Frogtoon Music

Existence Ep (Album) by Justin Vasquez

Artist Biography For Justin Vasquez

Evolution And A Fiercely Open-Minded Approach To Composition Are The Hallmarks Of Award Winning Saxophonist Justin Vasquez' Artistry. Shedding Dutifully Before Hitting The East And West Coasts For Critical Apprenticeships He Has Honed A Boundary Defying Style As Fluid And Organic As It Is Impressive. On Triptych His Startlingly Mature Self-Produced Recording Debut As A Leader Justin Vasquez - At 26 - Is Fast Becoming A Force In A Genre He Is Still Struggling To Define. One Might Hear It As Jazz Only With A Heavy Heartland Sensibility. “When I Talk To People About ‘jazz’ ” Justin States “the Term Usually Means Something Very Small And Specific. It’s The Exact Opposite. I Believe That Jazz By Nature Is All-Inclusive. I Consider What I Create To Be New American Folk Music. Jazz At Its Core Yet Incorporating So Much More…as Jazz Has Done Through The Ages.” Historically A “triptych” Is A 3-Panel Painting Found In Early Christian Art Dating Back To Roman Times. The Painting Tells A Story As Read From Left To Right. Reflecting On The Literal And Metaphorical Inspirations Behind His Use Of The Term As The Title Of His Debut Project Vasquez Muses “There Are Spiritual Overtones In My Music But Not In A Religious Way. It’s That Feeling Of Having A Piece Of Music That Tells A Story From Exposition To Conclusion. When I Wrote The Title Track I Was Thinking Of A Song That Was Constantly Evolving Without A Cyclical Form. Nothing Ever Repeats. That Idea Of Evolution Is What Made Me Want To Do This Project.” Evolution On An Inordinately High Level Has Been A Constant In The Life Of Justin Vasquez. “I Was Born In Corpus Christi Texas And Grew Up In Several Other Small Towns ” He Begins. “I Had Little Exposure To Music. Initially I Was Into Long Distance Running But I Trained Too Hard. I Tore The Cartilage In One Of My Knees And Had To Stay Off It For Several Months. With All This New Free Time I Found An Alto Saxophone My Dad Happened To Have Borrowed From A Family Member. I Was Immediately Drawn To The Instrument Like Nothing Else Before In My Life.” Noting This Interest Justin’s Mother And Grandmother Exposed Him To Recordings Of Charlie Parker Sonny Rollins Bud Powell And Johnny Griffin. The Result Was His Painstaking Search To Understand This Music And His Instrument. “I Didn’t Know The First Thing About Being A Musician But I Figured You Had To Study Hard And Work At It Like Any Other Job. My Parents Worked 8 To 9 Hours A Day So I Figured That’s How Much I Should Practice.” Justin Arrived At The University Of Texas In Austin Fully Intending To Study Classical Music But Was Eventually Drawn To The Jazz Department. “I’d Been Alive For 17 Years Before I Saw A Serious Jazz Musician Play Live. The First Group I Saw Was The Pat Metheny Trio With Drummer Bill Stewart And Bassist Larry Grenadier. I Was Pretty Sure I Wanted To Be A Musician At That Point Already But After Hearing Pat There Was No Turning Back. Following That Concert It Felt Like When The Hubble Telescope First Brought Back Those Deep Space Images. All Of A Sudden My Universe Went From Being This Little Bubble Of Earth Extending Only To The Moon To Suddenly Being Billions Of Light Years Wide.” Justin Expanded His Musical Vocabulary Listening To Artists Like Weather Report Art Ensemble Of Chicago The Mahavishnu Orchestra Jan Hammer And Egberto Gismonti As Well As Classical Composers Alexander Scriabin Arnold Schoenberg Stravinsky Chopin And Aaron Copland. Hitting The Bandstand With Drummer Gerry Gibbs Justin Got The Golden Early Opportunity Play And Tour With Jazz Legends Like Randy Brecker Tom Harrell Mike Stern Sam Rivers And Dave Liebman. After Graduating College In 2005 Justin Spent Two-And-A-Half Years In Los Angeles Performing In Local Big Bands And Forming The Powerhouse Group Los Cuatro A Quartet With Yellowjackets’ Bassist Jimmy Haslip . He Later Moved To New York Where He Has Been Playing With The City’s Top Musicians Such As Jojo Mayer Elliot Mason Janek Gwzidala Tigran Hamasyan Tim Miller Oli Rockberger And Sean Rickman. Then In March 2008 Justin Opted To Make A Musical Statement Of His Own. “I Don’t Adhere To Purism Of Any Sort ” He Explains. “To Me Anything Is Acceptable As Long As It Sounds Good. For Instance I Never Really Listened To Country Music Growing Up But I Was Always Surrounded By It So It’s Made Its’ Way Into My Playing. The Aspects Of Country That I Like That Sort Of Heartfelt Lilt I Try To Convey In My Pieces. I Think Of Music As A Kind Of Truth And When We Play We Filter This Truth Through The Kaleidoscope Of Our Unique Perspective Of Existence By Way Of Our Instrument.”

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