Randy Napoleon - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Randy Napoleon is a jazz guitarist

Jazz guitarist

Jazz guitarists are guitar players who play jazz music on the guitar using an approach to playing chords, melodies, and improvised solo lines which is called jazz guitar playing. The guitar has fulfilled the roles of accompanist and soloist in small and large ensembles and also as an unaccompanied...

, composer, and arranger who is a member of The Freddy Cole

Freddy Cole

Lionel Frederick Cole is an American jazz singer and pianist, whose recording career has spanned over fifty years. He is leader of the Freddy Cole Quartet, which regularly tours the US, Europe, the Far East and South America....

Quartet and the leader of the Randy Napoleon Trio. He has toured with Benny Green

Benny Green (pianist)

Benny Green is a hard bop jazz pianist who was a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. He has been compared to Bud Powell in style and counts him as an influence. As a boy he grew up in Berkeley, California and studied classical piano from the age of seven...

, the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra

Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra

John Clayton, Jeff Hamilton, and Jeff Clayton brought together a group of Los Angeles-based musicians in 1985 and formed the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra . Reviewers and fans loved the big band, and the orchestra's first recording, Groove Shop , earned a Grammy Award nomination. CD Review named...

(CHJO), led by John Clayton

John Clayton (bassist)

John Travis Clayton Jr. is an American jazz and classical double bassist.-Music:John Travis Clayton Jr. began seriously undertaking the study of double bass at age 16, studying with bass legend Ray Brown...

, Jeff Clayton

Jeff Clayton

Jeff Clayton is an American jazz alto saxophonist and flautist.Clayton studied oboe at California State University and undertook a tour with Stevie Wonder. Following this he recorded with Gladys Knight, Kenny Rogers, Michael Jackson, Patti Labelle, and Madonna...

and Jeff Hamilton

Jeff Hamilton (drummer)

Jeff Hamilton is an American jazz drummer. He is co-director of the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra and leader of his own trio.-Career:...

, and with Michael Bublé

Michael Bublé

Michael Steven Bublé is a Canadian singer. He has won several awards, including three Grammy Awards and multiple Juno Awards. His first album reached the top ten in Canada and the UK. He found worldwide commercial success with his 2005 album It's Time, and his 2007 album Call Me Irresponsible was...

Early life

Napoleon was born in Brooklyn

Brooklyn

Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

. He is the son of Greg and Davi Napoleon

Davi Napoleon

Davi Napoleon, aka Davida Skurnick is an American theater historian and critic. She is a theater columnist for The Faster Times, an online newspaper, and a regular contributor to Live Design, a monthly magazine about entertainment design and designers...

and the grandson of Jack Skurnick

Jack Skurnick

Jack Skurnick was the founder and director of EMS Recordings and publisher and editor of the highly regarded music review, Just Records.-Career:...

and Fay Kleinman

Fay Kleinman

Fay Kleinman is an American painter. She has also been known by her married names, Fay Skurnick, then Fay Levenson.Most of her work is oil on canvas, but she has done some mixed-media work and watercolor. She has exhibited in museums in New York and Massachusetts and in galleries throughout the...

. He has one younger brother, Brian Napoleon. His family moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

, when Napoleon was young. He married Alison Rogers Napoleon in 2010.
One of Napoleon's formative experiences was in a big band at Ann Arbor Pioneer High School, led by the trumpeter Louis Smith. He also played at the jazz clubs in Ann Arbor and learned from jam sessions at the now defunct Bird of Paradise Club, where he also heard master jazz artists play. Early opportunities at the Del Rio, a local bar, and at events sponsored by WEMU, a local NPR jazz radio station, helped launch his career. Napoleon went on to study at the University of Michigan

University of Michigan

The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...

School of Music. He moved to New York City after graduating in 1999.

Career

Napoleon performs as sideman and leader. He also arranges and produces for his own recordings and for other artists. He has led an organ trio with Quincy Davis on drums, and Jared Gold on Hammond B3 organ. They have toured throughout the United States and the United Kingdom, where they did a concert for BBC radio and played several clubs. He has also led a sextet, with Gold, Davis, Josh Brown on trombone, Frank Basile on baritone sax, and Justin Walter on trumpet.

He also tours internationally with singer/pianist Freddy Cole

Freddy Cole

. He is the guitarist on Cole's 2009 release, The Dreamer in Me, and performs on and arranged the music for Cole's 2010 release, Freddy Cole Sings for Mr. B. Napoleon has appeared on TV with Cole, on a 2007 PBS special and on the 2009 Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Telethon.

