Avram Fefer
Encyclopedia
Avram Fefer is an American jazz
saxophonist
, composer and band leader, currently residing in New York City
. He has been performing and recording internationally since 1990. After spending the decade as a soloist with a number of different groups, his first several recordings as a leader were singled out as among the Best of 2001 and Best of 2002 in publications such as Down Beat
, Cadence, the Village Voice
, the Chicago Weekly Standard, and JazzPortugal. He has four releases with the jazz pianist Bobby Few
, and has performed in most of the major clubs in New York, as well as numerous clubs and festivals in Europe, Africa, Japan, and the Middle East. His latest recording, Eliyahu, featuring Eric Revis on bass and Chad Taylor on drums, was released on Not Two Records http://www.jazzloft.com/p-53907-eliyahu.aspx/ in 2011.
Avram grew up on both coasts of the United States, received a liberal arts degree at Harvard University and studied music at Berklee College of Music and New England Conservatory. He spent several years in Paris, where he played with Archie Shepp
, The Last Poets
, Sunny Murray
, Kirk Lightsey
, Jack Gregg, Rasul Siddik, Graham Haynes
, and John Betsch
. It was also in Paris that Avram first became interested in West African and Arabic music, playing with a variety of musicians from Senegal
, Cameroon
, Mali
, and Morocco
. He was also a composer and soloist for an “acid” jazz group in France with two top-selling discs on Virgin records (1994–95).
In New York, Fefer continues to compose music and lead numerous groups of his own, releasing ten CDs as a leader and appearing on numerous others as a sideman. He has also been featured in the David Murray
Big Band, Butch Morris
Orchestra, Joseph Bowie
Big Band, Mingus Big Band, Frank Lacy
's Vibe Tribe, the Rob Reddy Octet, Famoro Diabate’s Kakande, the Adam Lane Octet, the Michael Bisio Quartet, Adam Rudolph's Organic Orchestra, and Burnt Sugar
. He has a private music teaching practice in downtown Manhattan and collaborates with a variety of creative artists of different genres, most recently with famed director Melvin Van Peebles
on his 2010 theatrical production of Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song
, in which Avram acted, as well as played tenor sax.
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
saxophonist
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
, composer and band leader, currently residing in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. He has been performing and recording internationally since 1990. After spending the decade as a soloist with a number of different groups, his first several recordings as a leader were singled out as among the Best of 2001 and Best of 2002 in publications such as Down Beat
Down Beat
Down Beat is an American magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond" to indicate its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chicago, Illinois...
, Cadence, the Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
, the Chicago Weekly Standard, and JazzPortugal. He has four releases with the jazz pianist Bobby Few
Bobby Few
Bobby Few is an American jazz pianist.Few was raised in Shaker Heights, a neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio, and studied classical piano. He knew Albert Ayler as a youth, and the pair studied jazz and played together in high school...
, and has performed in most of the major clubs in New York, as well as numerous clubs and festivals in Europe, Africa, Japan, and the Middle East. His latest recording, Eliyahu, featuring Eric Revis on bass and Chad Taylor on drums, was released on Not Two Records http://www.jazzloft.com/p-53907-eliyahu.aspx/ in 2011.
Avram grew up on both coasts of the United States, received a liberal arts degree at Harvard University and studied music at Berklee College of Music and New England Conservatory. He spent several years in Paris, where he played with Archie Shepp
Archie Shepp
Archie Shepp is a prominent African-American jazz saxophonist. Shepp is best known for his passionately Afrocentric music of the late 1960s, which focused on highlighting the injustices faced by the African-Americans, as well as for his work with the New York Contemporary Five, Horace Parlan, and...
, The Last Poets
The Last Poets
The Last Poets is a group of poets and musicians who arose from the late 1960s African American civil rights movement's black nationalist thread...
, Sunny Murray
Sunny Murray
James Marcellus Arthur "Sunny" Murray is one of the pioneers of the free jazz style of drumming.-Biography:...
, Kirk Lightsey
Kirk Lightsey
Kirkland "Kirk" Lightsey is an American jazz pianist.Lightsey had piano instruction from age five and studied piano and clarinet through high school. After service in the Army, Lightsey worked in Detroit and California in the 1960s as an accompanist to singers...
, Jack Gregg, Rasul Siddik, Graham Haynes
Graham Haynes
Graham Haynes is an American cornetist, trumpeter and composer, the son of jazz drummer Roy Haynes....
, and John Betsch
John Betsch
John Betsch is an American jazz drummer.Betsch began on percussion at age nine, and attended Fisk University, Berklee College of Music and the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. After playing in organ trios, he released an album as a leader, Earth Blossom, in 1975...
. It was also in Paris that Avram first became interested in West African and Arabic music, playing with a variety of musicians from Senegal
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
, Cameroon
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...
, Mali
Mali
Mali , officially the Republic of Mali , is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with...
, and Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
. He was also a composer and soloist for an “acid” jazz group in France with two top-selling discs on Virgin records (1994–95).
In New York, Fefer continues to compose music and lead numerous groups of his own, releasing ten CDs as a leader and appearing on numerous others as a sideman. He has also been featured in the David Murray
David Murray (jazz musician)
David Murray is an American jazz musician. Murray plays mainly tenor saxophone and sometimes bass clarinet. He has recorded prolifically for many record labels since the mid-1970s.-Biography:...
