New-Trad

 
 

Mission and History

New: 1) Lately discovered. 2) Beginning or recurring afresh. 3) Changed in essence or constitution. 4) Different from that heretofore known. 5) Up to date.


Trad: Musicians' slang term for the early New Orleans jazz music of Buddy Bolden, Joseph "King" Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Ferdinand "Jelly Roll" Morton, and others.

Jeff Newell’s New-Trad projects are modern musical vehicles for the roots of American music.  Combining instruments and elements of a traditional New Orleans brass band with those of a modern jazz group, this ensemble explores the early sources of our nation’s musical heritage (church music, band music, blues, etc.) and combines these influences in ways that speak to and excite modern audiences.  Formed in 1994, the New-Trad sound has been brought to clubs, theaters, schools, festivals, and churches, thrilling audiences from the Atlantic to the Rockies.  “Brownstone,” the New-Trad Octet CD released in April of 2007, met with overwhelming response from the press and jazz radio community, starting as the #1 add and staying on the charts for over six weeks.


Venues to host Jeff Newell’s New-Trad Octet include:

JEFF NEWELL

saxophonist / composer / arranger / bandleader


Saxophonist Jeff Newell’s distinctive sound, original compositions, creative arrangements and wry sense of humor have earned the praise of jazz critics and audiences alike in the US and abroad. Newell’s New-Trad

Octet, formed in 1994 in time for Mardi Gras, not only provides an outlet for his skills as an arranger, composer and music director but also supports his interest in the rich musical history of New Orleans. Conceived to blend the traditional "second line" of the “Crescent City’s” brass band with a modern rhythm section and a fresh approach to harmony and improvisation, the New-Trad Octet applies the march beats and instrumentation of early New Orleans parade music to songs written considerably later, by jazz masters ranging from Charlie Parker to Duke Ellington.  It also incorporates the spontaneity and surprise of modern jazz improvisations to turn-of-the-19th-century hymns, marches by John Philip Sousa and other popular music of that era. As The Chicago Tribune's Howard Reich observed: "Of the various bands that saxophonist Jeff Newell leads, none is more compelling, nor more original, than his New-Trad Octet.”


Born in 1955, in Kansas City, MO, Newell was raised in rural Nebraska and earned a B.A. in music conferred with distinction from the University of Nebraska and after a year of graduate school moved to Chicago in 1978 where he began performing in local jazz clubs and festivals.  His professional experience began in earnest when he joined the Neoclassic Jazz Orchestra with which he toured Europe. Upon his return Newell soon became a fixture of the Chicago jazz scene, performing in the “Windy City’s” jazz venues and working with many of its best-known musicians. 


Newell has performed on numerous Chicago Jazz Festival stages (in 1993 and 1995 with his own groups) and has fronted his own band on the jazz stage of Chicagofest. In April 1993 his quartet was awarded second place in the Cognac Hennessy Jazz Search "Best of Chicago" contest, out of over 60 entries.  He has also played the Jazz Oasis at Milwaukee's Summerfest and worked the Clocktower Jazz Festival in Rockford, the Elkhart Jazz Festival and many other Midwestern jazz events. In 1991, 1994 and 2006 Newell was invited back to Nebraska to perform as a guest soloist with the Nebraska Jazz Orchestra.  In 1989 he received a National Endowment for the Arts jazz fellowship to study in New York with Dave Leibman having previously studied in Chicago for two years with saxophonist Bunky Green and for a year with saxophonist Joe Daley.


Newell moved to New York City in 1994 to take advantage of the opportunities only the “Mecca of Jazz” can provide. He appears with his octet and quartet at clubs and festivals throughout the US while still occasionally enjoying the role of sideman with artists such as Kevin Mahogany and Marshall Vente.  Jeff was a founding member of the Birdland Big Band, playing weekly at the Birdland Jazz Club for over eight years with the band and it’s predecessor, The Lew Anderson Big Band.  Newell’s other credits include performances and/or recordings with Ron Carter, Cedar Walton, Phil Woods, Charles Earland, Houston Person, Brian Culbertson, Johnny Coles, Von Freeman, Ira sullivan, Paul Wertico, Paul Smoker, Bobby Broom, Fareed Haque, Richie Cole, Don Menza, Ed Shaunessy, Bill Watrous, Giacamo Gates, Terance Blanchard, and Bobby Watson, among others.