The Randy Napoleon Trio appears on two CDs, Enjoy the Moment
Enjoy the Moment
Enjoy the Moment is the 2002 album, a collaboration of guitarist Randy Napoleon and organist Jared Gold, featuring Quincy Davis on drums. It is also the name of the title song, written by Napoleon. The collaboration was released in 2002....

and Randy Napoleon: Between Friends
Randy Napoleon: Between Friends
Between Friends, released by Azica Records in 2006, features the Randy Napoleon Trio on half the tracks and a quartet featuring master pianist Benny Green on the others....

. Both feature organist Jared Gold, and drummer Quincy Davis. They have been compared to Wes Montgomery's organ trio

Organ trio

An organ trio, in a jazz context, is a group of three jazz musicians, typically consisting of a Hammond organ player, a drummer, and either a jazz guitarist or a saxophone player. In some cases the saxophonist will join a trio which consists of an organist, guitarist, and drummer, making it a quartet...

. Between Friends, a 2006 release from Azica Records, features the trio on half the tracks and a quartet on the other, with Davis, bassist David Wong, and Benny Green on piano.

Napoleon has also toured with Benny Green

Benny Green (pianist)

(2000–2001), Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra

Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra

, CHJO (2003–2004) and Michael Bublé

Michael Bublé

(2004–2007). He has appeared on TV in Japan with CHJO and throughout Europe and the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

with Bublé.

His U.S. TV appearances with Bublé include David Letterman

David Letterman

David Michael Letterman is an American television host and comedian. He hosts the late night television talk show, Late Show with David Letterman, broadcast on CBS. Letterman has been a fixture on late night television since the 1982 debut of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC...

, Jay Leno

Jay Leno

James Douglas Muir "Jay" Leno is an American stand-up comedian and television host.From 1992 to 2009, Leno was the host of NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime talk show, titled The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ,...

, The View, The Today Show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show

The Ellen DeGeneres Show

The Ellen DeGeneres Show, often shortened to Ellen, is an American television talk show hosted by comedian/actress Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it is produced by Telepictures and airs in syndication, including stations owned by NBC Universal. For its first five seasons, the show...

, Regis and Kelly, Dancing with the Stars

Dancing with the Stars

Dancing with the Stars is the name of several international television series based on the format of the British TV series Strictly Come Dancing, which is distributed by BBC Worldwide – the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the format has been licensed to over 35 countries...

, the Radio Music Awards, Entertainment Tonight

Entertainment Tonight

Entertainment Tonight is a daily tabloid television entertainment television news show that is syndicated by CBS Television Distribution throughout the United States, Canada and in many countries around the world. Linda Bell Blue is currently the program's executive producer...

, and a PBS special, Caught in the Act, which is available on DVD/CD from Reprise Records

Reprise Records

Reprise Records is an American record label, founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operated through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:...

. He has also appeared on TV with Sachal Vasandani and others.

Napoleon has also performed with jazz artists including The Bill Charlap

Bill Charlap

William Morrison Charlap is a jazz pianist born October 15, 1966 in New York City.Bill Charlap comes from a musical background and is a distant cousin to famed jazz pianist Dick Hyman. His mother, Sandy Stewart , is a singer who had a hit in 1962 with My Coloring Book, while his father was Broadway...

Trio and Rodney Whitaker. He has appeared with cabaret artists including Eric Comstock and Barbara Fasano, and has worked with musicians from his own generation, such as Josh Brown (trombone), Gerald Clayton

Gerald Clayton

Gerald William Clayton is a jazz pianist and composer born in Utrecht, Netherlands, and raised in Southern California. He is the son of bassist/bandleader John Clayton and the nephew of multi-instrumentalist wind player Jeff Clayton.-Biography:...

(piano), Justin Ray (trumpet), Julius Tolentino (saxophone), and vocalists Melissa Morgan

Melissa Morgan

- Biography :Melissa Morgan was born in New York City and grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey, where she attended Teaneck High School. She began studying piano at age four. During high school Melissa began singing with local choirs and was soon performing with select classical vocal groups across the...

and Sachal Vasandani.

Napoleon has played in venues across the United States, including Lincoln Center, The Hollywood Bowl

Hollywood Bowl

The Hollywood Bowl is a modern amphitheater in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles, California, United States that is used primarily for music performances...

