist with the Manhattan Symphony Orchestra.
Since 1979 he has freelanced with various pop, latin and jazz ensembles along many of New York's most in-demand session musicians playing in bands such as Jaki Byard's "Apollo Stompers", Roland Vasquez' "Urban Ensemble" and many more. Since 1984 he's been travelling throughout Europe with various Broadway musicals such as "Bubblin' Brown Sugar" and "A Chorus Line". He also freelanced on the music scenes in Munich and Vienna and tours throughout Europe with various bands including the "Munich Saxophone Family", Joe Malinga's "Southern Africa Force", Hermann Breuer's "Blue Bone", Joris Dudli's "New York Propjekt" and "Funktett", Wolfgang Schmid's "Manaus", "The New Doug Hammond Trio", his own projects 'Evan Tate Unit' and 'ET03', and has made appearnces in Austrian and German radio concerts.
Since 1993 Evan Tate is an Endorser for Julius Keilwerth saxophones.
