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Andy Milne

In 2011, Milne composed, performed and produced the score to William Shatner’s documentary film, The Captains. The relationship led to Milne scoring six subsequent Star Trek-themed films directed by Shatner. In addition to appearing in one of the films, Milne released The Captains soundtrack CD in partnership with Shatner and was a featured performer at numerous Star Trek conventions with actor/singer Avery Brooks. During this period, Milne attended the Jazz Composers Orchestra Institute at UCLA under the direction of George Lewis, and in 2013 was invited to compose for the American Composers Orchestra’s JCOI New Music Readings.

Milne’s early Dapp Theory recordings helped forge a foundation for the creative diversity he would explore in subsequent projects. Forming Dapp Theory in 1998, Milne cited his desire to “tell passionate stories, promote peace and inspire collective responsibility towards uplifting the human spiritual condition.” Milne used rhythm to bend listeners’ minds and bodies, mixed R&B, jazz, rock, pop and hip-hop influences, and incorporated free-style and composed lyrics to promote a profound sense of social commentary within the music. One of the most compelling expressions of these ingredients was Milne’s ambitious collaboration with Canadian folk-rock icon Bruce Cockburn on the 2003 Concord Records release, Y’all Just Don’t Know.

In 2008, Milne was awarded the French-America Jazz Exchange from Chamber Music America and formed Crystal Magnets, a duo piano collaboration with French pianist Benoît Delbecq. Inspired by the 5.0 surround sound format, Milne set out to compose for the medium and record in harmony with that environment. During their recording residency at The Banff Centre, Milne and Delbecq exploited the unique potential for placing specific compositional elements in distinct regions of the surround sound mix. In 2009, Songlines Recordings released Where is Pannonica?, which The New York Times lauded as a “strangely beautiful new album” from two “resourcefully contemporary pianists, both drawn to quixotic interrogations of harmony and timbre.”

Milne released two unique piano recordings in 2007. Both CDs received wide critical acclaim, presenting complementary reflections of his questing musical personality. Dreams and False Alarms [SongLines] features deeply considered re-workings of long-remembered pop/rock/folk/reggae classics, reaffirming and expanding Milne’s creative process as a jazz improviser. Scenarios [Obliqsound] presents a more textural, almost cinematic series of intimate duo encounters with harmonica virtuoso Grégoire Maret. Their duo developed naturally during Maret’s four years as a member of Dapp Theory. Also in 2007, Milne collaborated with tap dancer/choreographer Heather Cornell to create Finding Synesthesia, which premiered that year at the London Jazz Festival. Together they combined a wide and unexpected range of sounds and influences, integrally weaving tap into the texture and sound of the orchestration.

Black Lives: People Of Earth

Read "People Of Earth" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
June 4, 2024

Black Lives is not just a band; it is a movement. Comprised of globally recognized artists across generations and genres, their mission transcends mere musical performance. They aim for a utopia, especially in these turbulent times where words of hate and racism proliferate faster than cat videos on the internet. Now more than ever, their cause is vital. The album does not veer away from its intentions: to raise awareness, inspire change, and celebrate unity. Musicians from the ...

Album Review

Jean-Paul Bourelly: Black Lives - From Generation to Generation

Read "Black Lives - From Generation to Generation" reviewed by Vic Albani

by Vic Albani
September 26, 2023

Doppio CD o doppio vinile prodotto in HI-Res e con packaging di lusso dalla Jammin'colorS, agenzia per artisti jazz, world, funk, alternativi, hip-hop, electro e sperimentali nonché etichetta indipendente. Il lavoro che ha pubblicato in tanta pompa magna è un ampio collage di musica nera realizzato da 25 musicisti africani, caraibici e afroamericani guidati dalla visione creativa di Stefany Calembert (compagna del bassista jazz Reggie Washington) e produttrice estemporanea dell'etichetta belga. A tutti è stato chiesto di comporre ...

Album Review

Various Artists: Black Lives - From Generation to Generation

Read "Black Lives - From Generation to Generation" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
May 19, 2022

Indeed, African Americans are the architects of several musical formations, hearkening back to Scott Joplin's development of 'ragged' rhythms i.e., Ragtime, along with blues, funk, jazz, and other genres, often evolving into various tangents and offshoots. And on this comprehensively entertaining set produced by Belgian Stefany Calembert with assistance from her husband and acclaimed bassist Reggie Washington, they righteously bestow Black Music as a “source of moral truth and potent weapon against racism." Numerous stars such as saxophonist ...