, The Kennedy Center, Radio City Music Hall

Radio City Music Hall

Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue located in New York City's Rockefeller Center. Its nickname is the Showplace of the Nation, and it was for a time the leading tourist destination in the city...

and throughout the world, such as Royal Albert Hall

Royal Albert Hall

The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....

in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, and the Sydney Opera House

Sydney Opera House

The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in the Australian city of Sydney. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, finally opening in 1973 after a long gestation starting with his competition-winning design in 1957...

in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

Discography

Randy Napoleon: Between Friends
Randy Napoleon: Between Friends
Between Friends, released by Azica Records in 2006, features the Randy Napoleon Trio on half the tracks and a quartet featuring master pianist Benny Green on the others....
Randy Napoleon and Jared Gold: Enjoy the Moment
Enjoy the Moment
Enjoy the Moment is the 2002 album, a collaboration of guitarist Randy Napoleon and organist Jared Gold, featuring Quincy Davis on drums. It is also the name of the title song, written by Napoleon. The collaboration was released in 2002....
Eric Comstock and Randy Napoleon: Bitter/Sweet

As a member of other bands:

Talk to Me: Freddy Cole (arranger, performer)
Freddy Cole Sings Mr. B (arranger, performer; recording nominated for Grammy 2010)
Freddy Cole The Dreamer in Me: Live at Dizzy's Club (performer)
Michael Bublé: Caught in The Act (performer; recording nominated for Grammy 2007)
Michael Bublé: With Love (performer)
Michael Bublé: Let It Snow (performer)
Michael Bublé: A Taste of Bublé (performer)
The Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra: Live at MCG (performer)
Jared Gold: Solids & Stripes (performer)
Melissa Morgan: Until I Met You (performer)
The Josh Brown Quartet: The Feeling of Jazz (performer, composer of Street Steam)
Charles Darden: Coming Back to Me (arranger, performer)
Justin Ray (performer, composer of Psychic Ping Pong)
Ben Jansson: Sweetie Pie (performer, arranger of Young at Heart)
Michael Camacho: Just for You (performer)
Don't Go to Strangers (performer)
Paul Keller/Steve Richko: Swingin' the Praise (performer)
An Interpretation of a Universal Language (performer, one track only)
Manhattan Swing (performer)
Jazz Meets Hymns (performer)

Responses & Reviews

From an interview with George Benson
George Benson
George Benson is a ten Grammy Award winning American musician, whose production career began at the age of twenty-one as a jazz guitarist....

in Vintage Guitar Magazine, March 2010:

"VG: What younger jazz guitarists stand out to you?

George Benson: There are quite a few. Norman Brown, of course, and I do like Mark Whitfield, and the guy who played with Diana Krall, Russell Malone. Very strange guitar player, but I like his tenacity - how he jumps on things. He doesn't leave any room for ambiguity. I like his style and his clarity, and his ideas are good too.

I like the guitar player who's playing with Freddy Cole [Randy Napoleon]. He has an all-fingers approach; he doesn't use just thumb or pick. He's spectacular."

Randy Napoleon performed with Warner Brothers recording artist Michael Bublé for three years, during which Napoleon put out the album Between Friends Upon hearing it, Bublé commented for the liner notes:

" Randy Napoleon is the most exciting guitarist of our generation."

In a review of the Freddy Cole Quartet, September 18, 2011: "“With hand-in-glove support from his working trio of guitarist Randy Napoleon, bassist Elias Bailey and drummer Curtis Boyd, Cole cast spells from start to finish….Randy Napoleon, Cole’s principal foil, is an amazing young guitarist. His dovetailings with Cole and high-flying solos earned repeated rounds of applause.” Chuck Berg, Topeka Capital-Journal

In a review of the Freddy Cole Quartet, August 2, 2008: "Cole occasionally sang without accompanying himself, relying instead on guitarist Randy Napoleon's resourcefulness....Napoleon, a young, swing-centric guitarist...was accorded plenty of solo space, revealing an exceptionally nimble finger-style technique." Mike Joyce, The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...

In a review of the Freddy Cole Quartet, August 12, 2009,"Napoleon’s unhurried, light touches lace perfectly with Cole’s, whether he’s answering the pianist’s melodies in short phrases or taking the stage with longer improvisations." Lois Kapila, The Washington City Paper

In a review of The Freddy Cole Quartet at the Umbria Jazz Festival: "Napoleon's light touch got caught up in a whirl of lightning-fast technique. His solos then became the ones to watch for: golden lyricism on “If I Love Again”; sweet, happy variations on “Getting Some Fun Out of Life”; plainspoken, chromatic nostalgia on “Funny How I've Stopped Loving You” (on which his bandmates also took some bows, Boyd with beautiful brushwork and Bailey with imaginative eighth-note accents). He outdid himself during the set's encore with a concise but brilliant submission on “I Was Wrong.” Michael J. West, All About Jazz.

In a review of Between Friends: "Napoleon plays with a gentle, purring tone that makes you lean in close to hear its range of color and articulation, and his improvisations are true narratives, a collection of shapely melodies rather than a series of prepackaged licks." Mark Stryker, The Detroit Free Press

In a review of the Dec 15, 2007 performance of the Freddy Cole Quartet in South Orange NJ: "In the instrumental interludes, the Freddy Cole quartet plays swinging mainstream jazz that is always accessible and interesting...with some superb guitar work from Napoleon, who was simply sensational throughout the evening...Napoleon has been with the group only a few months, but has already become an important part of what they provide musically..." Joe Lang, Jazz Improv NY, Jan. 2008 issue.

