gigs   press   sound samples   links   contact   joel   teaching    pdf press kit

Biography

~ ~ ~

Joel Newton is a New York City-based guitarist, composer and bandleader exploring the interplay among jazz, rock, classical, avant-garde, and other musical traditions. Moving to the city in 1993 at age 25, Joel began a busy career as a leader and sideman, earning him a secure place as a contributor to the City’s ever-changing, cutting-edge “downtown” scene. His music reflects his broad-based background in its hybridized stylistic variety.

All About Jazz describes Joel’s music as “a new angle on jazz-rock… with intergalactic travels… irony and contrast aplenty… and introspective quietude interspersed with explosive energy” and ranks him “on a par with seminal players like Bill Frisell and Ben Monder." The Joel Newton Situation, described by the Village Voice as “a sort of Medeski, Martin, and Mahavishnu,” made a name for itself at New York City’s Knitting Factory in the late 90’s with a long-running residency, delving deep into the outer reaches of sound and groove exploration. Since then, Joel has worked with many of New York’s jazz luminaries, such as Dave Binney, Donny McCaslin, Christian Howes, Matt Shulman, Shane Endsley, Fay Victor, D.D. Jackson, Ben Stivers, Adam Klipple, and Dan Weiss. He has toured the States and Canada extensively with his own groups and others’.

Growing up on Long Island, Joel began folk and classical guitar lessons at age 7, then shifted gears in high school and started emulating the standard rock icons of the 70's and 80's. After hearing Jeff Beck and Pat Metheny, Joel began a slow trajectory toward jazz, which strengthened through independent ensemble experience at Dartmouth College (where he was pre-med and decided last-minute not to attend medical school), and culminated in 3 years at William Paterson College studying Jazz Performance. Since then, Joel has been returning to his rock, blues, classical, folk, and fusion roots and mixing them all up with jazz and avant-garde every way he can.

Joel has also been a part of a host of pop/singer-songwriter projects and has done extensive studio work with producer Harvey Goldberg (sound producer for Late Night with David Letterman). He has worked creatively with small theater productions, including performing in and contributing to the score of the musical "Mankynde," which debuted at the 2005 NYC Fringe Festival.

Joel is currently gigging in NYC and beyond to promote his latest CD, "Crying and Laughing," and he just returned from a 3-week tour of the Southern and Midwestern U.S. that he co-lead with violinist Christian Howes. He has recorded two CD's with the Joel Newton Situation ("ONE" in 2000 and "Crying and Laughing" in 2006). Both releases were the culmination of years of steady performing with the respective lineups and exemplify Joel's dedication to the development of a band sound as a vehicle for composition and distinctive group improvisation.

Joel is currently working on a collaborative recording with Christian Howes, to be released in Spring 2007.

For more information:

www.joelnewton.com
www.myspace.com/joelnewton
joel @ joelnewton.com

917-576-7982