Andy Middleton

ANDY MIDDLETON
Saxophonist, Composer, Educator, Author
Telephone: 0043.1.913.7565; Mobil: 0043.676.715.2077
Award-winning saxophonist, composer and bandleader ANDY MIDDLETON has been garnering attention for years for his imaginative, sincere, lyrical and adventurous solos. His compositions, arranged for ensembles as varied as 2 saxophones with bass and drums to full big band, weave lyrical melodies, richly detailed harmonic contours, imaginative and forcefully flowing rhythm section writing, fresh approaches to counterpoint and finely textured orchestrations to create emotionally compelling, rhythmically vital jazz.

All AboutJazzItalia writes that Middleton plays “solos that demonstrate the absolute mastery of his saxophones, in emotional and technical terms,” Saxophone Journal writes that Middleton “is a wonderful, ingenious, melodic musician”; while Jazz’n More of Switzerland has noted that “Each single tone comes from his heart”. In recognition of his compositional achievements Jazz Times has written that “Middleton ... writes in a broadly euphonious harmonic language, with a natural tunefulness that engages the ear with exotic airs”, and JAZZ Magazine of France declares that Middleton is “a first class composer/arranger.” Time Out New York has written that he is “an ace saxophonist, a generously skilled arranger and a socially dedicated artist”, while the New York Times hails Middleton as “an accomplished composer as well as a smart post-bop tenor saxophonist.”

As a leader he has recorded with jazz greats Dave Holland and Ralph Towner (Nomad’s Notebook, Intuition Music and Media), Renee Rosnes (Terra Infirma, Owl/EMI France), Joey Calderazzo (Acid Rain, Owl/EMI France), and with Kenny Wheeler, Reinventing the World (Intuition Music and Media), a lament to the world’s threatened environment which firmly establishes Middleton as a musician of extraordinary sensitivity, ability and talent, both as a composer and a performer. He has also worked extensively as a sideman with the likes of Lionel Hampton, Bob Mintzer, Randy Brecker, Adam Nussbaum and Maria Schneider, among many others.

He has toured Europe widely since the early 1990’s, performing at many of the major jazz festivals and in clubs and concert halls in almost every European country. Andy’s book, Melodic Improvising (Advance Music, 2005) is a guide/play-along CD that offers many effective approaches to developing a strong sense of melodic invention.

As of September 2006 Andy resettled in Vienna, Austria to teach Composition, Arranging and Jazz Theory at the Konservatorium Wien. Middleton is a highly regarded jazz clinician, presenting workshops and performing as a guest artist and conductor throughout the United States and Europe. He was artistic director of the Poysdorf Jazz and Wine Summer jazz workshop in Austria from 2000 – 2009 and is currently directing the Slovenian jazz workshop Jazzinty since 2009.

Middleton was awarded a highly prestigious composition grant from Chamber Music America’s New Works: Creation and Presentation Program in 2004, a National Endowment for the Arts Performance Grant in 1996, and grants from the Fund for US Artists at International Festivals in 1992, 1993, and 2003.

In the words of master saxophonist, composer and educator David Liebman: “Andy Middleton represents the best of a new generation of jazz musicians.”

“Here is improvising and writing in its best form - really pretty amazing!”
MICHAEL BRECKER
“There is one soloist who truly stands apart from the rest of the crowd, and that is Andy Middleton”
Saxophone Journal, USA

“Ein Musician’s Musician, wie er im Buche steht. Andy Middleton kann es in puncto Expressivität und Emotionalität auf dem Sopransaxofon locker mit der Branchengröße Dave Liebman aufnehmen, und dennoch ke".