CREATIVE CONCEPT MUSIC

AnDreW D'Angelo JACKSON MOORE DEVIN GRAY HUMAN FEEL

Andrew D'Angelo's singular sound and energy funneled through saxophone and bass

clarinet has left an indelible mark in wide circles of creative improvised music in

New York City and around the world.



ANDREW D'ANGELO





Andrew D'Angelo's charismatic presence and iconoclastic musical ambition have been well established over the course of his twenty year plus career where he has held key roles in bands like Human Feel, the Matt Wilson Quartet and Tyft. His dedication to pushing his limits and his willingness to delve into new musical areas have been powerful inspirations to his peers and to a new generation of improvisers. His forceful tone and aggressive improvisational style have made him one of the most influential alto saxophonists of his time.



Growing up in Seattle, Andrew D’Angelo forged powerful musical and personal relationships with friends and fellow musicians Chris Speed and Jim Black. Before moving to New York City in 1986. He reconnected with Speed and Black in Bostonwhere they formed Human Feel with guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel. Human Feel would prove to be one of the central incubators new jazz and creative improvised music in the 1990’s and beyond When the band moved to Brooklyn in the early 1990's, they were rapidly absorbed into the blossoming downtown music scene, becoming sidemen of choice for many world renowned artists. D'Angelo joined bands and made records with Erik Friedlander, Bobby Previte, Jamie Saft/Cuong Vu and would forge another long-lasting musical relationship with drummer Matt Wilson.



As a composer, D'Angelo has created a powerful personal language rooted in jazz but incorporating influences from electro-acoustic music, noise, and modern classical music. D'Angelo's work as a composer has included music for big band, chamber groups, string orchestra, various jazz ensembles and soloists.






DNA ORCHESTRA





rhythm: Ben Monder - Dan Weiss - Trevor Dunn

trumpet: Kirk Knuffke - Jacob Wick - Seneca Black

trombone: Brian Drye - Ryan Snow - Josh Roseman

saxophone: Bill McHenry - Josh Sinton - Greg Ward



D'Angelo's volcanic saxophone playing is only the surface, the music of the DNA Orchestra is about a lot more than being rambunctious. The unabashed nature of the Orchestra represents D'Angelo's renewed sense of purpose, thanks to his recent brush with death. In 2008, D'Angelo has a seizure while driving, beginning a turn of events leading to the eventual removal of a tennis-ball size brain tumor. "After having two brain surgeries, I embarked on a new existence: one of healing" says, D'Angelo.


The DNA Orchestra isn't merely a musical outlet for a performer who was forced to deal with severe illness. The ensemble, and the music itself, is integrally linked to the entire medical event. It was conceived as a response to D'Angelo's cancer, and it ultimately played a role in the cancer's annihilation. The band is a community that supported D'Angelo during his healing. The weaving, angular lines of the music are as tenacious as the tendrils of the disease itself. The effusion of emotion carries a weight and energy as effective as any cure. "After understanding why cancer had come into my life, I learned how to use my art and music as healing."


The power of this music may be brute, but it is anything but wild. It is contained withing the boundaries of narrative. "I designed this set of music to tell a story," he says. "There is healing, love, darkness, anger.. and even more in between the lines." D'Angelo's composition "Meg Nem Sa," one of the pieces written post "brain", traces his path through wild pre-healed times, bitterly overwhelming confusion, darkness, and the tireless fight for survival.


Creative Concept Music


info@creativeconceptmusic.com | Brooklyn, NY 11215