Our current spotlight artist Andy Nevala brings a vast amount of education, experience, and originality to his current release Alone Together. Nevala has spent years honing his craft in educational settings; currently he’s completing a Doctorate in Jazz Studies. You can hear how Nevala has taken advantage of the opportunities afforded by collegiate jazz education; he displays an in-depth knowledge of styles, history, and improvisation. His performance experience solidifies the real world application of this knowledge; he’s been around the country and the world with artists such as Steve Lippia and the Glenn Miller Orchestra. He showcases his creativity with original compositions and explorations of Latin styles. Nevala puts the total package into use and is creating some fantastic music.

Nevala is creating some top-notch Latin Jazz, definitely worth a listen. You can find more information about Nevala at his Website and his MySpace.

Don’t Forget! You can also download the track “DotCom-Bustion” from Nevala’s Alone Together at The Listening Center!

Here’s some background info from Nevala’s bio . . .

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Award winning Pianist/Arranger/Composer Andy Nevala is based in Denver, CO (for now). He has been recognized by Downbeat Magazine on 9 different occasions, winning Downbeat Music Awards for composition (2002), arranging (2003), and performing/directing (2000, 2000, 2002) to name a few. He has toured Canada, Europe, Japan, South America, and has performed in every state in the US except Alaska and Hawaii. His schedule has averaged more than 300 gigs for the past 4 years!
He moved to Colorado in 1997 after graduating from Boise State University to pursue graduate studies in music. He completed a Master of Music in Theory and Composition from UNC in 2000, and is currently completing a Doctorate in Jazz Piano Performance from the University of Colorado, Boulder. His newest CD, “Alone Together”, was released on September 18th, 2007, and is on the Capri Label. The CD is available at HMV (International), Amazon.com, Townsend Records (UK), Worlds Records, Discovery Records (UK), CD Universe, Artist Direct, Emusic, Itunes, and Capri Records, among others. He currently tours with vocalist Steve Lippia, and recently completed tours with guitarist Eddie Turner, nominated in the 2006 Blues Music Awards as “Best New Artist”. With Eddie Andy performed in Vienna, East Berlin, BB King’s on 52nd St. in NY, the Ottawa Blues Fest, and the WDR in Bonn, Germany, among others. Andy has also toured with the Glenn Miller Orchestra, which included a 6 week tour of Japan and 2 tours of Canada.

While at UNC he directed and performed in Combo’s I and II, winning downbeat awards for Outstanding Performance by a College Combo and Best Blues/Pop/Rock Group winner, respectively. He also performed in the award winning Jazz Lab I, under the direction of Dr. Gene Aitkin, and was a featured soloist on the UNC Jazz Program recording “Gene Aitkin directs UNC Jazz Lab Band I - Alive XVII”, playing piano and Hammond B-3. At UNC he performed with Conrad Herwig, Brian Lynch, Louis Bellson, Peter Erskine, and Pete Fountain, as well as opened for Kurt Elling, Russell Malone, Poncho Sanchez and McCoy Tyner.

While at the University of Colorado, Boulder, he performed in Jazz Ensemble I and Combo I, winning downbeat awards for Outstanding Performance Original Song, Jazz Arrangement Co-Winner, Outstanding Group (Combo I) and Outstanding Jazz Ensemble (CU JazzEnsemble I). He also directed Combo’s IV+III, Jazz Ensemble II, and taught the Jazz Piano class. At CU, he performed with Chris Potter, Jiggs Whigam, and James Carter.

He has been a featured artist at the Calgary C-Jazz Festival (2007), the Gene Harris Jazz Festival (2003, 2008), and the Kinser Jazz Festival (2007), and has performed as a sideman at the JVC Jazz Festival in NYC (Birdland), Berlin Blues Fest, the Aspen Jazz Festival, the Telluride Jazz Festival, and the Vienna Blues Fest (Austria) to name a few. Andy has also been commissioned to arrange for the Glenn Miller Orchestra, the Denver Brass, and Conjunto Colores.

His most recent recording credits include the Summit Brass featuring Bobby Shew (2008), two separate Live in Europe recordings with Guitarist Eddie Turner (2007, 2008), Alone Together on the Capri Label (2007), and over 20 others.

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