Tripti Joshi (Editor)

Jeff Antoniuk

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Website
  
jeffantoniuk.com

Genres
  
Jazz, Funk, Jazz fusion

Role
  
Musical Artist

Name
  
Jeff Antoniuk



Born
  
October 6, 1965 (age 58) Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (
1965-10-06
)

Occupation(s)
  
Musician, composer, educator

Instruments
  
Tenor, soprano, and alto saxophone

Education
  
University of North Texas

Sledgehammer


Jeff Antoniuk (born October 6, 1965) is a Canadian-American saxophonist and educator. Born in Alberta, Canada, he has lived in the U.S. since 1986. He directs Jazz Band Masterclass, inDepth Jazz, and Capital City Voices, which serve vocalists and instrumentalists. In 2005 he founded Maryland Summer Jazz, an adult camp which draws students from across the U.S. and the world. The festival is held in Rockville, Maryland. He has developed JBM Teacher Training, which offers training for jazz professionals to improve their businesses.

Contents

Jeff antoniuk in mars 4 tet at 49 west cafe jan 2nd


Education

Antoniuk holds a master of music degree from the University of North Texas, where his course work focused on jazz performance and West African ethnomusicology. He began his undergraduate work at Grant MacEwan University in Canada and completed his bachelor's degree at the North Texas. He is a recipient of the Canada Council for the Arts "B Grant," and used it to study with Blue Note recording artist Tim Hagans.

Career

Antoniuk began touring internationally while a student at UNT. He then spent a decade touring and recording in the U.S. with the Unified Jazz Ensemble. Four of those years were spent as an Artist in Residence with the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). In 2000, Antoniuk won the Sammy Nestico Big Band Composition Award, sponsored by The Airmen of Note big band.

In 2004, he founded the Jazz Update quartet. It includes bassist Tom Baldwin, pianist Wade Beach, and drummer Tony Martucci. They perform their own compositions and works by John Coltrane, Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, Thelonious Monk, Wayne Shorter, Joe Henderson, and Kenny Dorham. The group has received many commissions for theme concerts and clinics. Brotherhood was released in 2010 and Here Today in 2007.

In 2013, Antoniuk co-founded The MARS 4-tet, a group of east coast musicians. The name is an acronym for the members' last names (Max Murray - bass, Jeff Antoniuk - sax, Frank Russo - drums, Donato Soviero - guitar). The band began by focusing on the great improvised music of the 70's, 80's and 90's, with John Scofield, Pat Metheny, Weather Report, and Keith Jarrett as strong influences. They often incorporate rock and funk influences, such as Led Zeppelin, Peter Gabriel, and Gino Vanelli. MARS released its first album, The Blind Watchmaker, in May 2014 on Summit Records.

In the U.S. Antoniuk has worked with Jamie Baum, Jeff Coffin, Zaccai Curtis, Jimmy Haslip, Leonardo Lucini, Allison Miller, Marcus Miller, Najee, Alex Norris, Mike Pope, Wayman Tisdale, Walt Weiskopf, Kenny Werner. He has also appeared with Ray Charles, Natalie Cole, Bobby McFerrin, and Kenny Rogers.

He has worked with Canadian musicians Ralph Bowen, David Foster, Ingrid Jensen, P. J. Perry, and Tommy Banks.

Educator

Antoniuk taught in the jazz program of Towson University for seven years, and developed his adult education programs to fill the hole he saw in jazz training opportunities for adults. This includes a summer jazz camp for adults (Maryland Summer Jazz), ongoing jazz small group sessions (Jazz Band Masterclass), over 50 stand alone one-day workshops (inDepth Jazz Clinics) and an adult jazz choir (Capital City Voices). He is also a Master Teaching Artist with Washington Performing Arts Society (WPAS). Antoniuk is central to their Capitol Jazz Project, in conjunction with Jazz at Lincoln Center and Wynton Marsalis. Through WPAS, he has worked with over 10,000 Washington DC public school students. Antoniuk is also sought after as a private coach for amateur, semi-pro and professional musicians.

Teacher Training for Jazz Professionals

In 2016, Antoniuk launched a training program for jazz professionals (university professors, jazz recording artists and performers, and educators). JBM Teacher Training aims to help jazz professionals build their businesses and income through an approach to adult jazz education that Antoniuk developed and has been refining since 2003. This training is project-based, and done in teams, similar in structure and approach to the Socratic business school and law school model.

Selected discography

As leader

With the MARS 4-tet

  • The Blind Watchmaker (2013)
  • With the Jazz Update

  • Brotherhood (2010)
  • Here Today (2007)
  • With Unified Jazz Ensemble

  • Make A Joyful Noise (1998)
  • New Slant (1997)
  • Small Town Stories (1995)
  • Now We Are Five (1994)
  • Unified Jazz Ensemble (1993)
  • As sideman

    With Veronneau

  • Jazz Samba Project (2012)
  • Joie de Vivre (2011)
  • With Najee

  • Rising Sun (2008)
  • With Alan Baylock Jazz Orchestra

  • Two Seconds to Midnight (2003)
  • With Tad Robinson

  • A New Point Of View (2007)
  • Did You Ever Wonder (2004)
  • With Ben Patterson Sextet

  • The Prowl (2003)
  • With Sound Connection

  • Sound Connection Live (2005)
  • With Darrel Nulisch

  • Times Like These (2003)
  • With Lou Pride

  • Keep On Believing (2005)
  • Words Of Caution (2002)
  • References

    Jeff Antoniuk Wikipedia