George Garzone (born September 23, 1950)[1] is a saxophonist and jazz educator from Boston, Massachusetts.

George Garzone
Garzone in 2007
Garzone in 2007
Background information
Born (1950-09-23) September 23, 1950 (age 74)
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
GenresJazz, free jazz
Occupation(s)Musician, educator
InstrumentSaxophone
Years active1959–present
LabelsResolution, Northeastern, NYC
Websitegeorgegarzone.com
Garzone at the Copenhagen Jazz Festival, 2007

Biography

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Garzone is a member of the Fringe, a jazz trio founded in 1972 that includes bassist John Lockwood and drummer Francisco Mela, who fills the drum chair occupied for over 50 years by the late Bob Gullotti. The group has released several albums. Garzone has appeared on over 20 recordings. He began on tenor saxophone when he was six, played in a family band, and attended music school in Boston. He toured Europe with Jamaaladeen Tacuma and performed with Jack DeJohnette, Joe Lovano, John Patitucci, Danilo Pérez, Rachel Z, and Bob Weir and Ratdog.

Garzone is also a jazz educator, teaching at the Berklee College of Music, New England Conservatory, Longy School of Music, New York University, and the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. He pioneered the triadic chromatic approach. His students include Mindi Abair, Branford Marsalis, Donny McCaslin, Danilo Pérez, Joshua Redman, Luciana Souza, and Mark Turner.

In 1995 he recorded a tribute to Stan Getz on NYC Records called Alone. Four's and Two's followed a year later with Joe Lovano, and in 1999 Garzone returned with Moodiology. Fringe in New York was released in summer 2000. With the Joe Lovano Nonet he recorded at the Village Vanguard in September 2002.

He has also performed with Don Alias, Kenny Barron, Paul Feeley Dennis Chambers, Stanley Cowell, Anton Fig, Dan Gottlieb, Tom Harrell, Dave Holland, Dave Liebman, Cecil McBee, Bob Moses, Gary Peacock, Marvin Smith, Bill Stewart, Harvie Swartz, and Lenny White.[2]

Triadic Chromatic Approach

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The triadic chromatic approach is an improvisatory method created by Garzone while teaching at colleges in Boston and New York City. The method was developed to allow the improviser to be able to improvise freely without having to concern themselves with what is going on harmonically.[3]

This approach is applied by selecting one the four standard triads (major, minor, augmented, and diminished) and moving by a half step into another inversion of the same type of triad. This is a broad definition and there are many ways to be able to manipulate and change this approach.[3]

Discography

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As leader

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  • Alone (NYC, 1995)
  • Four's and Two's (NYC, 1995)
  • Demetrio's Dream (Nel Jazz, 1996)
  • Moodiology (NYC, 1999)
  • The Fringe in New York (NYC, 2000)
  • Onetwothreefour (Stunt, 2006)
  • Night of My Beloved (Venus, 2008)
  • Among Friends (Stunt, 2009)
  • Filing the Profile (Intuition, 2011)
  • Audacity (Challenge, 2012)[4]
  • Quintonic (Stunt, 2014)
  • 3 Nights in L.A. (Fuzzy Music, 2019)

With The Fringe

  • The Fringe (Ap-Gu-Ga, 1978)
  • Live ! (Ap-Gu-Ga, 1980)
  • Hey, Open Up! (Ap-Gu-Ga, 1982)
  • The Raging Bulls (Ap-Gu-Ga, 1986)
  • The Return of the Neanderthal Man (Northeastern, 1990)
  • It's Time for the Fringe (Soul Note, 1993)
  • Live in Israel (Soul Note, 1997)
  • Live in Iseo (Soul Note, 2001)

As sideman

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References

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  1. ^ Gilbert, Mark (2002). "Garzone, George (Sabato)". In Barry Kernfeld (ed.). The new Grove dictionary of jazz, vol. 2 (2nd ed.). New York: Grove's Dictionaries. p. 19. ISBN 1561592846.
  2. ^ "Faculty - Berklee College of Music". www.berklee.edu.
  3. ^ a b Garzone, George (May 2009). "Basics of the Triadic Chromatic Approach". DownBeat. pp. 58–59.
  4. ^ "Audacity". Challenge.
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