In addition to conducting clinics, master classes and judging at student jazz festivals, Newell is on the faculty of the Brooklyn Music School, where he teaches woodwinds, jazz improvisation, coaches jazz ensembles and is Coordinator of the Jazz Faculty as well as Woodwind Department Chair.  While in Chicago he taught college level courses at the American Conservatory of Music from 1990 to 1992.  Newell became a part of the music ministry at Brooklyn's New Baptist Temple in 1996, serving as worship leader and Coordinator of Music and Worship from 2000 to 2005.


Selected Discography:

2002Marshall Vente: "Mashall Law," Middlecoast 003

2002Eldee Young & Marshall Vente: "Mic Up to the Step," Middle Coast 004

1998Jeff Newell: "Jack the Ripper," IGMOD Records - IGM49806-2

1992Damon Short: "All of the Above," Southport Records - S-SSD 0028

1991Charles Earland: "Whip Appeal," Muse Records - MC5409

1990Andre Caporaso: Pathways," Blue Room Records - BRR005

1987Guy Fricano: "The New York Sessions," AFP Records - GF81242


Jeff Newell uses and endorses Rico Reeds and woodwind accessories made by D’Addario & Co.

1974 in Blair, NE

1993 in Chicago, IL

2003 in Brooklyn, NY

John Bailey, trumpet

– A native of the Michigan, John moved to Florida in his teens where he was mentored by the great jazz multi-instrumentalist Ira Sullivan.  Since moving to NYC, John has performed many of the greats, including being a featured soloist in the bands of Ray Charles and Frank Sinatra.


J Walter Hawkes, trombone

– His youth on the Gulf Coast town of Pascagoula, Mississippi immersed Mr. Hawkes in the culture whose influence made its way to New Orleans and had a profound effect on American music.  His high-spirited bone and ukulele playing has been in great demand in the jazz world as well as with Norah Jones and on television where he has written for “Blues Clues” and several other shows.


Marcus Rojas, tuba

– Growing up in Brooklyn and attending the New York High School for the Arts, Marcus soon found himself to be one of the most in demand tuba players around.  In addition to being a member of the ground-breaking trio, “Spanish Fly,” Marcus has kept busy with jazz greats like Lester Bowie, Henry Threadgill, and John Zorn, as well as playing with the New York Pops orchestra under the baton of Skitch Henderson.


David Phelps, guitar

– Growing up in the strange environs of Denton, Texas has given David a unique outlook on music.  Along with all that comes from life in a small Texas town, David’s home was also full of hard-driving jazz and experimental music from the local North Texas State University.  This cultural clash gives Phelps the bite of bebop and the quirk of the avant garde on top of the deep blues and that certain twang that are indigenous to Texas.


Tricia Woods, piano

– Life in the Adirondacks of Massachusetts may not seem like the rough road that leads to a deep understanding of the blues, but it was for Tricia.  Combine that with a great interest in jazz harmony and years of being the church organist in her hometown and you have one of the most sought after keyboardists on the New York jazz scene.


Tom Hubbard, bass

– This earth-toned bassist from the North woods of Minnesota has a sound and musical spirit that has grounded numerous musicians of various genres around the country.  In addition to performances in the early days of “A Prairie Home Companion,” Tom has crossed the globe with musicians like Freddy Cole and Liza Minelli.


Brian Woodruff, drums

– Hailing from the wilds of Connecticut, Brian Woodruff has been free-lancing in the New York City area since 1995. Brian came to NYC to get a Master’s Degree in Jazz and Commercial Music from the Manhattan School of Music.  Brian has toured the globe, performing with the likes of Bobby Watson and Marian MacPartland and in the orchestras for a variety of musicals, including “A Chorus Line”, “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” and “Chicago”.

Meet the rest of the New-Trad Octet

photo by Schector Lee

  1. •NBC’s Today Show

  2. •Brooklyn Acadamy of Music

  3. •The Morgan Library & Museum (NYC)

  4. •The Green Mill (Chicago)

  5. •Jazz in June (Lincoln, NE)

  6. •Bargemusic (NYC)

  7. •Hofstra Univ. (Hempstead, NY)

  8. •The Redstone Room (Davenport, IA)

  1. •Brooklyn Museum of Art

  2. •Fitzgerald’s (Berwyn, IL)

  3. •Vaudeville Mews (Des Moines, IA)

  4. •Centenary Theater (Hackettstown, NJ)

  5. •The Jazz Showcase (Chicago)

  6. •Saint Peter’s Church (NYC)

  7. •Spencer Area Concert Assoc. (Spencer, IA)

  8. •Hudson River Museum (Yonkers, NY)

2009 in NYC

Photo by Nathalie Schueller