In a review of the Jan 22, 2009 performance of the Freddy Cole Quartet at St. Cecilia's in Grand Rapids, MI: "His quartet includes three fabulous players...who play with no unnecessary gestures, no wasted notes...Guitarist Randy Napoleon, a finger-style player with a soft, smooth touch, meshed perfectly with Cole's piano, whether trading fills or sharing the melody in octaves. When Cole stepped away from the keyboard, Napoleon filled in all the space without missing a trick, delivering thick, chord-rich solos on tunes such as 'I Will Wait For You.'" Jeffrey Kaczmarczyk, The Grand Rapids Press.

In a preview of a 2007 appearance of the Randy Napoleon Trio in Pittsburgh, a reviewer commented on Napoleon's recent album: "His melodic lines are clean and uncomplicated. He shows a sensitivity for song rather than a desire to show off." Bob Karlovits, Pittsburgh Tribune-review
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, also known as "the Trib," is the second largest daily newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States...

In a review of Bitter/Sweet: "The splendid young guitarist, Randy Napoleon, matches Comstock's moods, now pensive, now joyful. He gets to do some celebrating of his own on the Rodgers and Hart track, while showing a delicacy of feeling on such tracks as "A Nightingale Sang in Berkely Square" Bart Greenberg, NiteLife Exchange.com

In a review of Bitter/Sweet:"Randy Napoleon has his own trio and is part of the Freddy Cole Quartet, playing the guitar with a subtle finesse and articulation that partners Comstock’s baritone voice and astute understanding of the song’s intent. The two bring additional layers to the arrangements and a singular intimacy to Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “I Have Dreamed,” Napoleon enhancing the Rodgers melody with spare elegance. Vocal and instrument together evoke the dark heartache of Gordon Jenkins’s “Goodbye” and are persuasive with the compelling phrasing in “If I Had You” (Shapiro/Campbell/Connelly), once a hit for the King Cole Trio. Lane and Lerner’s melodic “Too Late Now” hints of a sweet desperation." Elizabeth Ahlfors, Cabaret Scenes, April 2011

Will Friedwald, author/Wall Street Journal jazz critic, from liner notes for Bitter/Sweet: "Sometimes you can add something by taking something away (sounds very zen, I know) ... Eric without the piano is an even more intimate and personal experience than Eric at the keyboard. It makes his considerable gift sound even more rarified and specialized, and empowers him to pinpoint microscopic shades of emotion with even greater accuracy. Randy Napleon's guitar is absolutely ace ... Sometimes less is more. The combination of Comstock and Napoleon is so perfect, I have to ask: Who could settle for anything less?"

Between Friends received attention in several countries: "Napoleon ha un suono generoso, brillante e corposo allo stesso temp, che sa di Nebbiolo d'annata." Matteo Brancaleoni
Matteo Brancaleoni
Matteo Brancaleoni is an Italian contemporary pop/jazz singer, actor and journalist.-Discography:* Un Sanremese a Londra * Just Smile * Il Meglio di Zazzarazzaz -External links:* *...

, Jazz Magazine (Italian publication).

"Napoleon at times searches, not for the big fat notes, but the tiniest, trim, lean and bittersweet ones. His heaviness lies not in volume or weight, but in depth of spirit." Michael G. Nastos, WEMU radio host

"Napoleon must be considered in the first rank of modern jazz guitarists." Piotr Michalowski, Southeast Michigan Jazz Association

"Napoleon consistently shows that he is in full command of his instrument without resorting to overindulgent solos like many young players...Napoleon's tasty, spacious interpretation of the magical ballad "A Time For Love" is yet another highlight...The subtle opener, "Face the Truth," is a conversational piece that might appeal to a singer if it only had a lyric." Ken Dryden, Allmusic

"Each note hangs, suspended with raindrop clarity from its bough of melody, on up-tempo tunes as well as ballads." Lawrence Cosentino, Lansing Michigan's City Pulse.

"His guitar lines are soulful and smart." Marc S. Taras, Current Magazine

(In review of Freddy Cole Quartet at Birdland in Neuberg, Germany )Donaukurier
(review of Freddy Cole Quartet in Poland)

"Guitarist Napoleon, fresh-faced and youthful, solos finger-style, mixing complexity with swing, echoing his heros, Montgomery and Kessel." --Peter Vacher, Jazzwise magazine, December 2008/Jan 2009 issue. (In review of Freddy Cole Quartet at Pizza Express Jazz Club, London, England)

External links

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