Sebastian Noelle

After choosing New York City as his permanent residence in 2002, guitarist Sebastian Noelle has been performing with his group on a regular basis. His name can be found on the programs of the city's hot spots for creative music such as the 55 Bar, Cornelia Street Cafe or CBGB's Gallery.

Sebastian Noelle's performance experiences include concerts at the North Sea Festival, Montreux Festival, and tours in Holland and Slovakia.

His melodic playing can be heard to advantage throughout his latest CD "Secret Sound Nation" (2004, Nolimit Records), which showcases original compositions exclusively. Among his former recordings are "Freedom Trail" (2001) featuring a quartet with former mentor John Abercrombie and "Home Is Where The Heart Wants To Go" (2001), an acoustic guitar album with duo partner Gene Bertoncini.

After growing up in Germany in a musical family with a classical background, Sebastian became interested in the jazz traditions and the practice of improvised music. The curiosity for musical cultures from all over the world led him to New York, where his style was enriched by Middle Eastern, Asian and South American folk music.

His steady group consists of Donny McCaslin or Chris Cheek on tenor saxophone, Ted Poor (Ben Monder Trio, Maria Schneider Orchestra) on drums, Thomson Kneeland (Matthias Lupri, Chris Potter, Mark Turner) and himself on guitar.

As a sideman Sebastian Noelle has performed with JoAnne Brackeen, Lewis Nash, Mulgrew Miller, Bob Moses, Maria Schneider, Joel Frahm, Bobby Shew, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Dave Santoro, John Hollenbeck, Scott Reeves, Michael Abene and Tony Moreno.

His original compositions also include works for big band, string quartets, solo guitar, voice, and small jazz ensembles and have been performed extensively in the U.S. and Europe.

Education: BA in jazz performance and composition (Hochschule fur Musik in Mannheim, Germany), MA with Distinction in Performance (New England Conservatory, Boston, MA)

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