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Andy Snitzer:
Hired Gun
by Skip Spratt
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Andy Snitzer is among the busiest session players on the New
York scene today. His recording and touring credits are nothing
less than a who's who of contemporary music. He can be found
in the enviable company of such diverse artists as Bob James,
Paul Simon or The Rolling Stones, to name a few. His passionate,
yet aggressive style is derivative of classic Brecker and
Sanborn, but his sound is truly unique and undeniably his
own. Andy's recordings thrive in the sea of "smooth jazz"
saxophonists, however, his music has depth, character, complexity
and let's not forget---groove! He has found his voice and
demands it be heard.
While growing up in Philadelphia, Andy's first playing experiences
were on clarinet and piano. In his early teens he lost interest
in those instruments and took up the saxophone at age 15.
He began college at Northwestern University in Chicago under
Fred Hemke, but after one year, transferred into the more
contemporary jazz program of the University of Miami. While
there, Andy was offered a gig in the horn section touring
with Bob James in 1984.
After graduating, he was lured to New York City, but not
for the usual reasons. Andy earned an MBA at New York University
and went on to a stint at J.P. Morgan Investment. A career
in music was not certain at that point, however he continued
to play gigs around New York, picking up session work and
returning to his "day gig" at J.P. Morgan. At some
point the writing was on the wall. Andy was building a reputation
as one of New York's top session players and J.P. Morgan was
history. A few years later, he was signed to Warner Brothers
as a solo artist. Andy has three cds on the Warner Jazz label,
including a #1 Hit on NAC radio, "You've Changed",
from Ties That Bind.
Several phone calls and countless e-mails led up to my interview
with Andy, who manages to juggle production projects, recording
sessions and road tours. I caught up with Andy at a stop in
Atlanta while he was on tour with Paul Simon. He had just
come from playing tennis and was on his way to dinner before
enjoying a rare evening off. Andy was gracious enough to speak
candidly about the recording business, touring and of course...the
saxophone. We spoke briefly about tennis and mutual friends
from Philly before starting the interview.
Interview
Are you touring with Paul Simon now as a New West Horn thing
or a solo gig?
Well, it was Chris (Botti) and I. He did the
two months in June and July. He's with Sting right now, rehearsing,
and Randy Brecker is in his place. The New West Horns (Andy
Snitzer, saxophone Michael Davis, Trombone and Kent Smith,
Trumpet) - it's been eight to 10 years since we were really
thinking about it that way. I still work with those guys,
but that was back when nobody knew who we were and we were
trying to get it going. Now everybody know's us individually,
so they'll call us individually or call us together."
I understand you're on the second leg of
the tour?
Well, it's just a little extension for two weeks.
It started Wednesday and I'll be back September 19.
What do you go back to in New York? I know
you just released a CD on August 24.
Depending on how things work out, I'd like to
work on that for sure.
Now you say work on it...are you going
to put a tour together to promote that?
Something like that. Mounting a tour is pretty
hard in this genre. You know, if you're starting that out.
….YOU CAN READ THIS COMPLETE
INTERVIEW IN SEPT/OCT 2000 ISSUE OF SAXOPHONE JOURNAL. Contact dornpub.com for
subscription information.
Used by permission.
© 2001 by Dorn Publications, Inc.
Sept/Oct 2000, Volume 25, No. 1 |
