Gavin Templeton is an American modern jazz saxophonist, composer and bandleader, called "a pivotal force in the L.A. progressive jazz scene."[1]

Gavin Templeton
Background information
BornAtlanta, GA
GenresJazz
OccupationMusician
Instrument(s)Saxophone, woodwinds
Years active2008–present
LabelsOrenda Records
Nine Winds Records
Websitegavintempletonmusic.com

Early life and education

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Templeton was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and raised in Reno, Nevada.[2][3] He earned his Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno, and a master's degree from the California Institute of the Arts.[4] He moved to Los Angeles, California, in 2006,[4] where he is a part of the city's progressive jazz scene.[1]

Career

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Solo and with trio

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Templeton's debut album, Asterperious Special, was released on Nine Winds Records in 2012, with Templeton on alto saxophone, Larry Koonse on guitar, Gary Fukushima on piano, Darek Oles on bass and Joe LaBarbera on drums.[5] The following year, he released In Series, a modern jazz album featuring jazz-rock arrangements, recorded at Westlake Studios in Los Angeles.[1][2] It features Templeton as composer and on alto saxophone, Perry Smith on guitar, Sam Minaie on bass, Matt Politano on piano and Matt Mayhall on drums.[1] The album is built thematically around the contrast between material excess and poverty on the west side of Los Angeles.[6]

The Gavin Templeton Trio's Some Spinning, Some At Rest, was released in 2014 on Orenda Records.[7] An album of original compositions by Templeton,[8] it combines composition and improvising, with Templeton on alto saxophone, Richard Giddens on double-bass and Gene Coye on drums.[9] In received 5 out of 5 stars on All About Jazz,[9] and was on the site's Best of 2014 list.[10]

Other work

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Templeton is a member of The Daniel Rosenboom Quintet, playing alto saxophone on the 2014 jazz-metal album Fire Keeper,[11] and on Rosenboom's 2015 Astral Transference as part of the octet.[12] He played woodwinds as part of a 22-piece chamber ensemble on the 2015 album Three Kids Music by Gurrisonic Orchestra,[13] and has also collaborated with guitarist Nels Cline, woodwind player Vinny Golia, big band leader Alan Ferber, Charlie Haden, Wayne Shorter and Joe LaBarbera.[2][14][15] Templeton performed as a featured artist at the 2014 Angel City Jazz Festival,[16] and with the Daniel Rosenboom Quintet at the 2014 Monterey Jazz Festival.[15]

Discography

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Albums

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Year Title
2012 Asterperious Special
2013 In Series
  • By: Gavin Templeton
  • Released: October 8, 2013
  • Label: Nine Winds Records
  • Formats: CD, digital download
2014 Some Spinning, Some At Rest
  • By: Gavin Templeton Trio
  • Released: August 1, 2014
  • Label: Orenda Records
  • Formats: CD, digital download

Appears on

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Year Album Artist Credits
2008 Visions and Nightmares Dr. Mint Alto saxophone
Live 2008 Plotz! Alto saxophone
2009 Vinny Golia’s Friday Nite Band Vinny Golia Alto saxophone
A New Symphony Dr. Mint Alto saxophone
Book of Riddles Daniel Rosenboom Saxophones
How Much Better if Plymouth Rock Had Landed on the Pilgrims David Rosenboom Alto saxophone
The Kid Plotz! Saxophones
2010 Abstract Realism Peter Epstein & Idée Fixe Saxophones
Dirty Baby Nels Cline Alto saxophone
2011 Abstractions and Retrocasualties The Vinny Golia Sextet Alto saxophone
Low and Inside The Vinny Golia Octet Alto saxophone
Fallen Angeles Daniel Rosenboom Alto saxophone
2013 Ritual Dr. Mint Woodwinds
Shades of Truth Trevor Anderies Alto saxophone
Unsayable Absence: Live at the Blue Whale Daniel Rosenboom Woodwinds
Ritual David Dominique Alto saxophone, baritone saxophone, flute
2014 Fire Keeper The Daniel Rosenboom Quintet Saxophones, bass clarinet
Farewell Jon Armstrong Jazz Orchestra Woodwinds
2015 Prisms, Cycles, Leaps Derrick Spiva Jr. & Bridge to Everywhere Woodwinds
Kingsize Sessions Dr. Mint Woodwinds
Astral Transference Daniel Rosenboom Alto saxophone
Three Kids Music Gurrisonic Orchestra Woodwinds
Jazziz on Disc, Vol. 5 (Jazziz magazine compilation) Alto saxophone
2016 Lovers Nels Cline Clarinet, Alto saxophone
2018 Thelonious Sphere Monk Mast (Tim Conley) Saxophone[17]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Glenn Astarita, “Gavin Templeton: In Series,” All About Jazz, October 1, 2013.
  2. ^ a b c “Alto Saxophonist-Bandleader Gavin Templeton Releases 2nd Album, In Series On Nine Winds Records October 8, 2013,” Archived January 16, 2017, at the Wayback Machine Fully Altered Media, July 25, 2013.
  3. ^ “Gavin Templeton Trio,” Archived 2016-02-16 at the Wayback Machine Blue Whale, June 2, 2011.
  4. ^ a b Gavin Templeton Bio Archived 2017-01-16 at the Wayback Machine, Fully Altered. Accessed February 12, 2016.
  5. ^ Paul Fraser, “Jazz Saxophonist Gavin Templeton Releases Debut Album,” calarts.edu, July 23, 2012.
  6. ^ S. Victor Aaron, “Gavin Templeton – In Series,” Something Else, October 6, 2013.
  7. ^ Dave Sumner, “New Jazz This Week: Adam Baldych, Yaron Herman, Uri Caine, Ernst Glerum,” Archived 2016-02-16 at the Wayback Machine Wondering Sound, August 1, 2014.
  8. ^ George W. Harris, “Alto Sax Trios,” Jazz Weekly, June 8, 2015.
  9. ^ a b Robert Bush, “Gavin Templeton Trio: Some Spinning, Some At Rest,” All About Jazz, December 7, 2014.
  10. ^ Robert Bush, “Best of 2014,” All About Jazz, January 11, 2015.
  11. ^ Chris Barton, “Daniel Rosenboom’s ‘Fire Keeper’ full of imagination,” Los Angeles Times, May 5, 2014.
  12. ^ S. Victor Aaron, “Daniel Rosenboom – Astral Transference and Seven Dreams,” Something Else, February 1, 2015.
  13. ^ George W. Harris, “Jose Gurria’s Gurrisonic Orchestra: Three Kids Music,” Jazz Weekly, October 29, 2015.
  14. ^ “The Gavin Templeton Trio,” Archived 2016-02-16 at the Wayback Machine Orenda Records. Accessed February 12, 2016.
  15. ^ a b “Gavin Templeton Trio,” Archived 2016-02-16 at the Wayback Machine angelcityjazz.com. Accessed February 12, 2016.
  16. ^ Chris Barton, “Angel City Jazz Festival lineup looks to past, present and future,” Los Angeles Times, September 16, 2014.
  17. ^ "Track premiere: Mast "Nutty" (F. Makaya Mccraven, Dan Rosenboom, Gavin Templeton)". L.A. Record. January 18, 2018. Archived from the original on June 13, 2018. Retrieved September 8, 2019.
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