$15 at the door 7:30pm Show
New York-based jazz saxophonist Andrew Van Tassel will lead a quartet featuring Kavyesh Kaviraj on piano, Ted Olsen on bass, and Pete James Johnson on drums. Andrew’s music draws inspiration from a broad palette of genres: bebop, fusion, indie rock, classical music, and more.
Andrew Van Tassel is an award-winning jazz saxophonist, composer, and educator. His latest release, Shape-Shifter, reflects this multifaceted approach, which ultimately produces singular music while unveiling compelling explorations with electronics in a contemporary jazz ensemble context. Van Tassel’s albums, Shape-Shifter (Brooklyn Jazz Underground Records) and It’s Where You Are (Tone Rogue Records), have received international praise from jazz critics and recognition as top 10 releases by multiple publications. Andrew has garnered recognition as a recipient of the 2017 ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award and a semifinalist in the 2021 International Songwriting Competition.
Andrew has performed as a leader at several of New York’s esteemed venues, including ShapeShifter Lab, the Cornelia Street Café, the Bar Next Door, and Rockwood Music Hall. As a sideman, he has performed with an array of bands across genres, including the Grammy-nominated Terraza Big Band.
A graduate of the Manhattan School of Music and New England Conservatory, Andrew now gives back to the next generation of jazz musicians as a guest artist and clinician at distinguished schools across the country. He was most recently on faculty as a lecturer in jazz saxophone at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Andrew has also donated his time as associate artistic director of Musical Mentors Collaborative, Inc.
Andrew leads a double life as a musician and a member of the external communications team at the D. E. Shaw Group, a global investment management and technology development firm. The pursuit of multifarious interests is the cornerstone of Andrew’s approach to life and music.
