George Garzone


George Garzone is a saxophonist and jazz educator from Boston, Massachusetts.

Biography

Garzone is a member of the Fringe, a jazz trio founded in 1972 that includes bassist John Lockwood and drummer Bob Gullotti. The group has released several albums. Garzone has appeared on over 20 recordings. He began on tenor saxophone when he was six, played in a family band, and attended music school in Boston. He toured Europe with Jamaaladeen Tacuma and performed with Jack DeJohnette, Joe Lovano, John Patitucci, Danilo Pérez, Rachel Z, and Bob Weir and Ratdog.
Garzone is also a jazz educator, teaching at the Berklee College of Music, New England Conservatory, Longy School of Music, New York University, and the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. He pioneered the triadic chromatic approach. His students include Mindi Abair Branford Marsalis, Donny McCaslin, Danilo Pérez, Joshua Redman, Luciana Souza, and Mark Turner.
In 1995 he recorded a tribute to Stan Getz on NYC Records called Alone: Four's and Two's followed a year later with Joe Lovano, and in 1999 Garzone returned with Moodiology. Fringe in New York was released in summer 2000. With the Joe Lovano Nonet he recorded at the Village Vanguard in September 2002.
He has also performed with Don Alias, Kenny Barron, Dennis Chambers, Stanley Cowell, Anton Fig, Dan Gottlieb, Tom Harrell, Dave Holland, Dave Liebman, Cecil McBee, Bob Moses, Gary Peacock, Marvin Smith, Bill Stewart, Harvie Swartz, and Lenny White.

Triadic Chromatic Approach

The triadic chromatic approach is an improvisatory approach created by George Garzone while teaching at colleges in Boston and New York City. The approach was developed to allow the improviser to be able to improvise freely without having to concern themselves with what is going on harmonically.
This approach is applied by selecting one the four standard triads and moving by a half step into another inversion of the same type of triad. This is a broad definition and there are many ways to be able to manipulate and change this approach.

Discography

As a leader

Saxophonists: George Adams, Jerry Bergonzi, Michael Brecker, Kenny Brooks, Claire Daly, Kenny Garrett, Dave Liebman, Joe Lovano, Tony Malaby, Joshua Redman, James Spaulding, Stan Strickland, Frank Tiberi, Steve Wilson
Trumpet players: Randy Brecker, Tom Harrell, Eddie Henderson, Ingrid Jensen, John McNeil, Tiger Okoshi, Herb Pomeroy, Barry Ries
Trombonists: Bob Brookmeyer, Hal Crook
Pianists: Kenny Barron, Ran Blake, Joanne Brackeen, Jaki Byard, Joey Calderazzo, Chick Corea, Stanley Cowell, David Kikoski, Bevan Manson, John Medeski,, Alan Pasqua, Danilo Pérez, Kenny Werner, Rachel Z
Guitarists: John Abercrombie, Mick Goodrick, Chuck Loeb, Ben Monder, Wolfgang Muthspiel, Martin Taylor, Barry Wedgle, David White
Drummers/Percussionists: Don Alias, Jeff Ballard, Brian Blade, Gary Chaffee, Dennis Chambers, Jack DeJohnette, Peter Erskine, Al Foster, Bob Gullotti, Billy Hart, Roy Haynes, Elvin Jones, Mel Lewis, Mike Mainieri, Rakalam Bob Moses, Buddy Rich, Mickey Roker, George Schuller, Steve Smith, Jerry Steinhilber, Bill Stewart, Lenny White, Can Kozlu
Bassists: Ron Carter, Ray Drummond, Eddie Gómez, Larry Grenadier, Dave Holland, Dennis Irwin, Marc Johnson, John Lockwood, Cecil McBee, Christian McBride, John Patitucci, Gary Peacock, Ed Schuller, Harvie S, Miroslav Vitous, Reggie Workman
Composers/Conductors: Gil Evans, Gunther Schuller, Lello Molinari
Ensembles: The Carla Bley Big Band, Gil Evans Orchestra, The Fringe, George Russell and the In Living Time Orchestra, The Joe Lovano Nonet, Medeski, Martin and Wood, Orange Then Blue, The Woody Herman Band
Non-jazz artists: Aerosmith, Musica Viva, The Dells, Extreme, Aretha Franklin, Engelbert Humperdinck, Tom Jones, Gladys Knight, Liberace, New Kids on the Block, Elvis Presley, The Temptations, Rodney Dangerfield, Ratdog

Notable students

Non-woodwind notable students