Bio

COMPOSER/BANDLEADER: Deemed a “rising multi-faceted star if not musical voice on the New York scene” (@CritcialJazz), Jeff Fairbanks has won a number of highly competitive awards for composing, including the ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Award, BMI Charlie Parker Award, runner-up for the IAJE Gil Evans Fellowship, and recognition from the NY Youth Symphony.  He has won seven grants from the following institutions: the Aaron Copland Fund, the Queens Council on the Arts, and New Music USA (formerly American Music Center). Jeff’s music has been performed at the Montreux, Vienne, Umbria, and North Sea Jazz festivals, Merkin Concert Hall, and at IAJE conferences, among other venues.  A busy composer, he’s been commissioned by the likes of the BMI Jazz Orchestra, West Point Band’s Jazz Knights, Hora Decima brass ensemble, and more.  Jeff’s large Jazz ensemble, Project Hansori, appears on his 2011 recording debut Mulberry Street (BJURecords).  Documenting his fusion of East Asian traditional music and Jazz, this album was released on the Brooklyn Jazz Underground label in 2011, garnering both awards and international critical praise.

PERFORMER: Jazz Times praises Jeff’s trombone playing for its “fluid lines and lyrical sensibilities”, and the blog @CritcialJazz goes so far as to say “his instrumental skills as a trombonist are second to none”.  He has played with the Glenn Miller Orchestra, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey Orchestras, and Wito Rodriguez, to name a few. He has toured in Europe, Asia, Latin America, and throughout the U.S, in venues such as Carnegie Hall and Madison Square Garden.  Always looking for new musical territory, he has more recently collaborated with various Eastern instrumentalists and other small group situations.

BACKGROUND: Fairbanks is a native of South Florida.  After earning a Master degree in Jazz Composition from USF in 2005, he moved to New York to join the BMI Jazz Composer Workshop under Jim McNeely.  Now, in addition to leading and writing for Project Hansori and other projects, Jeff freelances as a composer and performer and teaches with the New York Jazz Academy.  He lives in Queens, NY with his wife, Heun Choi, and their two children.

AWARDS

  • BMI Foundation Charlie Parker Jazz Composition Prize 2008
  • ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Award 2006
  • University of South Florida Outstanding Merit Award 2001
  • University of South Florida Outstanding Merit Award 2000
  • Treasure Coast Jazz Ensemble Young Artist Award 1998
  • ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Award, Honorable Mention 2003

GRANTS

  • Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Recording Grant 2011
  • American Music Center Composer Assistance Grant 2011
  • American Music Center Recording Grant 2010
  • Queens Council on the Arts Individual Artist Initiative 2010
  • American Music Center Composer Assistance Grant 2009
  • Queens Council on the Arts Individual Artist Grant 2008
  • American Music Center Composer Assistance Grant 2007

RESIDENCIES

  • West Point Jazz Knights Composers Forum 2011
  • LaGuardia Performing Arts Center LPAC LAB 2010-2011
  • BMI Jazz Composers’ Workshop 2005-2008

ADJUDICATION

  • MTNA National Competition Finals adjudicator 2012
  • Queens Council on the Arts panelist 2011, 2012
  • New Music USA (formerly American Music Center) panelist 2011

MEMBERSHIP

  • American Federation of Musicians, Local 802
  • American Music Center

EDUCATION

  • M.M. Jazz Composition, University of South Florida 2005
  • B.M. Trombone Performance, University of South Florida 2002

COMMISSIONERS

  • JongEun Lee
  • Hora Decima Brass Ensemble
  • West Point Band Jazz Knights
  • BMI/NY Jazz Orchestra

PAST PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS

August 2011:  Multiple performances as duet/trio with Heun Choi (cello) in South Korea and Philippines; master class at Faith Academy (Philippines).

6/2/11:  Produced interdisciplinary art event at LaGuardia PAC (Queens, NY).  Exhibit of contemporary art of Queens artists, led by Daniel Cho.  Followed by concert of Project Hansori.  One of several concerts as part of the LPAC LAB residency.

11/4/10:  Appeared as guest trombonist on solo recital of Rami Seo (kayageum) at The Korea Society (NYC).

3/4/10:  Recording of original piece Joy Everlasting used in installation of visual artist Daniel Cho Berlitz Gallery at Rockefeller Center, NYC.  With live performance of Jeff Fairbanks and Heun Choi (cello).

12/4/09: Project Hansori performance at Flushing Town Hall (Queens, NY) with special guests Fred Ho (bari sax), Rami Seo (kayageum), and Seven Heaven (Korean percussion ensemble).

Jan 2007: Conducted BMI/NY Jazz Orchestra on performance of original piece Rain Dance at 2007 IAJE conference (NYC).

July 2005:  Led USF ‘Bone Band on European tour including the Montreux, Vienne, and North Sea Jazz festivals.