George Schuller

Biography         George Schuller (drummer, composer, arranger, producer), a native of New York City, moved to Boston in 1967 where he was raised and educated, and later received a bachelor's degree in Jazz Performance at the New England Conservatory of Music in 1982. For the next twelve years, Schuller was a fixture on the Boston area jazz scene performing with Jerry Bergonzi, Herb Pomeroy, Jaki Byard, George Garzone, Mick Goodrick, Ran Blake, John Lockwood, Billy Pierce, Bruce Gertz, John LaPorta and Hal Crook. In 1984, he co-founded the twelve-piece ensemble Orange Then Blue which has recorded several acclaimed albums, including the most recent release: Hold The Elevator: Live in Europe and Other Haunts on GM Recordings. The group had toured extensively in the US, Canada, Middle East and Europe. Over the last 14 years, Schuller has also released several albums as a leader including a solo effort entitled Lookin Up From Down Below (GM) and

two releases with the Schulldogs, Tenor Tantrums and Hellbent. Last year, Schuller released his first recording with Circle Wide called Round'bout Now released in Dec. 2003 on Playscape Recordings featuring Ingrid Jensen, Donny McCaslin, Tom Beckham, and Dave Ambrosio. His latest recording was just released this past May on the 482 Music label called JigSaw featuring an all-star cast of New York improvisors including Dave Ballou, Tony Malaby, Mark Feldman, Curtis Hasselbring, Matt Darriau, Howard Johnson and Ed Schuller. In 1995 Schuller appeared on Joe Lovano's critically acclaimed album Rush Hour with compositions and arrangements by Gunther Schuller. It was voted "Album of the Year" by Down Beat magazine. Schuller has also performed with Joe Lovano and Gunther Schuller at Jazz at Lincoln Center (with artistic director Wynton Marsalis), and in Linz, Austria during a week-long festival of Gunther Schuller's compositional works. In addition, Schuller has performed and/or recorded with many of today's leading musicians including Joe Wilder, Britt Woodman, Mose Allison, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Lee Konitz, Nnenna Freelon, Danilo Perez, Joey Calderazzo, Kenny Werner, Bill DeArango, George Adams, Fred Hersch, Tom Varner, Mark Helias, Tony Malaby, Dave Douglas and The Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra. Schuller has found himself on the other side of the glass producing several albums including recordings by Orange Then Blue, Luciana Souza, Ed Schuller, Heather Bennett, Jazz Composers Alliance, Ballin' The Jack, Mili Bermejo, Michael Musillami and Lisa Thorson. His compositions and arrangements have been recorded by Ran Blake, Conference Call, Orange Then Blue, Ed Schuller, Mike Metheny, Ballin' The Jack,, Your Neighborhood Sax Quartet, Wilder/Woodman/LaPorta Sextet, Mili Bermejo and Lisa Thorson. Festival appearances include Montreux/Detroit Jazz Festival, Ravinia Jazz Festival, Sedonna Jazz on the Rocks, Discover Jazz Festival, Northsea Jazz Festival, Festival of Music at Sandpoint, Boston Globe Jazz Festival, Lake George Jazz Weekend and major festivals in Montreal, Vancouver, Toronto, Guelph, Edmonton, Calgary, Ottawa, Rimouski and Saskatoon. He has received several composition awards including a Massachusetts Artist Foundation Fellowship for Music Composition (1987), NEA Composition Grant (1995) as well as The Julius Hemphill Composition Award (2000). Schuller presently resides in Brooklyn (since 1994) where he freelances in the New York City area performing with Matt Darriau's Ballin' The Jack, Michael Musillami Trio, Mili Bermejo/George Schuller Octet, Lisa Thorson & Co., Free Range Rat, Conference Call, Leonardo Cioglia and Shabby in addition to leading his own groups including Schulldogs, Circle Wide, and JigSaw.