Big Band, Butch Morris
Butch Morris
Lawrence D. "Butch" Morris is an American jazz cornetist, composer and conductor.-Biography:Before his musical career, Morris served in Vietnam during the Vietnam War....
Orchestra, Joseph Bowie
Joseph Bowie
Joseph Bowie is an American bandleader, trombonist, and founder of the seminal jazz fusion band, Defunkt. The group has been blending jazz with funk and punk music for more than three consecutive decades....
Big Band, Mingus Big Band, Frank Lacy
Frank Lacy
Ku-umba Frank Lacy is an American jazz trombonist.His father was a teacher who had played guitar with Illinois Jacquet, Eddie Cleanhead Vinson, and Arnett Cobb; his mother sang gospel music. He played piano from age eight, and played trumpet, euphonium, and tuba before settling on trombone at age 16...
's Vibe Tribe, the Rob Reddy Octet, Famoro Diabate’s Kakande, the Adam Lane Octet, the Michael Bisio Quartet, Adam Rudolph's Organic Orchestra, and Burnt Sugar
Burnt Sugar
Burnt Sugar, also known as Burnt Sugar, The Arkestra Chamber, is an American improvisational band. The band's music combines the influences of funk, jazz, rock, reggae, soul, hip hop, heavy metal, and 20th century classical music. It has been described by one critic as a...
. He has a private music teaching practice in downtown Manhattan and collaborates with a variety of creative artists of different genres, most recently with famed director Melvin Van Peebles
Melvin Van Peebles
Melvin "Block" Van Peebles is an American actor, director, screenwriter, playwright, novelist and composer.He is most famous for creating the acclaimed film, Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, which heralded a new era of African American focused films...
on his 2010 theatrical production of Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song
Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song
Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song is a 1971 American independent drama film, written, produced, scored, directed by, and starring Melvin Van Peebles, father of actor Mario Van Peebles . It tells the picaresque story of a poor African American man on his flight from the white authority...
, in which Avram acted, as well as played tenor sax.
Discography
- 1994 - Scatterap/Home, The Last PoetsThe Last PoetsThe Last Poets is a group of poets and musicians who arose from the late 1960s African American civil rights movement's black nationalist thread...
- 1994 - Other Worlds, Art Sound Orchestra
- 1994 - Omnibus, Beigels Daisy Toasts
- 1995 - Song of the Forest Boogeraboo, Steve McCraven with Archie SheppArchie SheppArchie Shepp is a prominent African-American jazz saxophonist. Shepp is best known for his passionately Afrocentric music of the late 1960s, which focused on highlighting the injustices faced by the African-Americans, as well as for his work with the New York Contemporary Five, Horace Parlan, and...
- 1995 - Eat that Beigel, Beigels Daisy Toasts
- 1998 - The Soul of Grace, Manhattan New Music Project
- 2001 - Calling All Spirits, Avram Fefer Trio (with Igal Foni, Eric RevisEric RevisEric Revis is a jazz bassist and composer. Revis came to prominence as a jazz bassist with the legendary Betty Carter in the mid-1990s and since 1997 has been a solid member of Branford Marsalis's ensemble...
) - 2002 - Few and Far Between, Avram Fefer Trio (with Wilber MorrisWilber MorrisWilber Morris was an American jazz double bass player and bandleader. He was the brother of the cornetist, composer, and conductor Butch Morris....
, Bobby FewBobby FewBobby Few is an American jazz pianist.Few was raised in Shaker Heights, a neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio, and studied classical piano. He knew Albert Ayler as a youth, and the pair studied jazz and played together in high school...
) - 2002 - Lucille's Gemini Dream, Avram Fefer Quartet (with Steve SwellSteve SwellSteve Swell is an American free jazz trombonist and composer.Swell studied at Jersey City State College before moving to New York City in 1975 where he began his musical life, playing in top 40 bands, salsa bands, big bands and performed on Broadway in Bob Fosse's "Dancin""...
, Wilber Morris, Igal Foni) - 2004 - Shades of the Muse, Avram Fefer Quartet (with Tomas Ulrich, Ken FilianoKen FilianoKenneth S. Filiano is an American jazz double bassist. He is associated with the modern free improvisational scene....
, Jay Rosen) - 2005 - Kindred Spirits, Avram Fefer/Bobby Few Duo
- 2005 - Heavenly Places, Avram Fefer/Bobby Few Duo
- 2005 - Painting Breath, Stoking Fire, Avram Fefer/Michael Bisio Duo
- 2006 - Sanctuary, Avram Fefer/Bobby Few Quartet
- 2006 - Connections, Michael Bisio Quartet
- 2007 - More Than Post Human, Burnt SugarBurnt SugarBurnt Sugar, also known as Burnt Sugar, The Arkestra Chamber, is an American improvisational band. The band's music combines the influences of funk, jazz, rock, reggae, soul, hip hop, heavy metal, and 20th century classical music. It has been described by one critic as a...
- 2007 - Circle This, Michael Bisio Quartet
- 2008 - Live at the Vision Fest XII, Michael Bisio Quartet
- 2009 - AM, Michael Bisio Quartet
- 2009 - Making Love to the Dark Ages, Burnt Sugar
- 2009 - Ritual, Avram Fefer Trio w/ Chad Taylor, Eric Revis
- 2010 - Ashcan Rantings, Adam Lane's Full Throttle Orchestra
- 2011 - Eliyahu, Avram Fefer Trio w/ Chad Taylor, Eric Revis
- 2011 - All You Need Is That Negrocity, Burnt Sugar