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Andrea Brachfeld
Flutist, composer, arranger, producer, educator, business owner, Andrea Brachfeld, is a graduate of The High School of Music and Art and the Manhattan School of Music. Study with Hubert Laws, Jimmy Heath, George Coleman, and Mike Longo helped her develop her own improvisational style.
Since she began her professional career as a musician at age 16, she has recorded and played many different genres of music including funk, Country Western, Charanga, Salsa, Latin Jazz, devotional music and Jazz. Some of the many artists she has associated with include Wayne Wallace, Bobby Carcassés, Oscar Hernandez, Alfredo de la Fé, Ralph Irrizarry, Tito Puente, Ray Barretto, Joe Newman, Hubert Laws, Nestor Torres, Dave Valentín, Paquito D’Rivera, Kenwood Dennard, Hilton Ruiz, Steve Turre, Wycliffe Gordon, Wallace Roney, and Bill O’ Connell among many others.
Her breakthrough performance as the flutist for the popular Latin band Charanga ’76, catapulted her into Salsa history and fame as the first female flutist to play this music in the United States.
As a high school student, she received the “Louis Armstrong Award for Outstanding Student” from Jazz Interactions, an organization created by Joe and Rigmor Newman. Downbeat magazine referred to Andrea as “one of the finest jazz flutists around.” She has twice been the recipient of the Latin New York Music Award. She received the Chico O’Farrill Lifetime Achievement Award from Latin Jazz USA in Oct. 2006 and the “Pionero Award” in 2010 for her contribution to Latin music.She was also awarded the, “Tribute to the Charanga Flutes,” given by Charanga Legends USA, in August of 2012.
While in Venezuela, having been contracted by music impressario, Renato Capriles, she had the honor of opening for Chick Corea and Paco de Lucia with her first Latin Jazz band in 1982.
Her first Latin Jazz CD, “Remembered Dreams” combines original music with jazz harmony and Latin rhythms. Her second CD, “Back With Sweet Passion”, is a dynamic Charanga Jazz recording featuring Grammy winner Oscar Hernandez on piano and Alfredo De La Fé on violin. Her third CD “Beyond Standards”, a collaborative effort with Chembo Corniel, which features jazz greats Hilton Ruiz on piano, Steve Turre on trombone, and Pedrito Martinez on vocals. Her most recent Latin Jazz CD, “Into the World: A Musical Offering” features guest artists Mike Longo, Paul West, and Brian Lynch. Her first jazz CD named, “Lady of the Island,” was released in October of 2012 by ZOHO music featuring Wallace Roney, Wycliffe Gordon, and Bill O’Connell, longtime musical director for Dave Valentín. Bill also produced the record as well as wrote the arrangements.
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Gino Amato: Latin Crossroads
by Richard J Salvucci
The urge to take advantage of a successful commercial genre never really dies. Back in the 1960s, a studio orchestra nominally assembled by bandleader Glen Gray released a recording, Sounds of the Great Bands in Latin (Capitol, 1964). It took tunes like Early Autumn" or A String of Pearls" and added a Latin" flavor with jazz enhancements. No doubt, this was an early recognition of the success of Cal Tjader. The vinyl may or may not have done well, but ...
Continue ReadingSanti Debriano & Arkestra Bembe: Ashanti
by Jack Bowers
Panama-born bassist Santi Debriano's Arkestra Bembe is a nonet whose centerpiece is the bembe music of west Africa. During the Coronavirus pandemic, Debriano began hosting weekly bembes (musical celebrations) in the basement of his Staten Island, New York home, gradually assembling a group of musicians who would comprise the Arkestra and perform Debriano's compositions and arrangements. The result is Ashanti, an impressive studio recording whose framework is jazz but whose heart and soul are clearly in bembe. ...
Continue ReadingAndrea Brachfeld & Insight: Evolution
by Jack Bowers
Although Andrea Brachfeld's may not be a household name, the versatile flutist and composer has been a well-established and respected presence on New York City's jazz and Afro-Cuban scenes since around 1970. On Evolution, her tenth recording as leader, Brachfeld delves musically into children's issues and the ongoing need [for] basic necessities even in the best of times," using her time for reflection during the Coronavirus pandemic of 2020-21 to find focus and creativity from the ways in which children ...
Continue ReadingAndrea Brachfeld: Evolution
by Jane Kozhevnikova
Andrea Brachfeld is a critically acclaimed flutist, composer and educator. She has won multiple awards, including a grant from Chamber Music America and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, and was once recognized as the best jazz flutist by Hot House magazine. Evolution features Brachfeld's longtime collaborators Bill O'Connell (piano), Harvie S (bass) and Jason Tiemann (drums). While Brachfeld's previous album, Brazilian Whispers (Origin Records, 2020), focused solely on a Brazilian music sound palette, in Evolution she brings listeners ...
Continue ReadingSanti Debriano: Flash of the Spirit
by Paul Rauch
Bassist/composer Santi Debriano has been prominently on the scene since the late seventies, when he worked for several years with saxophonist Archie Shepp. Born in Panama, and raised in Brooklyn from a very young age, his life was integrated with the many crosscurrents of jazz music in the Americas. He worked prominently with Sam Rivers in Paris for a few years, before heading back to New York to perform with the likes of Pharoah Sanders, Sonny Fortune, Larry Coryell, Freddie ...
