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For complete bio and press clips please see JeffLofton.com.
BIOGRAPHY: Jeff Lofton, jazz trumpet
Radio appearances:
* Tuesday, November 3, 10:00 p.m., KAZI 88.7 www.kazifm.org Let's Cool One
* Thursday, November 5, 2:00 p.m., KUT 90.5 www.kut.org Music with Jay Trachtenberg
* Friday, November 6, 8:20 a.m., KLBJ 93.7 www.klbjfm.com Dudley and Bob in the Morning
* Saturday, November 7, 12:00 p.m., KOOP 91.7 www.koop.org Non-Breaking Space
* Tuesday, November 10, 10:00 a.m., KOOP 91.7 www.koop.org Under the X in Texas
JAZZ TO THE PEOPLE
CD release
Jazz trumpeter Jeff Lofton releases his new CD, Jazz to the People, Saturday, November 7, at 9:00 p.m., with a performance at the Mexic-Arte Museum, 419 Congress. Doors open at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are $10.00 in advance and may be purchased at www.jefflofton.eventbrite.com, or $15.00 at the door. One of Austin's favorite jazz quartets offers a casual jazz club atmosphere with plenty of room for dancing, along with the added cultural and creative experience of a visual arts museum.
Jazz to the People includes nine original compositions and interpretations of Georgia, and Crazy. On the CD the quartet includes Red Young on piano, Chris Jones on bass and Masumi Jones on drums, with special guest Alex Coke on sax. Due to musician's touring schedules, the CD release quartet line-up is slightly different with Marc Devine on piano, Chris Jones on bass and Masumi Jones on drums, and special guest Russell Haight on sax.
The CD also features renowned South Carolina singer/songwriter Danielle Howle on vocals on "Crazy." The New York Times calls her ". an extraordinary mind, a southern storyteller with a gorgeous sense of melody ."
"Listen up Miles Davis fans." from the Austin American-Statesman and ". channels Miles Davis." from the Daily Texan were some of the early reviews of jazz trumpeter Jeff Lofton when he arrived in Austin in 2007. Mostly unknown to the local jazz scene, word-of-mouth drew people to hear his unique sound at small bars in East Austin. Jeff Lofton's Miles Davis Tribute debuted at the historic Victory Grill and was quickly booked at the Elephant Room, Austin's famous jazz bar. Soon his shows were being described as ".crazy good and crazy crowded." (Joe Gross, Austin American-Statesman/Austin360.com).
In 2008 he performed at the fourteenth annual Jazz at St. James Festival in Austin, which featured jazz legends Curtis Fuller and David "Fathead" Newman. The Jeff Lofton Quartet featuring Donna Hightower will open the Jazz at St. James Festival on November 13, 2009.
To honor Lofton's contribution to the local jazz scene, Austin's mayor proclaimed January 15, 2009, as "Jeff Lofton Day" in the live music capital of the world. The Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau selected Lofton's original, Shana's Song, for the Austin Music Vol. 8 compilation CD, released in February 2009. Jeff Lofton's Miles Davis Tribute kicked off an Elephant Room series in conjunction with the Blanton Museum's spring 2009 exhibit, Birth of the Cool, with a sold-out show. The Austin American-Statesman included Lofton in the 2009 Fortunate 500: Music list.
Lofton debuted his first jazz CD, Jazz Therapy, in 2005, with the Jeff Lofton Quartet. Radio airplay for Jazz Therapy includes KUT Austin; KOOP Austin; Public Radio International; London Times jazz critic Alyn Shipton's Jazz Cafe; SkyJazz.com; Jet Blue; Music Choice; Sirus Satellite Radio; XM Satellite Radio; Live 365 and Raphpsody. The self-produced CD mixes old style be-bop with modern forms of jazz in the tradition of Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie and John Coltrane. In addition to Lofton on trumpet, the CD also includes Roland Haynes on piano, Reggie Sullivan on bass and Kenneth Salters on drums.
Born in Germany to American parents, Lofton grew up in Columbia, South Carolina, where he studied music at the University of South Carolina. Playing trumpet for over thirty years, Lofton has spent time on the road in Chicago and New York City. He has performed with such musical talents as guitarist Jim Mings, saxophonist Rene Sandoval, Ron Westray and Wycliff Gordon of the Wynton Marsalis septet, Fred Wesley of the James Brown horn section, Fred Hampton of the Chicago A.A.C.M., and South Carolina musicians Skip Pearson, Robert Gardner, Dr. Dick Goodwin, Dr. John Enkey, Teddy Linder and many others.
Lofton also works as an R&B and hip-hop producer, producing such artists as Legend and The Gutsmen. As a winner of a juried competition, Lofton was included on the South Carolina Arts Commission's Arts in Education Roster. He has lead jazz clinics for high school students in Austin.
In South Carolina, the Jeff Lofton Quartet had a strong following from a long-running Friday night residency at Meritage in the Vista, as well as performances at Mac's on Main and at the Three Rivers Music Festival. Lofton is also well known for the Jazz Therapy Jazz Quintet featuring himself and Skip Pearson performing on Sundays at the club Group Therapy. Other groups Lofton has played with include Defellas (an avant guard jazz group), Deja Voodoo (a hip-hop/jazz fusion group) and Wadada (a reggae group).
