The Awakening Orchestra
New York City, New York, United States | INDIE
Music
Press
"...different, eclectic,
well-constructed and refreshingly entertaining..."
- Ken Cicerale
(ASCAP Awards Coordinator) - March 2007
"Kyle has a lot of talent as a writer... he is covering a wide variety of idioms and writing styles. Great potential!!"
- Dave Liebman
(saxophone, Miles Davis, Elvin Jones, countless own groups) - October 2005
"... the first really new approach to big band writing I'd heard since Gil Evans."
- Alan Sukoenig
jazz scholar & archivist - August 2007
"All of the compositions were interesting and very well crafted.... A great ear for orchestration. I look forward to hearing much more of his music."
- Laurie Frink
(trumpet, Benny Goodman, Gerry Mulligan, Mel Lewis, Maria Schneider, Andrew Hill, Dave Liebman, Kenny Wheeler, David Bowie) - January 2006
"All of the compositions were interesting and very well crafted.... A great ear for orchestration. I look forward to hearing much more of his music."
- Laurie Frink
(trumpet, Benny Goodman, Gerry Mulligan, Mel Lewis, Maria Schneider, Andrew Hill, Dave Liebman, Kenny Wheeler, David Bowie) - January 2006
Kyle Saulnier has been named by ASCAP as a recipient of the 2005/2006 ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Awards. The official announcement can be found at:
http://www.ascap.com/press/2006/020106_young_jazz.html - February 2006
"It was a big, bold band, Saulnier conducting in wide, aggressive gestures and the band powering through his music."
- Pat Donaher - May 2007
"What a kick to have the evening open up with a set by Kyle Saulnier's Awakening Orchestra. This band hasn't been around all that long, but they are already impressively tight, executing Kyle's demanding and varied music with sensitivity, grace, and pinpoint precision. Kyle's music is very different than mine -- he is much more likely to reach for the jarring juxtapositions, abrupt transitions, extreme contrasts, but the results are very hip, personable and refreshing. It's nice to have occasional reminders that there are other people out there shooting for the same stars. It makes you feel less delusional... although, like a gathering of self-reinforcing conspiracy nuts, there's no guarantee that we aren't actually all of us barking loons."
- Darcy James Argue - May 2007
"... a thorough understanding of the works of past masters, true passion, an aesthetic gift towards artistic creation, and a vision that allows him to confidently and unapologetically forge the music into the future..."
- Edward Anderson
Dir., Institute of Jazz Culture, Dillard University, New Orleans
Bleu Orleans - April 2007
"What a kick to have the evening open up with a set by Kyle Saulnier's Awakening Orchestra. This band hasn't been around all that long, but they are already impressively tight, executing Kyle's demanding and varied music with sensitivity, grace, and pinpoint precision. Kyle's music is very different than mine -- he is much more likely to reach for the jarring juxtapositions, abrupt transitions, extreme contrasts, but the results are very hip, personable and refreshing. It's nice to have occasional reminders that there are other people out there shooting for the same stars. It makes you feel less delusional... although, like a gathering of self-reinforcing conspiracy nuts, there's no guarantee that we aren't actually all of us barking loons."
- Darcy James Argue - May 2007
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
Photos
Bio
Aggressive, explosive, and epic, the Awakening Orchestra is an emerging 18-piece avant-garde ensemble from New York City. Characterized by back-breaking grooves and a dark harmonic sense of humor, the orchestra features young, virtuosic musicians with a flair for the dramatic and a passion for sheer, unbridled intensity. Having debuted in 2006, the Awakening Orchestra has since played venues as varied as Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola (at Lincoln Center), the Bowery Poetry Club, and most recently, the Nassau Coliseum as part of the Vans Warped Tour. Led by impassioned and incendiary composer Kyle Saulnier, live performances can be described as a raucous, emotional rollercoaster, combining periods of unabashed anarchy with moments of thunderous convergence. Heavy-handed yet remarkably agile and adaptable, the group's weight lies in its ability to interpret thoughts rather than to recreate them.
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Dramatically Intense, Socially Conscious, and Openly Defiant, Kyle Saulnier (http://www.kylesaulnier.com), emerges as one of New York City's most dynamic new composers and bandleaders. Leader of The Awakening Orchestra (http://www.awakenthemusic.com/AO.html), an 18-piece collection of virtuosic and dramatic musicians, and co-leader of the elastic hybrid chamber pop group alice. (http://www.alicetheband.com), he mixes an orchestral aesthetic with a love of chaos and a gift for emotional climax. Powerful, Passionate, and Irreverent, Kyle Saulnier is on the cutting edge of today's progressive music.
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