James Newton
Encyclopedia
James W. Newton is an American
jazz
flautist
, composer, and conductor.
and Roland Kirk. In addition to taking lessons in classical music on flute, he also studied jazz with Buddy Collette
. He completed his formal musical training at California State University, Los Angeles
.
From 1972 to 1975, together with David Murray
, Bobby Bradford
, and Arthur Blythe
, Newton was a member of drummer (and later critic) Stanley Crouch
's band Black Music Infinity. From 1978 to 1981 he lived in New York, leading a trio with pianist and composer Anthony Davis
and cellist Abdul Wadud
. These three played extended chamber jazz
and Third Stream
compositions by Newton and Davis. With Davis, Newton founded a quartet and toured successfully in Europe in the early 1980s. Afterwards, he performed with a wide variety of musicians, including projects by John Carter
and the Mingus Dynasty
. Newton has released four recordings of his solo improvisations for flute. He has also worked with Herbie Hancock
, Bobby Hutcherson
, Lester Bowie
, Leroy Jenkins, Chet Baker
, Kenny Burrell
, David Murray
and Andrew Cyrille
. Since the 1990s Newton has often worked with musicians from other cultural spheres, including Jon Jang
, Gao Hong
, Kadri Gopalnath
, and Shubhendra Rao
, and has taken part in many cross-cultural projects.
Newton has performed with the New York Philharmonic
, Brooklyn Philharmonic
, L'Orchestre du Conservatoire de Paris, Vladimir Spivakov
and the Moscow Virtuosi, the Los Angeles Master Chorale
, Southwest Chamber Music
, California EAR Unit, New York New Music Ensemble
, San Francisco Ballet
, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Group.
He served for five years as Musical Director/Conductor of the Luckman Jazz Orchestra and has held professorships at the University of California, Irvine
, the California Institute of the Arts
, and California State University, Los Angeles
. In 1989 he wrote and published a method book entitled The Improvising Flute. In 2007 he published Daily Focus For The Flute.
He has also composed classical works for chamber ensemble and orchestra, as well as electronic music. In 1997 he wrote an opera, The Songs of Freedom. Based on the knowledge of the deep tradition of "extended" jazz compositions and European contemporary music, Newton uses post-serial methods in composing. His compositions may be judged as specifically African American not solely because of the presence of crucial idiomatic elements such as rhythm, pronunciation, and transformation of sound, but also because of their dialoguing between different cultures. In his compositional output, he specializes in chamber music and writing for unconventional instrumentations. He has also written a symphony and composed for ballet and modern dance. In 2006 he composed a Latin Mass which premiered in Prato Italy in February 2007.
He has received Guggenheim
(1992) and Rockefeller
fellowships, Montreux Grande Prix Du Disque, and Down Beat International Critics Jazz Album of the Year. He has also been voted the top flutist for 23 consecutive years in Down Beat
magazine's International Critic's Poll.
for using a sample of his "Choir," a 1978 composition for flute and voice, in their song "Pass the Mic
", stating that the group should have contacted him personally for permission. The group argued that they had contacted ECM Records, the record label who held the rights to the original recording, paid a one-time fee of US$1,000 for the use of the six second, three note sample (which recurs numerous times during the course of the song), and they believed that to be sufficient. Newton lost the case.
With John Carter
With Leroy Jenkins
With David Murray
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
flautist
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
, composer, and conductor.
Biography
From his earliest years, James Newton grew up immersed in the sounds of African American music, including urban blues, rhythm and blues, and gospel. In his early teens he played electric bass guitar, alto saxophone, and clarinet. In high school he took up the flute, influenced by Eric DolphyEric Dolphy
Eric Allan Dolphy was an American jazz alto saxophonist, flutist, and bass clarinetist. On a few occasions he also played the clarinet and baritone saxophone. Dolphy was one of several multi-instrumentalists to gain prominence in the 1960s...
and Roland Kirk. In addition to taking lessons in classical music on flute, he also studied jazz with Buddy Collette
Buddy Collette
William Marcel "Buddy" Collette was an American tenor saxophonist, flautist, and clarinetist. He was highly influential in the West coast jazz and West Coast blues mediums, also collaborating with saxophonist Dexter Gordon, drummer Chico Hamilton, and his lifelong friend, bassist Charles...
. He completed his formal musical training at California State University, Los Angeles
California State University, Los Angeles
California State University, Los Angeles is a public comprehensive university, part of the California State University system...
.
From 1972 to 1975, together with David Murray
David Murray (jazz musician)
David Murray is an American jazz musician. Murray plays mainly tenor saxophone and sometimes bass clarinet. He has recorded prolifically for many record labels since the mid-1970s.-Biography:...
