Andy Laster

Last updated

Andrew Jay Laster (born May 25, 1961 in Bethpage, New York) is an American jazz saxophonist.

Laster studied early in his career with Joe Dixon and Dave Burns, both in the 1970s; he lived in Seattle in the early 1980s, where he attended Cornish College of the Arts and played local gigs. He relocated to New York City later in the 1980s, and played saxophone on Lyle Lovett's albums and tours between 1989 and 1995. In the 1990s he became increasingly visible as a jazz musician, working with the groups New and Used and Orange Then Blue, as well as with Marty Ehrlich, Erik Friedlander, Phil Haynes, Mark Helias, and Bobby Previte. As a leader, he has had sidemen including Friedlander, Drew Gress, Tom Rainey, Herb Robertson, Cuong Vu, and Kenny Wolleson. [1]

Discography

Related Research Articles

Jamaaladeen Tacuma American free jazz bassist (born 1956)

Jamaaladeen Tacuma is an American free jazz bassist born in Hempstead, New York. He was a bandleader on the Gramavision label and worked with Ornette Coleman during the 1970s and 1980s, mostly in Coleman's Prime Time band.

William Parker (musician) American jazz musician

William Parker is an American free jazz double bassist. Beginning in the 1980s, Parker played with Cecil Taylor for over a decade, and he has led the Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra since 1981. The Village Voice named him "the most consistently brilliant free jazz bassist of all time" and DownBeat has called him "one of the most adventurous and prolific bandleaders in jazz".

Butch Morris Musical artist

Lawrence D. "Butch" Morris was an American cornetist, composer and conductor. He was known for pioneering his structural improvisation method, Conduction, which he utilized on many recordings.

Hank Roberts Musical artist

Hank Roberts is an American jazz cellist and vocalist. He plays the electric cello, and his style is a mixture of rock, jazz, avant-garde, folk, and classical influences. He emerged with the downtown New York City jazz scene of the 1980s and is associated with its post-modern tendencies.

Wayne Horvitz American musician

Wayne Horvitz is an American composer, keyboardist and record producer. He came to prominence in the Downtown scene of 1980s and '90s New York City, where he met his future wife, the singer, songwriter and pianist Robin Holcomb. He is noted for working with John Zorn's Naked City among others. Horvitz has since relocated to the Seattle, Washington area where he has several ongoing groups and has worked as an adjunct professor of composition at Cornish College of the Arts.

Bobby Previte American drummer

Bobby Previte is a drummer, composer, and bandleader. He earned a degree in economics from the University at Buffalo, where he also studied percussion. He moved to New York City in 1979 and began professional relationships with John Zorn, Wayne Horvitz, and Elliott Sharp.

Marc Alan Johnson is an American jazz bass player, composer and band leader. Johnson was born in Nebraska and grew up in Texas. He is married to the Brazilian jazz pianist and singer Eliane Elias.

Mark Helias Musical artist

Mark Helias is an American double bass player and composer born in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Ben Monder Musical artist

Ben Monder is an American modern jazz guitarist.

Marty Ehrlich Musical artist

Marty Ehrlich is a multi-instrumentalist and is considered one of the leading figures in avant-garde jazz.

Fred Hopkins was an American double bassist who played a major role in the development of the avant-garde jazz movement. He was best known for his association with the trio Air with Henry Threadgill and Steve McCall, and for his numerous performances and extensive recordings with major jazz musicians such as Muhal Richard Abrams, Arthur Blythe, Oliver Lake, and David Murray. He was a member of the AACM, and a frequent participant in the loft jazz scene of the 1970s. He also co-led a number of albums with the composer and cellist Diedre Murray. Gary Giddins wrote that Hopkins' playing "fused audacious power with mercuric reflexes." Howard Reich, writing in the Chicago Tribune, stated that "many connoisseurs considered [Hopkins] the most accomplished jazz bassist of his generation" and praised him for "the extraordinarily fluid technique, sumptuous tone and innovative methods he brought to his instrument."

Tony Malaby Musical artist

Tony Malaby is an American jazz tenor saxophonist.

Herb Robertson American jazz musician

Clarence "Herb" Robertson is a jazz trumpeter and flugelhornist. He was born in New Jersey and attended the Berklee School of Music. He has recorded solo albums and has worked as a sideman for Tim Berne, Anthony Davis, Bill Frisell, George Gruntz, Paul Motian, Bobby Previte, and David Sanborn.

Theo Bleckmann German singer and composer

Theodor Raoul Bleckmann is a German singer and composer.

Drew Gress Musical artist

Drew Gress is an American jazz double-bassist and composer born in Trenton, New Jersey and raised in the Philadelphia area.

Ari Brown is an American jazz tenor saxophonist and pianist.

John Wolf Brennan

John Wolf Brennan is an Irish pianist, organist, melodica player, and composer based in Weggis, Switzerland.

Lee Townsend Musical artist

Lee Townsend is an American independent music producer, curator, artist manager and co-owner of Songtone, specializing in recordings of singer-songwriters, contemporary composers, improvising musicians, and cross-cultural musical collaborations. He is also a psychotherapist in private practice in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Andrew DAngelo Musical artist

Andrew D'Angelo is an American jazz musician.

François Houle is a Canadian jazz reedist. He was born in Lachine, Quebec, and plays primarily clarinet and soprano saxophone.

References

  1. "Andy Laster". The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz . 2nd edition, ed. Barry Kernfeld.