Album Review

Ingrid Laubrock and Andy Milne: Fragile

by Troy Dostert
May 15, 2022

In 2019, tenor & soprano saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock began for Intakt Records a series of duo recordings with leading pianists . The first two instalments paired her with Aki Takase (Kasumi) and Kris Davis (Blood Moon), both sensible choices as Takase and Davis have long been fixtures in avant-garde jazz, traveling in the same circles as Laubrock and with similar stylistic proclivities. This makes the third offering, with Andy Milne, a bit more interesting. Milne is certainly unafraid of adventure, ...

Album Review

Dave Glasser: Hypocrisy Democracy

Read "Hypocrisy Democracy" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
May 4, 2020

Something of a socio-political scythe--a title and tool cutting straight into the failing system that surrounds us--Hypocrisy Democracy is also a broad statement detailing the ceaselessly looping fallibility of man and his actions. It's saxophonist Dave Glasser's most probing work to date, bound to both our present state of affairs and the history it mirrors, and it's an album that, despite its bold conceit, actually needs no concept to latch itself onto. The music is that strong. ...

Multiple Reviews

3x3: Piano Trios: April 2020

by Geno Thackara
April 29, 2020

Andy Milne The Re:Mission Contrology Records 2020 Though Andy Milne actually hasn't recorded in the classic trio format before, you'd never know it just from The Re:Mission. He's been no slouch in many other settings, from supporting Cassandra Wilson or Steve Coleman to the genre-mashingly ambitious Dapp Theory quintet. Having always had a dream of trying this particular classic format, and invigorated after a 2018 fight with cancer (hence the title), he decided it was ...

Album Review

Andy Milne: The reMission

Read "The reMission" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic

by Mike Jurkovic
April 9, 2020

Ever hear a disc and wonder why the deep-seated beauty of some players' music escapes your radar? Juno Award-winning pianist and composer Andy Milne's The reMission, a challenging, tough, terse and ultimately triumphant recording, is one of those. One of those discs that, after several uninterrupted listens, has one digging into the discography scrambling to catch up. A composer with an agile, far flung curiosity, Milne has held the bench for Ravi Coltrane and Ralph Alessi. He's teamed ...

Performance / Tour

Composer/Bassist Alexis Cuadrado Presents Poetica, Featuring Rowan Ricardo Philips, Melcion Mateu, Miles Okazaki, Andy Milne & Tyshawn Sorey

Source: Jason Byrne, Red Cat Publicity
March 20, 2014

Composer/Bassist ALEXIS CUADRADO Presents POETICA: A multi-disciplinary new work by Alexis Cuadrado crossing languages and poetry in collaboration with authors/poets Rowan Ricardo Philips and Melcion Mateu In Residency at jny: Seeds Brooklyn April 30 & May 1, 2, 3, 2014 Located at 617 Vanderbilt Ave Brooklyn, NY 11238 Featuring: Alexis Cuadrado - Composer & double bass, Rowan Ricardo Philips - Poetry, Melcion Mateu - Poetry, Miles Okazaki - Guitar, Andy Milne - Keyboards, Tyshawn ...
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Performance / Tour

Sunday June 27 2010 Andy Milne and Dapp Theory @ Royal/T

Source: SoCal Creative Music
June 10, 2010

SUNDAY MAY 27 2010 @ 7PMANDY MILNE & DAPP THEORYROYAL/T8910 WASHINGTON BLVD. CULVER CITY, CA 90232310.559.6300$18 admission at the door. $12 for studentsDAPP THEORY is a quintet that blends contemporary funk, groove and hip-hop into jazzwith such seamless, casual precision its almost freaky. (LA Weekly)ANDY MILNE - KeyboardsJOHN MOON - PercussionAARON KRUZIKI- SaxophoneCHRIS TORDINI - BassKENNY GROHOWSKI - DrumsAs demonstrated on their recent ...
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Performance / Tour

New Haven's Firehouse 12 to Present Andy Milne and Dapp Theory June 2nd

Source: Improvised Communications
May 2, 2007

On Saturday, June 2nd, Brooklyn-based keyboardist/composer Andy Milne and his longstanding group Dapp Theory (formerly Cosmic Dapp Theory) will perform at New Haven's Firehouse 12 as part of its five-stop June tour of the Northeast. The group, which strives to link the essence of jazz with hip hop and other forms of musical expression, features vocalist/percussive poet/MC John Moon, saxophonist Loren Stillman, bassist Chris Tordini and drummer Sean Rickman.

“Dapp Theory defies convention," declared JazzReview.com's John Kelman in his review ...
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“The reMission as of one this year’s finest recordings.” [AllAboutJazz.com] "Milne's talent is unequivocal, ... unraveling newfound landscapes, ... innovative approaches to reharmonization and re-rhythmification" [AllAboutJazz.com] "Andy Milne's resistance to creative stasis and the status quo help make each of his new releases intriguing in a different way than the last." [Downbeat]