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Biography
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Joel Newton is a New York City-based guitarist, composer and bandleader
exploring the interplay among jazz, blues, 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,
Steven Bernstein, 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.
Beyond his own groups, Joel has extensive sideman and collaboration
experience, notably with jazz-rock violin virtuoso Christian Howes; the two
have toured in a co-lead band and played in each other's groups, with steady
performances at NYC's 55 Bar.
Joel has also contributed to a host of pop/rock projects and has done
extensive touring and recording with singer/songwriter Cat Dail, with whom
he just finished guitar work on a 3rd album. 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.
Through Cat Dail, Joel met co-Long-Island-based-genre-defying guitarist
Teddy Kumpel. The two hit it off famously and now play together in the
current installment of JNS.
Joel 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. A third JNS recording is in the works,
as is a collaborative project with Howes.
Joel recently moved to Nyack, NY, and has worked with many of the fine
musicians residing in the lower Hudson Valley, including Chris Pasin, Bob
Meyer, Erik Lawrence, Mark Hagan, Rob Scheps, Marvin "Bugalu" Smith, Scott
Reeves, Don Falzone, Neil Alexander, Rob Reich, Hank Skalka, Annette
Genovese, and Ray LeVier (the last 4 of whom co-lead the Cool Cats Funk
Collective with Joel).
This bio will be obsolete in 7 minutes.
For more information:
www.joelnewton.com
www.myspace.com/joelnewton
joel at joelnewton daahht com
917-576-7982