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Brian Lynch
"A masterful soloist who came to prominence with the late Art Blakey...Lynch is even more in command today... offering peerless, flawless improvisations and collaborating empathetically...Lynch is also a gifted composer."
-Los Angeles Times
"You can lose yourself in the pure energy of his playing, but at any moment you can switch your attention to the logic and craftsmanship of his music and find multiple rewards."
-Neil Tesser, JAZZIZ
"… a knife-blade articulation on his horn… his command of rhythm, sharpened by a long apprenticeship with Mr. Palmieri, lent impressive authority to his playing…"
-New York Times
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A respected insider within both the hardcore straight ahead and Latin Jazz communities, 2007 Grammy Award Winner Brian Lynch is as comfortable negotiating the complexities of clave with Afro-Caribbean pioneer Eddie Palmieri as he is swinging through advanced harmony with bebop maestro Phil Woods. A honored graduate of two of the jazz world’s most distinguished academies, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers and the Horace Silver Quintet, he has been a valued collaborator with jazz artists such as Benny Golson, Toshiko Akiyoshi, and Charles McPherson; Latin music icons as diverse as Hector LaVoe and Lila Downs; and pop luminaries such as Prince. As a bandleader and recording artist he has released over 15 critically acclaimed CDs featuring his distinctive composing and arranging, and toured the world with various ensembles reflecting the wide sweep of his music. He currently is on the faculty at New York University as well as conducting clinics and workshops at prestigious institutions of learning the world over. His talents have been recognized by top placing in the Downbeat Critics and Readers Polls; highly rated reviews for his work in Downbeat, Jazziz and Jazz Times; 2005 and 2007 Grammy award nominations, and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Chamber Music America, and Meet The Composer.
Born September 12, 1956 in Urbana, Illinois, Lynch grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where he apprenticed on a high level with such local residents as pianist Buddy Montgomery; located in San Diego in 1980-81, he gained further valuable experience in the group of alto master Charles McPherson. Towards the end of 1981, Lynch moved to New York, and soon linked up with the Horace Silver Quintet (1982-1985) and the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra (1982-1988). Simultaneously, he played and recorded on the Latin scene with salsa bandleader Angel Canales (1982-83) and the legendary cantante Hector LaVoe (1983-87). He began his association with Eddie Palmieri in 1987, and at the end of 1988 joined what turned out to be the final edition of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. He began his tenure with The Phil Woods Quintet in 1992. In 1986, Lynch recorded his first album as a leader, Peer Pressure, for Criss-Cross. Subsequent recordings as a leader led to the 1997 Spheres of Influence [Sharp Nine], which earned a 4-1/2 star Downbeat rating, and was Lynch's first project to reflect the panoramic range of interests that influence his working life as a musician. During these years he documented cross-cultural investigations with Eddie Palmieri's seminal Afro-Caribbean Jazz Octet on Palmieri’s Palmas, Arete and Vortex [Nonesuch and RMM]. As the ‘90s progressed, he steadily refined his concept, eventually collaborating with Palmieri as an arranger, co-composer and musical director. The synchronistic nature of their relationship continues up to the present day with an acclaimed series of duo and trio concert performances, the creation of the Eddie Palmieri/Brian Lynch Jazz Quartet with tours of Japan and performances coast to coast in the US, and Palmieri’s culminating (and Grammy winning) collaboration with Lynch on his ambitious recording project Simpático for ArtistShare.
Brian’s most recent CD releases as a leader include the Grammy Award winning Simpático featuring Eddie Palmieri (ArtistShare), Spheres Of Influence Suite (EWE), ConClave (Criss Cross), and 24/7 (NagelHeyer).
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