Music
Press
"I feel Brian is one of the finest Jazz Guitarists on the scene!" - 1994
"He is a true pleasure to play with... He's my Man!" - 2000
"He is one of my favorite duet partners...he goes for the groove." - 1996
"Brian is the best guitarist I have ever heard!" - 2008
“Nova has amazing technique, which is obvious from the double-time technical explosion he launches into the first chorus of his solo on this first track. … one of the aspects of a player’s musicianship that is exposed is the ability to play a melody. Nova demonstrates that mastery and sensitivity on such pieces as “Time After Time,” approached as a ballad, the medium groove “Honeysuckle Rose,” “The More I See You,” and the unaccompanied rendition of “Beautiful Love.” … Brian Nova’s The Shadow Of Your Smile album provides the foundation for more than an hour of straight-ahead jazz, and highly enjoyable listening.”
- Winthrop Bedford, Jazz Improv
- Jazz Improv
“This record really swings! The band behind the very competent Seattle-based guitarist Brian Nova is clearly capable of capturing a groove and sticking with it. Much of that is owed to the nimble rhythm section, but with a vet like Buddy Catlett on bass, how could you miss? Nova himself is an accomplished guitarist, on both electric and acoustic, where his fingers lightly dancing on the fretboard exploring Bossa grooves at breakneck tempos... Let's hear more...”
- Mike Quinn, Jazz Times,
- Jazz Times
“Nova uncorks a series of tasty, understated workouts on a repertoire of jazz standards and Bossa Nova classics. The guitarists long, single note runs paint some well-drawn narratives... and the rhythm duo of Catlett and Williamson provide supple, swinging underpinnings. The leader's warm unadorned vocal readings add a nostalgia-induced romantic gloss to the proceedings, but it's Nova's string-bending and the collective swing that impresses me most... The members listen as well as they play, and they play really well.”
- Joseph Blake, Jazz Steps
- Jazz Steps
“Like Herb Ellis, Wes Montgomery and Joe Pass before him, Nova is a smooth guitarist who tosses off fluid runs and melodic riffs like nobody's business... The band is swinging... The musicianship is hot and tasteful... Nova's got the goods...” - The Rocket
“Nova's command of Jazz guitar technique, combined with rock energy, his beautiful sound, his engaging stage presence, merge perfectly with the room creating a warm welcoming atmosphere. The rest is Jazz history!” - Earshot Jazz Magazine
Discography
Brian Nova has released six recordings. His most recent release is titled “I Could Have Told You”; “The Shadow of Your Smile” released in 2005 to rave reviews; “Blue and Bossa Nova”; “Brian Nova- Alone”; “Live at Belltown Billiards”; and “Jazz Inflections”.
Photos
Bio
Brian Nova is one of the few Jazz artists in the world who has studied and toured with the two titans of Jazz guitar, Herb Ellis and Joe Pass. Brian has spent many years on the road, with these great men and others, developing and mastering his own unique Jazz guitar and vocal style
But he feels one of his greater accomplishments has been the preservation and expansion of the Seattle Jazz Scene. From 1990-1996, Brian headed up the Jazz Program at Seattle University as the Director of Jazz and Guitar Studies, guiding the younger generation to understand and love Jazz as he does. He has also kept many of the local Seattle Jazz musicians busy through being a central player for booking great Jazz in the Northwest, as well as producing workshops in the area. He has also established eleven new venues in Seattle which all offer live Jazz today! Brian has also helped shape the Jazz scene in the Palm Springs area and has helped develop five new venues that feature Jazz in La Quinta, Palm Desert and Palm Springs.
Brian has released six CD's and has appeared on many others as a guest artist. Through this busy schedule he still finds time to conduct clinics, give lessons, and is one of the most sought-after studio musicians in the Northwest and Southern California.
Brian has toured extensively in North America and Internationally. His North American gigs include long stints in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Nashville and Vancouver, British Columbia, as well as a long list of many other cities throughout the United States and Canada. Internationally, he has toured in Europe six years in a row throughout Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, France, Spain and Italy. He has also presented his Brian Nova Quartet as a headliner in China, Taiwan, Canada and Hawaii. Brian tours annually in Japan for one month of sold out concerts with crowd attendances between 900 and 2200 people.
He has preformed with the elite of the Jazz world - like saxophonists Eddie Harris, Danny Turner, Frank Foster, Bobby Watson, Tom Grant, Dave Koz, Stanely Turrentine, Bud Shank, Pete Christlieb, Med Flory, Hadley Caliman, Bill Ramsey and Illinois Jaquet; trumpeters Harry Sweets Edison, Steve Madaio, Mike Vax & Fred Radke; pianists/organists Jimmy Smith, Jack McDuff, Shelly Berg, Oscar Peterson, Barney McClure, Joseph Wooten, Gerald Wiggins, Kenny Drew, Jessica Williams, Joe Fos, Benny Green, Larry Fuller, Primo Kim; bassists Red Mitchell, Ray Brown, Andy Simpkins, Marshall Hawkins, Leroy Vinnegar, Mads Vinding, Buddy Catlett, John Heard; drummers Jeff Hamilton, Mel Brown, Eddie Henderson, Dick Berk, Butch Miles, Bobby Durham, Paul Krybeck; guitarists Joe Pass, Herb Ellis, Charlie Byrd, Larry Coryell, Mundell Lowe, John Pisano, John Stowell, Henry Johnson and Taj Mahal; trombonists Julian Priester, Gary Shutes and Fred Wesley; vibraphonists Louis Hjulmand, Kiyoko Ami and Ricky Kelly; Violinists Michael White, Svend Asmussen, singers Diane Schuur, Freddie Cole, Ernestine Anderson, Dee Daniels, Mark Murphy; rock icons Steve Miller, Joe Satriani, Billy F. Gibbons and harmonica legend Charlie Musselwhite to name just a few. The list of great musicians that have appeared with him over the years is virtually endless.
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