, Bobby Bradford
Bobby Bradford
Bobby Lee Bradford is an American jazz trumpeter, cornetist, bandleader, and composer. He is noted for his work with Ornette Coleman...
, and Arthur Blythe
Arthur Blythe
Arthur Blythe is an American jazz alto saxophonist and composer. His stylistic voice has a distinct vibrato and he plays within the post-bop subgenre of jazz.- Biography :...
, Newton was a member of drummer (and later critic) Stanley Crouch
Stanley Crouch
Stanley Crouch is an American music and cultural critic, syndicated columnist, and novelist, perhaps best known for his jazz criticism, and his novel Don't the Moon Look Lonesome?- Biography :...
's band Black Music Infinity. From 1978 to 1981 he lived in New York, leading a trio with pianist and composer Anthony Davis
Anthony Davis (composer)
Anthony Davis, better known as Tony Davis , is an American composer, jazz pianist, and student of gamelan music.-Biography:...
and cellist Abdul Wadud
Abdul Wadud (musician)
Abdul Wadud , is an American cellist known for his work in jazz and classical settings.His son Is R&B Singer Raheem DeVaughn.-As leader:*1977: By Myself Bishara...
. These three played extended chamber jazz
Chamber jazz
Chamber jazz is a genre of jazz based around small, acoustic-based ensembles where group interplay is important. It is influenced aesthetically by musical neoclassicism and is often influenced by classical forms of non-Western music. That stated in many cases the influence is traditional Celtic...
and Third Stream
Third stream
Third Stream is a term coined in 1957 by composer Gunther Schuller, within a lecture at Brandeis University, to describe a musical genre which is a synthesis of classical music and jazz...
compositions by Newton and Davis. With Davis, Newton founded a quartet and toured successfully in Europe in the early 1980s. Afterwards, he performed with a wide variety of musicians, including projects by John Carter
John Carter (jazz musician)
John Wallace Carter was an American jazz clarinet, saxophone, and flute player.-Biography:Born in Fort Worth, Texas, he played with Ornette Coleman and Charles Moffett in the 1940s. From 1961, Carter was based mainly on the West Coast. There he met Bobby Bradford in 1965, with whom he...
and the Mingus Dynasty
Mingus Dynasty
Mingus Dynasty is an album by Charles Mingus, recorded and released in 1959, and was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.- Track listing :All compositions by Charles Mingus except where noted.# "Slop"# "Diane"# "Song With Orange"...
. Newton has released four recordings of his solo improvisations for flute. He has also worked with Herbie Hancock
Herbie Hancock
Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...
, Bobby Hutcherson
Bobby Hutcherson
Bobby Hutcherson is a jazz vibraphone and marimba player. His vibraphone playing is suggestive of the style of Milt Jackson in its free-flowing melodicism, but his sense of harmony and group interaction is thoroughly modern...
, Lester Bowie
Lester Bowie
Lester Bowie was an American jazz trumpet player and composer. He was a member of the AACM, and cofounded the Art Ensemble of Chicago.-Biography:...
, Leroy Jenkins, Chet Baker
Chet Baker
Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker, Jr. was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist and singer.Though his music earned him a large following , Baker's popularity was due in part to his "matinee idol-beauty" and "well-publicized drug habit."He died in 1988 in Amsterdam, the...
, Kenny Burrell
Kenny Burrell
Kenneth Earl "Kenny" Burrell is an American jazz guitarist. His playing is grounded in bebop and blues; he has performed and recorded with a wide range of jazz musicians.-Biography:...
, David Murray
David Murray (jazz musician)
David Murray is an American jazz musician. Murray plays mainly tenor saxophone and sometimes bass clarinet. He has recorded prolifically for many record labels since the mid-1970s.-Biography:...
and Andrew Cyrille
Andrew Cyrille
Andrew Charles Cyrille is an avant-garde jazz drummer.Cyrille was born in Brooklyn, New York into a family with a mother from Haiti. He began studying science at St...
. Since the 1990s Newton has often worked with musicians from other cultural spheres, including Jon Jang
Jon Jang
Jon Jang is an American jazz pianist, composer, and bandleader. Of Chinese ancestry, he is active in the Asian American jazz movement and specializes in music which combines elements of jazz and Asian musics....
, Gao Hong
Gao Hong
Gao Hong is a composer and performer of the Chinese pipa .Gao has lived in the United States since 1994. She performs traditional and modern Chinese music, with her groups Spirit of Nature and Beijing Trio...
, Kadri Gopalnath
Kadri Gopalnath
Dr. Kadri Gopalnath is an Indian saxophonist and one of the pioneers of Carnatic music on the saxophone.-Early life:...