Continue ReadingFive Artists: February 2020
by C. Michael Bailey
Andrea Brachfeld Brazilian Whispers Origin Records 2020 The flute as the lead instrument in any jazz combo relies on an empathic and sensitive rhythm section that will not overpower the wind instrument's delicate voice (Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson notwithstanding). Flautist Andrea Brachfeld happens upon a dandy rhythm section in pianist Bill O'Connell, bassist Harvie S and drummers Jason Tiemann and T Portinho. That said, Brachfeld is more than able to kick out the jams, ...
Continue ReadingAndrea Brachfeld: Brazilian Whispers
by Dan Bilawsky
While Brazilian Whispers marks Andrea Brachfeld's first thorough exploration of the titular stream of sound, you'd never know it from the results. Teaming up with Bill O'Connell, her longtime pianist and sounding board, the veteran flutist, who's typically engaged in Afro-Cuban affairs or straight ahead suggestions, sounds like she's been playing this music all her life. Rather than spread focus across a massive realm of Brazilian territory, Brachfeld homes in on the music of one of the ...
Continue ReadingAndrea Brachfeld & Insight: 'Evolution'
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
One of the finest jazz flutists around today is Andrea Brachfeld. She studied with Hubert Laws, Jimmy Heath and George Coleman, among others, and has released 10 CDs as a leader. Andrea's latest, with her trio, Insight, is Evolution (Origin). And what a trio: pianist Bill O'Connell, bassist Harvie S and drummer Jason Tiemann. After hearing Andrea on Evolution and becoming smitten by her playing, I reached out for an email interview. To fully understand Andrea's grace, spiritual energy and ...
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Andrea Brachfeld & Insight with Bill O'Connell, Harvie S, and Jason Tiemann release 'Evolution' on May 20
Source:
Scott Thompson Public Relations
A central figure of jny: New York City’s jazz & Afro-Cuban scenes over the last five decades, flutist Andrea Brachfeld, like most artists over the last two years, found a great amount of time to reflect on their art, community and humanity. For Evolution, Brachfeld’s writing was affected by her dive into children’s issues and the ongoing need of basic necessities even in the best of times. The added pandemic led her to a wide-range of musical sources, each reflecting ...
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Flutist Andrea Brachfeld & Her Quartet Insight To Perform At The Triad Theater, NYC, Monday, June 18
Source:
Terri Hinte Publicity
Flutist/composer Andrea Brachfeld will perform a CD release show for her new Jazzheads recording, If Not Now, When?, at the Triad Theater on Manhattan’s Upper West Side on Monday, June 18 at 9:30pm. The “incredible clarity of purpose” Brachfeld gained after spending 2016 in deep introspection about her life and music generated the nine original compositions on her exhilarating new album. The quartet outing, featuring the dynamic rhythm section of pianist, arranger, co-composer, and co-producer Bill O'Connell, a longtime collaborator, ...
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Flutist Andrea Brachfeld's Virtuosity As Instrumentalist & Composer Manifested On "If Not Now, When?," Set For May 18 Release By Jazzheads Records
Source:
Terri Hinte Publicity
The “incredible clarity of purpose” flutist-composer Andrea Brachfeld gained after spending 2016 in deep introspection about her life and music generated the nine original compositions on her exhilarating new album If Not Now, When?, which is set for May 18 release by Jazzheads Records. The quartet outing, featuring the dynamic rhythm section of pianist, arranger, co-composer, and co-producer Bill O’Connell, a longtime collaborator, as well as bassist Harvie S and drummer Jason Tiemann, is an uncompromising manifestation of music Brachfeld ...
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Andrea Brachfeld Releases "Into the World: A Musical Offering" on Shaneye Records
Source:
All About Jazz
Shaneye Records proudly presents Andrea Brachfeld's latest release Into the World: A Musical Offering featuring Mike Longo, longtime musical director for Dizzy Gillespie, Paul West, worldwide known bassist extraordinaire, and Brian Lynch, Eddie Palmieri's trumpet player. The music on the CD ranges from Latin Jazz to Salsa, Yoruban and Hebrew chants, to straight ahead jazz. Andrea's original compositions comprise the majority of the tracks and her compositional skills as well as technical versatility on the flute are outstanding. This CD ...
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Rick’s Pick Andrea Brachfeld is a flutist equally comfortable playing Latin jazz or straight- ahead swing/bop/postbop styles; her tone is consistently warm and woody, her phrasing lithe, her time impeccable. And she possesses that essential but rare trait: the ability to express herself deeply without taxing the patience of the listener. Listen, for example, to the way she jumps from the decorous abstractions of “A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing” to the skipping boppishness of “If I Love Again,” and note how her solos in both cases pay deep respect to the tunes while never letting us forget who she is. The whole album is like that, and there’s something here for just about every jazz fan. Rick Anderson November 2, 2015 www.cdhotlist.com
Primary Instrument
Flute
Willing to teach
Advanced only
Credentials/Background
Certifications in Music K-12, Elementary K-8
Graduated Manhattan School of Music 1978
Masters in Education from Rutgers University 1985
Clinic/Workshop Information
The History of the Flute in Jazz This workshop will focus on how the flute has been integrated into mainstream jazz since the early 1900’s. A historical and musical timeline including DVD’s and excerpts from recordings will also be included.The flute has traditionally been associated with players who double on saxophones and other woodwind instruments .This workshop will present a positive viewpoint on how flutists have evolved to have a significant and unique voice in jazz as a solo instrument focusing on the individual’s voice as an artist. The Role of the Flute in Cuban Music: 1900s to the present This multimedia presentation will present pertinent historical facts of Cuba as it relates to the integration of the flute into popular Cuban music
Photos
Music
What's Up
From: EvolutionBy Andrea Brachfeld
The Unraveling of it All
From: EvolutionBy Andrea Brachfeld