Over the past several years, alto saxophonist Patrick Cornelius has emerged as an exciting and dynamic new voice in the New York jazz scene. An instrumental virtuoso who counts Charlie Parker, Louis Armstrong, Wayne Shorter, Claude Debussy, and Peter Gabriel among his greatest influences, Patrick has made a name for himself as an emerging artist with a bright future.
The son of a highly decorated US Air Force officer, Patrick was raised in such diverse locales as Germany, Georgia, Texas, and Great Britain. His parents took great pains to nurture his deep love and appreciation for the fine arts from an early age, exposing him and his brothers to the theater, concerts, museums, poetry readings, and classic literature. Patrick began studying the piano at the age of 5, and gravitated towards the alto saxophone as a teenager, shifting his musical focus from the works of Debussy, Grieg, and Bartok, to the sounds of Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, and John Coltrane.
Patrick’s performing experience includes established venues such as The London Jazz Festival, The Monterey Jazz Festival, The Blue Note, Ronnie Scott’s, and The Kennedy Center, as well as some of the most popular New York jazz clubs, including The Jazz Gallery, Fat Cat, La Lanterna, and Smalls. He cut his teeth playing local gigs around his native San Antonio while still in high school, before attending both Berklee College of Music and The Manhattan School of Music on full scholarships for undergraduate and graduate studies respectively. More recently, Cornelius garnered back-to-back Young Jazz Composer awards from ASCAP in 2005, 2006, and 2007 for his compositions Unfinished Business, Winds of Change (from Lucid Dream), and Brother Gabriel.
Patrick‘s solo recording debut, Lucid Dream, features the collaborative efforts of some of the most exciting talents on the New York jazz scene today: rising stars Aaron Parks (piano), Kendrick Scott (drums), Nick Vayenas (trombone), Gretchen Parlato (voice), and local veteran Sean Conly (bass.) Lucid Dream features 7 memorable original compositions from Cornelius’ current songbook, as well as spirited, unique arrangements of Charlie Parker’s Billie’s Bounce and Peter Gabriel’s classic pop anthem, Don’t Give Up. He has recently finished recording his follow-up release, an album featuring the talents of drummer Jonathan Blake and bassist Mike Janisch in the challenging saxophone trio format.
Patrick’s 2008 performance schedule included a 37-date tour of the UK and Europe with The TransAtlantic Collective, a new international jazz ensemble. This tour, which brought them to England, Scotland, Wales, Germany, Estonia, Spain, and Luxembourg, included performances at Ronnie Scott’s in London, The London Jazz Festival, and Estonia’s JouluJazz Festival.
“[his] original works show a dusky elegance that owes much to Wayne Shorter while retaining a unique identity.”
-- JazzTimes
“a bold and gifted sax player”
--All About Jazz
“a dynamic New York altoist”
--The Guardian
"a self-assured young saxophonist in the postmodern mainstream”
--The New York Times
Patrick is currently available for concerts, private functions, clinics, individual or group instruction. Please contact info@patrickcornelius.com for more information.
Selected Discography:
Toru Dodo: Melancholy Cats 1998
Cho Yoon Seung: Jazz Korea 2000
John Urrutia: Bilbao Blues 2000
Patrick Cornelius /Nick Vagenas: Quintet 2001
Philip Dizack: Beyond a Dream 2006
Patrick Cornelius: Lucid Dream 2006
Nick Vayenas: Synesthesia 2008
The TransAtlantic Collective: Traveling Song 2008
Michael Janisch: Purpose Built 2009
Patrick Cornelius Trio: Maybe Steps 2010
Jon Urrutia: forthcoming in 2009
© 2010 fluxure advanced motion media, inc. all rights reserved.