David Weiss (trumpeter)

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David Weiss (2016)

David Weiss (born October 21, 1964 in New York City ) is an American jazz musician ( trumpet , composition , arrangement ) who also founded and directed the New Jazz Composers Octet .

Live and act

Weiss, who grew up in Queens, began taking classical piano lessons at the age of ten . He started playing the trumpet when he was 13. He grew up with rock music and discovered (British) progressive rock . During high school he started playing keyboard (and trumpet for effects) in several local rock bands , and shortly before leaving college he played in a band that eventually became the group's material with eventual producers Bill Laswell and Michael Beinhorn became. During his time in college, Weiss discovered free jazz and concentrated on the trumpet. He had the opportunity to perform with Fred Frith , Chris Cutler and Henry Kaiser . Then he visited in Woodstock (New York) , the Creative Music Studio of Karl Berger , where he was George Lewis , Jimmy Giuffre , Wadada Leo Smith , Pauline Oliveros , Gerry Hemingway and John Zorn instructed.

Weiss studied music at North Texas State University , where he graduated in 1986. Upon his return to New York, he performed with Jaki Byard , Frank Foster and Jimmy Heath . He continued his studies with trumpeters Tommy Turrentine and Bill Hardman and attended the jazz classes of Barry Harris . Finally, he led an after-hours session for Harris and performed with musicians such as Stephen Scott , Winard Harper , Leon Parker and Sam Newsome , as well as Justin Robinson , Rodney Kendrick , Roy Hargrove , Clifford Jordan , Mulgrew Miller and Terence Blanchard .

In 1990 Weiss founded a band with tenor saxophonist Craig Handy , which included Benny Green , Stephen Scott or Dave Kikoski on piano, Christian McBride on bass and Billy Hart or Jeff Tain Watts on drums. He arranged for the album The Cosby Mysteries . He subsequently wrote arrangements for artists such as Abbey Lincoln , Freddie Hubbard and Rodney Kendrick , Phil Woods , Vincent Herring and Antonio Hart . He arranged an album called Haunted Melodies in honor of Rahsaan Roland Kirk .

Weiss founded the New Jazz Composers Octet , which Ben Ratliff praised in the New York Times as "the sound of the new jazz mainstream". Weiss' compositions on the octet's second album earned him scholarships from Chamber Music America and Doris Duke . The octet also recorded two albums with Freddie Hubbard .

Weiss released his first album as a leader in 2002, Breathing Room , with Craig Handy, Xavier Davis, Dwayne Burno , Marcus Strickland and EJ Strickland ; some of these musicians were involved in the New Jazz Composers Octet . It received good reviews from Down Beat and Jazzwise . More albums followed. In 2006 he founded his quintet Point of Departure , which takes up the music of the late 1960s.

Together with Billy Harper , Eddie Henderson , Donald Harrison , George Cables , Cecil McBee and Billy Hart , Weiss also founded The Cookers , who play compositions by Harper, Cables and McBee that Weiss rearranged for the group. The Cookers have released four CDs and toured worldwide. The twelve-member small big band Endangered Species is dedicated to interpreting the music of Wayne Shorter .

Discographic notes

  • Breathing Room ( Fresh Sound , 2002)
  • The Mirror (Fresh Sound, 2004)
  • When Words Fail ( Motéma , 2014)

with The New Jazz Composers Octet

  • First Steps into Realty (Fresh Sound, 1998)
  • New Colors , (Hip Bop, 2001)
  • Walkin 'the Line (Fresh Sound, 2003)
  • On the Real Side , (Times Square, 2008)
  • The Turning Gate (Motéma, 2008)

with point of departure

  • Snuck In ( Sunnyside , 2010)
  • Snuck Out (Sunnyside, 2011)
  • Venture Inward (rec. 2008; Posi-Tone , 2013)
  • Wake Up Call (Ropeadope Records, 2017)

with Endangered Species

  • The Music of Wayne Shorter (Live at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola) (2013)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d David Weiss. All About Jazz , accessed June 1, 2020 .
  2. ^ Pop and Jazz Guide. In: New York Times . October 2, 1998, accessed June 1, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Weiss, David
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz musician (trumpet, composition, arrangement)
DATE OF BIRTH October 21, 1964
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City