JORGE SYLVESTER Alto Saxophonist, Composer, Arranger, Producer, Teacher

Born in Colon, Panama attended the Panama Conservatory of Music and the University of Panama. He received a Bachelor of Science in Music from the State University of New York College at New Paltz in 1981. A unique innovator in the idiom of creative music, Sylvester’s sound is reminiscent of another time in jazz history when artists like Dolphy and Ornette were exploding on the scene and experimenting with concepts that would ultimately revolutionize music at large. A throwback to the future, Mr. Sylvester has been on the cutting edge of that scene since 1980 when he first came to New York City. His blend of African-Caribbean Rhythms with new music is what gives Sylvester his distinguished voice. An impressive composer and arranger, his music moves, entices and stirs the imagination, as visual as it is physical, his ability to transform colors into sounds and sounds into textures place him in the company of the great expressionist painters.

Beginning his professional career at age 14, Jorge was leading his own Caribbean dance band, and writing his own arrangements and compositions. He studied privately with renowned Panamanian jazz saxophonist, Euclides Hall, who took him along on gigs to observe from the bandstand in the “old school style”. When Jorge’s professor at the conservatory, Efrain Castro, sent him to sub for him in a band led by the great Panamanian pianist Victor Boa, Jorge was taken on as a regular.

Heading for Europe in his early twenties,  Sylvester spent ten years touring and recording with his ensembles and freelancing throughout Europe. In 1979 he studied advanced Harmony with Argentinian Pianist, Composer Luis Vecchio in Las Palmas Canarias, Spain. It was during this period that Mr. Sylvester began to explore free jazz by playing and recording with the Luis Vecchio Quartet.

Upon his arrival to New York in 1980, he studied with Dave Holland, Oliver Lake, Steve Lacy, Ramsey Ameen, Marion Brown and many others at vibraphonist Karl Berger’s Creative Music Studio in Woodstock. Since that time, Sylvester has performed with: Stefon Harris, Rodney  Kendrick, Karl Berger, David Murray Big Band, poet Sekou Sundiata, the Black Rock Coalition Orchestra, Oliver Lake Big Band, Kuumba Frank Lacy’s Vibe Tribe, the Next Legacy Orchestra, Joe Bowie’s Defunkt Big Band and  Nora McCarthy who is a member of his group The ACE (Afro-Caribbean Experimental) Collective and with whom he co-leads several groups, namely:

The ConceptualMotion Orchestra and A Small Dream In Red (voice and saxophone duet) a CD by the same name was released on the Sundown label in March, 2003.  The ConceptualMotion Orchestra, conducted and orchestrated by Sylvester, is a 20-piece all original music orchestra with compositions contributed by both he and McCarthy, opened the renowned avant garde VISION FESTIVAL X in New York City, June, 2005.

In the Spring of 2006, Jorge Sylvester toured Europe and Israel with the World Saxophone Quartet filling the chair formerly occupied by its founding father Julius Hemphill, and later by Arthur Blythe, James Spaulding, Eric Person, John Purcell and Bruce Williams. Mr. Sylvester performed alongside luminaries David Murray, Oliver Lake and Hammiet Bluiett.

In January, 2007, Mr. Sylvester returned to his native Panama as a member of the Panamanian All-Stars led and directed by Danilo Perez at the fourth annual Panama Jazz Festival performing with Carlos Garnett, Santi Debriano, Billy Cobham and Renato Thoms.

In the Spring of 2007 he perform a series of workshops and concerts in Podgorica, Montenegro with A Small Dream in Red for Jazz Appreciation Month and appeared on the television show, Good Morning Montenegro.

Currently Mr. Sylvester performs regularly in and around the New York area with The ACE Collective, A Small Dream In Red, The Nora McCarthy Qu'ART'et, The Asymmetry Quartet, and most recently with Karl Berger's  Creative Music Studio Orchestra.

DISCOGRAPHY: 

New Double CD just released on Sylvester’s label Lizoka Music,  Following The Line/ Live in New York City is the documentation of his 1999 quartet featuring Monte Croft, vibraphone; Jeff Carney, bass; Terreon Gully, drums; and, a special appearance by pianist James Hurt on the Bud Powell composition Willow Grove.

2008 release entitled Waldron Ricks with trumpeter, composer Waldron Ricks, Danny Grissett, Jaleel Shaw, Nashiet Waits and Vicente Archer, featuring Jorge's Quintet version of his composition "Playground."

As co-leader of the quartet Asymmetry with pianist, Lucian Ban, Sylvester recorded a CD for Jazzaway Records released in December, 2005 entitled Playground – which is also the name of the title track a composition written by Sylvester.

In The Ear of the Beholder, 2001 (Billboard’s Spotlight, Feb. 2001) Jazz Magnet Records, features: Donald Nicks, electric bass; and, Bobby Sanabria, drums, is Sylvester’s second release as a leader. 

Critically acclaimed MusiCollage (Postcards, 1996, re-released on Arkadia Records) features: Claudio Roditi, trumpet; Marvin Sewell, guitar; Monte Croft, vibraphone; Gene Jackson, drums; Santi Debriano, acoustic bass; and, Bobby Sanabria, percussion. It received a **** rating from Downbeat Magazine and won a Billboard Critics’ Choice award. 

In 1999, Jorge Sylvester appeared on BET Jazz “Live From the Knitting Factory" with his group, The ACE Trio.

 

ADDITIONAL DISCOGRAPHY: 

Magic Night (Jazz Stop Records, Madrid Spain, 1989) with the Chastang/Sylvester Sextet;  Viriato Blue ( Jazz Stop Records, Madrid Spain, 1983 );  The Mass (Palmetto Records, 2000) with the Collective Identity Saxophone Quartet featuring Sam Newsom, Aaron Stewart and Alex Harding; Another Side (CIMP Records, 2000) with tenor saxophone Ken Simon Quartet featuring drummer Barry Altschul;  The Blue Oneness of Dreams (Mouth Almighty Records, 1997) with Sekou Sundiata; The Essence Allstars featuring Doug Carn, Idris Muhammed and Josh Roseman (Hip Hop Records, 1997).

Two new recordings coming out in 2010. " Toward The Hill Of Joy"  with trombonist, composer George Brandon's Septet and a live recording with legendary avant garde multi-instrumentalist and founder of Birth Records, Gunter Hampel and his European Trio recorded on October 5, 2009 in NYC.

 

UPCOMING NEWS:

* Jorge Sylvester will perform as a featured guest artist with The Nora McCarthy Qu'ART'et at the Marlborough Jazz Festival in Wiltshire,  England followed by a two week tour of the UK in July, 2010.

*In December of 2010 Mr. Sylvester's ACE Collective will perform in Austria culminating in a CD to be released in 2011.

 

"Jorge Sylvester's distinctive alto saxophone sound is imbued with the volatility of Caribbean basin's complex mosaic, transformed and focused by the probing musical linguistics pioneered by the great saxophonists of modern jazz. Jorge's composer's imagination is the matchless structural coherence of his improvisational work".

 Violinist, Composer Ramsey Ameen, 12/2005 Tribes Magazine

Sylvester website : www.jorgesylvester.com