, and Shubhendra Rao
Shubhendra Rao
-Early life:Rao was born in Bangalore, India to N. R. Rama Rao, a sitarist. Like his father, N. R. Rama Rao, Shubhendra Rao is a disciple of the sitarist Ravi Shankar.-Career:...
, and has taken part in many cross-cultural projects.
Newton has performed with the New York Philharmonic
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...
, Brooklyn Philharmonic
Brooklyn Philharmonic
The Brooklyn Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, commonly known as the Brooklyn Philharmonic, is an American orchestra based in the borough of Brooklyn, in New York City...
, L'Orchestre du Conservatoire de Paris, Vladimir Spivakov
Vladimir Spivakov
Vladimir Teodorovich Spivakov is a leading Russian conductor and violinist best known for his work with the chamber orchestra....
and the Moscow Virtuosi, the Los Angeles Master Chorale
Los Angeles Master Chorale
The Los Angeles Master Chorale is a professional chorus in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1964 by Roger Wagner to be one of the three original resident companies of the Music Center of Los Angeles County...
, Southwest Chamber Music
Southwest Chamber Music
Southwest Chamber Music is an ensemble of 15 musicians based in Los Angeles County, California. The organization was founded in 1987 by Artistic Director Jeff von der Schmidt and Executive Director Jan Karlin...
, California EAR Unit, New York New Music Ensemble
New York New Music Ensemble
The New York New Music Ensemble is a contemporary "Pierrot ensemble" chamber music group. The group formed in 1975 by Robert Block.Current members include: flutist Jayn Rosenfeld, clarinetist Jean Kopperud, violinist Linda Quan, cellist Chris Finckel, pianist Stephen Gosling and percussionist...
, San Francisco Ballet
San Francisco Ballet
The San Francisco Ballet is a ballet company, founded in 1933 as the San Francisco Opera Ballet. The company is currently based in the War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco, under the direction of Helgi Tomasson. SFB is the first professional ballet company in the United States...
, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Group.
He served for five years as Musical Director/Conductor of the Luckman Jazz Orchestra and has held professorships at the University of California, Irvine
University of California, Irvine
The University of California, Irvine , founded in 1965, is one of the ten campuses of the University of California, located in Irvine, California, USA...
, the California Institute of the Arts
California Institute of the Arts
The California Institute of the Arts, commonly referred to as CalArts, is located in Valencia, in Los Angeles County, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the United States created specifically for students of both the visual and the...
, and California State University, Los Angeles
California State University, Los Angeles
California State University, Los Angeles is a public comprehensive university, part of the California State University system...
. In 1989 he wrote and published a method book entitled The Improvising Flute. In 2007 he published Daily Focus For The Flute.
He has also composed classical works for chamber ensemble and orchestra, as well as electronic music. In 1997 he wrote an opera, The Songs of Freedom. Based on the knowledge of the deep tradition of "extended" jazz compositions and European contemporary music, Newton uses post-serial methods in composing. His compositions may be judged as specifically African American not solely because of the presence of crucial idiomatic elements such as rhythm, pronunciation, and transformation of sound, but also because of their dialoguing between different cultures. In his compositional output, he specializes in chamber music and writing for unconventional instrumentations. He has also written a symphony and composed for ballet and modern dance. In 2006 he composed a Latin Mass which premiered in Prato Italy in February 2007.
He has received Guggenheim
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
(1992) and Rockefeller
Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation is a prominent philanthropic organization and private foundation based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The preeminent institution established by the six-generation Rockefeller family, it was founded by John D. Rockefeller , along with his son John D. Rockefeller, Jr...
fellowships, Montreux Grande Prix Du Disque, and Down Beat International Critics Jazz Album of the Year. He has also been voted the top flutist for 23 consecutive years in Down Beat
Down Beat
Down Beat is an American magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond" to indicate its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chicago, Illinois...
magazine's International Critic's Poll.
Beastie Boys court case
In 2002 Newton sued the rap group Beastie BoysBeastie Boys
Beastie Boys are an American hip hop trio from New York City. The group consists of Mike D who plays the drums, MCA who plays the bass, and Ad-Rock who plays the guitar....
for using a sample of his "Choir," a 1978 composition for flute and voice, in their song "Pass the Mic
Pass the Mic
"Pass the Mic" is the first single from the third studio album Check Your Head by Beastie Boys, released on April 7, 1992.The last track on the single, "Netty's Girl", has a short clip stitched on the end of it, as well as a secret 3 second clip at the end of the track...
", stating that the group should have contacted him personally for permission. The group argued that they had contacted ECM Records, the record label who held the rights to the original recording, paid a one-time fee of US$1,000 for the use of the six second, three note sample (which recurs numerous times during the course of the song), and they believed that to be sufficient. Newton lost the case.
