Paul Tynan

I just got back from ITG. I was attending the conference supporting Edwards and Getzen trumpets and adjudicating the jazz solo competition (along side Michael Hackett, and Tiger Okoshi). The new Getzen Prototype Bb is a serious horn. I got to take it for a test run at the ITG jazz session.  I heard some fantastic music and as always the hang was deep; recharging and draining all at the same time.  Hanging with some buddies from the olden days, Carl Murr and Jason Levi, was a real high point.  Another great part was hearing all the great feedback on the Griego mouthpieces I got to help develop. Thumb!

I am very excited for my up coming sabbatical. The list of fun includes a tour in Sweden, a month is Spain,  and composing my part of the music for BiCoastal: Chapter Five which is a large ensemble project. I have a personal project in can waiting on mixing and have a few other projects I am involved with in various states of completion too. It’s a good place to be.  I am starting the process on a new quartet recording. I am working with six unbelievable visual artists on this project, Eli Tynan, Jennifer Sandquist, Dave Barnes, Michael Barton, Chris Main, and Paul Vienneau. I’ll be writing music inspired by their work – it’s beautiful stuff and I think/hope the music will be too.

Wowza. This is very exciting. To the best of my knowledge this is the first time a jazz musician has earned a double nomination in the ECMAs Jazz Recording of the Year category.  And to make it even better the other nominations as all tremendous and worthy of winning. This years noms are: Guitar wizard Greg Amirault, Canadian tenor sax hero Kirk MacDonald and super groovy les Païens and my two projects BiCoastal Collective: Chapter Four (Chapter Three won the ECMA last year), and Autumn Song.  I am honoured to stand with these killing musicians.

Here is a sample from BC4 and here is a sample from Autumn Song

Congrats to all the nominations.

New Griego #1 trumpet mouth piece

I had been playing the same trumpet mouthpiece since 1994.  That changed today. I now am playing the Griego #1 trumpet mouthpiece and the FL 2C flugelhorn mouthpiece.  My old pieces were not a good fit for me anymore; even though they were comfy and I knew them well it was time for a change. I chose to work with Griego in making new mouth pieces because Christan Griego is simply one of the best around, a brass wizard if you will. We worked together on the new Edwards X-19 Flugel project and Edwards trumpets related things. I knew he understood my sound concept and my overall approach to brass playing. We started with my old mouthpieces and made them better, clearer, crisper, easier to play. The Griego line of trumpet and flugel mouth pieces are the end result of wanting to make the best tools for the job and striving to make that job easier to do.  I am proud to play them.   They’ve made beautiful music easier to make.  Christan will have them at the Midwest band and orchestra clinic in Chicago if you’d like to check them out (and you should!).

I have a few special gigs coming up that I am very excited to tell you about. First off on Wednesday, October 29 I am playing with the great drummer Peter Erskine at St. Francis Xavier University, secondly I will be presenting a masterclass and working with the students at Kent State University on Nov. 13th/14th. On the evening of the 13th I’ll be playing a concert with those students too. As an added bonus I’ll be teaming up with my old friends Bobby Selvaggio and Ashley Summers for a hit at the Bop Stop in Cleveland, Ohio on Nov 14th.

Some neat things on the horizon. I picked up a SD systems microphone the LCM77f. I am officially endorsing theses mics now. YAY! I just found out that the latest BiCoastal Collective recording, Chapter Four, received a nomination from Music Nova Scotia for their Jazz Recording of the Year category. Also YAY!  And, I am plying my first real gig on saxophone. Maybe YAY (I’ll let you know)!

The next few weeks (July 22-Aug 4) I’ll be playing in NYC, with a few hits in West Virginia, with some of my oldest jazz friends in the New York/Stockholm Jazz Collective. I don’t get to the City as much as I used to and I am really looking forward to it. On this band are two guys I cut my teeth with; NY based Drummer Joe Abba, and Stockholm based guitarist Fredrik Olsson. Also on the band are NY based musicians;  tenor player Sean Nowell and Bassist Lars Ekman and Stockholm based pianist, Leo Lindberg.  Well be playing some of NY’s most well known jazz venues, including Smalls and the 55 Bar (all the dates are listed Here).  The music is original and fresh, but still steeped in the tradition. This is gonna be a blast!

Today is the day! BiCoastal Collective: Chapter Four is officially released. You can get copies from Aaron Lington or I. You can also get copies from Origin Arts or iTunes. 

It’s getting great coast to coast radio airplay too – Call your local jazz station and request it!

Very happy to announce the arrival of my new album, BiCoastal Collective: Chapter Four! This the fourth installment of the music that Aaron Lington and I have produced since 2008. We are still riding high on our recent win of “Jazz Record of the Year” from the East Coast Music Association, and we are once again proud to present to you our original music on this most recent CD.

This is a “soul jazz” record and features the Hammond B3. Musicians are:

Me – trumpet/flugelhorn
Aaron Lington – baritone saxophone
Tony Genge – Hammond B3
Jake Hanlon – guitar
Terry O’Mahoney – drums

This recording is not yet available commercially (it will be on May 20th), but you can order it directly from Aaron or myself from now until the end of May. Just send Aaron or I a personal message with your mailing address, and we’ll send you a copy of our newest CD for $15 which includes shipping.

Of course, you are welcome to request copies of Bicoastal Collective Chapters 1-3 as well! Just let us know!

This is an extra special milestone for me personally – It’s my tenth recording as a Leader or Co-leader. I wanted to have ten released by the time I was 40 and I made it happen.

The ECMA jazz showcase was fantastic. Lots of creative, groove filled ear candy. The hang was tremendous; Old friends, new friends, past and present students. Thanks to all the bands (Jeri Brown, The Chronos Band, Teresa Doyle, Breagh MacKinnon, and Les Païens) for creating such a good evening. Thanks to Dan Rowswell and Doug Millington for keeping everything rolling too! Only thing that could of made it even sweeter would of been the presence of my co-conspirator, Aaron Lington. The ECMA Jazz recording of the year award for BC3 is just as much his as it is mine. Needless to say I am honoured to be included among the long list of past winners of this award. I need to thank the band that made the music tick too; Ashley Summers (bs), Corey Christiansen (gtr), Jon Deitemyer (dr), and Dan Murphy (rhds).

It’s always a treat to play in northern California. On March 28 the BiCoastal Collective played to a packed house at the San Jose Jazz Society’s concert series.  We had a great interactive audience and Marcus Wolfe, (my great friend and a great tenor player) joined us on my composition “TGOK”. The Collective recorded “TGOK” on BC3, but Marcus and I recorded that perviously on my first record back in 1999. Thinking back it had been about 15 years since we had last played that tune together. Fun times. The day before (March 27) I was a soloist with the San Jose State University Jazz Orchestra. The SJSU band was really happening; they did my music justice. It’s always inspiring to hear young cats play so well.  The summer season is starting to pick up already. I guess there is no rest for the wicked.