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| Duane Andrews Wins USA Songwriting Competition  Newfoundland, Canada guitarist Duane Andrews won first prize in the jazz category of the 2007 USA Songwriting Competition with his song “Isaac's Blues” from his 2006 album Crocus. Heavily influenced by the brilliance of early twentieth century French Gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt, Duane Andrews' unique blend of jazz and folk music is consistently recognized by both industry and fans with awards and accolades. A virtuosic guitarist, Duane melds traditional Newfoundland music with it's mix of French, Irish, Portuguese and English influences with Manouche (Gypsy Jazz) in the same way that Django Reinhardt infused Jazz with Gypsy melody. An award winning multi-instrumentalist, record producer and filmmaker, Andrews has worked with a variety of artists including Canadian Jazz legends such as Mike Murley and Doug Riley, Folk icon Ken Whiteley, Icelandic guitarist Bjorn Thoreddson, Afro-Newfoundland group Mopaya, Irish fiddle master Seamus Creagh and the Chieftains to name a few. From his home in Newfoundland he has literally toured around the world with stops at the Ten Days on the Island Festival in Tasmania, the Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island and the Montreal Jazz Festival. A graduate of the Jazz Studies program at St.FXU (BA Music, Honours), Duane spent several years studying music composition initially at the Conservatoire International de Paris with Michel Prady and eventually with Georges Boeuf and Regis Campo at the Conservatoire National de Region in Marseille, France. It was during his time in France that Reinhardt's music had a profound impact on Duane. Upon returning to his home province of Newfoundland and Labrador in 2002 Duane began fusing traditional Newfoundland music with Reinhardt's style and his own original compositions. This work resulted in the 2004 release of his dynamic debut solo CD, simply titled, Duane Andrews and the 2006 release of his latest recording “Crocus”. He is currently in the production stage of his third full length album which is set for release in early June 2008. write your comments about the article :: © 2007 Jazz News :: home page |