As leader
- 1977: Solomon's Sons (Circle RecordsCircle Records (Germany)Circle Records was an Germany based record label specializing in jazz, established in 1976. -Discography:Circle Records was an Germany based record label specializing in jazz, established in 1976. -Discography:...
) - 1977: Binu (Circle)
- 1978: Paseo del Mar (India NavigationIndia NavigationIndia Navigation was an American independent record label that was active from the 1970s to the early 1990s. Founded by corporate lawyer Bob Cummins, the label specialized in jazz music, particularly avant-garde jazz.-Discography:...
) - 1979: Hidden Voices (India Navigation)
- 1979: Mystery School (India Navigation)
- 1981: AxumAxum (album)Axum is a solo album by American jazz flautist and composer James Newton recorded in 1981 and released on the ECM label.-Reception:The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 3 stars stating "James Newton's set of unaccompanied flute solos is generally more intriguing and diverse than one...
(ECM) - 1982: Portraits (India Navigation)
- 1983: Luella (Gramavision)
- 1984: Echo Canyon (Celestial Harmonies)
- 1985: The African Flower (Blue Note RecordsBlue Note RecordsBlue Note Records is a jazz record label, established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis. Francis Wolff became involved shortly afterwards. It derives its name from the characteristic "blue notes" of jazz and the blues. At the end of the 1950s, and in the early 1960s, Blue Note headquarters...
) - 1987: Romance and Revolution (Blue Note)
- 1990: If Love (with Billy HartBilly HartWilliam "Billy" Hart is a jazz drummer and educator who has performed with some of the most important jazz musicians in history.-Biography:Early on Hart performed in Washington, D.C...
, Anthony CoxAnthony CoxAnthony Cox is a film producer and art promoter who was once married to Yoko Ono.Cox met Yoko Ono in 1961, after he saw some of her art work in an anthology and located her in Tokyo. The couple married on November 28, 1962. The marriage was annulled on March 1, 1963, but they re-married on June 6...
, Mike Cain) - 1994: Suite for Frida Kahlo (Sledgehammer BluesSledgehammer BluesSledgehammer Blues is an independent record label owned by Valley Entertainment that was formerly named AudioQuest Music.From the label’s website, “The blues label was founded in the late 1980s with the mission to create the highest standard audiophile recordings based on the technology available...
) - 1996: David Murray/James Newton QuintetDavid Murray/James Newton QuintetDavid Murray/James Newton Quintet is an album by David Murray and James Newton released on the Japanese DIW label. It was released in 1996 and features seven quintet performances by Murray and Newton with John Hicks, Fred Hopkins, Billy Hart and Andrew Cyrille.-Reception:The Allmusic review awarded...
(DIW RecordsDIW RecordsDIW Records is a Japanese record label. It is a subsidiary label of Disc Union and specializes in jazz and avant garde music. Kazunori Sugiyama was an executive producer for the label before starting Tzadik Records with John Zorn.-Discography:...
)
As sideman
With Arthur BlytheArthur Blythe
Arthur Blythe is an American jazz alto saxophonist and composer. His stylistic voice has a distinct vibrato and he plays within the post-bop subgenre of jazz.- Biography :...
- Lenox Avenue BreakdownLenox Avenue BreakdownLenox Avenue Breakdown is an album by jazz alto saxophonist Arthur Blythe. Columbia Records released the album in 1979, and Koch Jazz re-issued the title in 1998...
(1979)
With John Carter
John Carter (jazz musician)
John Wallace Carter was an American jazz clarinet, saxophone, and flute player.-Biography:Born in Fort Worth, Texas, he played with Ornette Coleman and Charles Moffett in the 1940s. From 1961, Carter was based mainly on the West Coast. There he met Bobby Bradford in 1965, with whom he...
- DauwheDauwheDauwhe is an album by American jazz clarinetist John Carter recorded in 1982 for the Italian Black Saint label.-Reception:The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 4½ stars stating "The first of clarinetist John Carter's five-part series in which he musically depicts the history of black...
(Black Saint (1982)
With Leroy Jenkins
- Mixed QuintetMixed QuintetMixed Quintet is an album by American jazz violinist Leroy Jenkins recorded in 1979 for the Italian Black Saint label.-Reception:The Allmusic review by Dean McFarlane awarded the album 2½ stars stating "Exploring the jazz language and improvisation in such an oblique manner, the recording bares...
(Black Saint, 1979)
With David Murray
- CreoleCreole (album)Creole is an album by David Murray released on the Justin Time label. Recorded in 1997 and released in 1998 the album features performances by Murray with Michel Cilla, Max Cilla, Ray Drummond, Billy Jabali Hart, D.D...
(1998)