For more than three decades, Don Byron has been a singular voice in an astounding range of musical contexts, exploring widely divergent traditions while continually striving for what he calls "a sound above genre."
As clarinetist, saxophonist, composer, arranger, and social critic, he redefines every genre of music he plays, be it classical, salsa, hip-hop, funk, rhythm & blues, gospel, klezmer, or any jazz style from swing and bop to cutting-edge downtown improvisation -- documented on fourteen recordings as bandleader, including the Grammy-nominated and Jazz Times Record of the Year 2004, Ivey-Divey.
Since being named "Jazz Artist of the Year" by DownBeat in 1992, he has consistently garnered awards from critics and readers of leading international journals, as well as from arts organizations and professional societies. He has been a Doris Duke Performing Artist, a recipient of Guggenheim and U.S. Artists Fellowships, an awardee of the Rome Prize for musical composition, a 3-time Grammy nominee, and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for composition. Acclaimed as much for his restless creativity as for his unsurpassed virtuosity as a player, Byron has presented a multitude of projects at major music festivals and venues around the world.
PRESS QUOTE:
"Calling Don Byron a jazz musician is like calling the Pacific wet - it just doesn't begin to describe it... Byron has carpentered an extraordinary career precisely by obliterating the very idea of category."
- TIME Magazine
show less
As clarinetist, saxophonist, composer, arranger, and social critic, he redefines every genre of music he plays, be it classical, salsa, hip-hop, funk, rhythm & blues, gospel, klezmer, or any jazz style from swing and bop to cutting-edge downtown improvisation -- documented on fourteen recordings as bandleader, including the Grammy-nominated and Jazz Times Record of the Year 2004, Ivey-Divey.
Since being named "Jazz Artist of the Year" by DownBeat in 1992, he has consistently garnered awards from critics and readers of leading international journals, as well as from arts organizations and professional societies. He has been a Doris Duke Performing Artist, a recipient of Guggenheim and U.S. Artists Fellowships, an awardee of the Rome Prize for musical composition, a 3-time Grammy nominee, and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for composition. Acclaimed as much for his restless creativity as for his unsurpassed virtuosity as a player, Byron has presented a multitude of projects at major music festivals and venues around the world.
PRESS QUOTE:
"Calling Don Byron a jazz musician is like calling the Pacific wet - it just doesn't begin to describe it... Byron has carpentered an extraordinary career precisely by obliterating the very idea of category."
- TIME Magazine
For more than three decades, Don Byron has been a singular voice in an astounding range of musical contexts, exploring widely divergent traditions while continually striving for what he calls "a sound above genre."
As clarinetist, saxophonist, composer, arranger, and social critic, he redefines every genre of music he plays, be it classical, salsa, hip-hop, funk, rhythm & blues, gospel, klezmer, or any jazz style from swing and bop to cutting-edge downtown improvisation -- documented on fourteen recordings as bandleader, including the Grammy-nominated and Jazz Times Record of the Year 2004, Ivey-Divey.
Since being named "Jazz Artist of the Year" by DownBeat in 1992, he has consistently garnered awards from critics and readers of leading international journals, as well as from arts organizations and professional societies. He has been a Doris Duke Performing Artist, a recipient of Guggenheim and U.S. Artists Fellowships, an awardee of the Rome Prize for musical composition, a 3-time Grammy nominee, and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for composition. Acclaimed as much for his restless creativity as for his unsurpassed virtuosity as a player, Byron has presented a multitude of projects at major music festivals and venues around the world.
PRESS QUOTE:
"Calling Don Byron a jazz musician is like calling the Pacific wet - it just doesn't begin to describe it... Byron has carpentered an extraordinary career precisely by obliterating the very idea of category."
- TIME Magazine
read more
As clarinetist, saxophonist, composer, arranger, and social critic, he redefines every genre of music he plays, be it classical, salsa, hip-hop, funk, rhythm & blues, gospel, klezmer, or any jazz style from swing and bop to cutting-edge downtown improvisation -- documented on fourteen recordings as bandleader, including the Grammy-nominated and Jazz Times Record of the Year 2004, Ivey-Divey.
Since being named "Jazz Artist of the Year" by DownBeat in 1992, he has consistently garnered awards from critics and readers of leading international journals, as well as from arts organizations and professional societies. He has been a Doris Duke Performing Artist, a recipient of Guggenheim and U.S. Artists Fellowships, an awardee of the Rome Prize for musical composition, a 3-time Grammy nominee, and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for composition. Acclaimed as much for his restless creativity as for his unsurpassed virtuosity as a player, Byron has presented a multitude of projects at major music festivals and venues around the world.
PRESS QUOTE:
"Calling Don Byron a jazz musician is like calling the Pacific wet - it just doesn't begin to describe it... Byron has carpentered an extraordinary career precisely by obliterating the very idea of category."
- TIME Magazine
show less
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