Embracing Versatility: Navigating Multiple Roles as a Saxophonist
Vandoren Artist Profile: Andrew Bishop
Date Posted: April 02, 2018
When did you decide that you wanted to be a musician?
The beginning of my sophomore year in college. I was very serious about music in high school, but there was that voice (inside a lot of our heads) is that I’m not going to be able to do this for a living. Somewhere in the beginning of my sophomore year, I realized this was all I wanted to do. The business degree that I was double-majoring in wasn’t going to work out because I was spending all of my time on the horn, listening to music, and studying music. I was serious in high school but that’s when it really took off [in college].
Who have been some of the most influential people in your life?
Early on, a saxophone teacher of mine in high school named Tom Fowler. Also, a guitarist who I studied jazz with named Craig Owens. Later on, I studied composition with Walter Mays – phenomenal composer. That lead me down a whole other path, pursuing composition and arranging. He also really got me into studying great classical, European art works as well as expanding on my jazz world. Those were some of the three, big, early influences.
Later on, there were teachers like Donald Sinta, a big influence of mind on the saxophone. Two of my colleagues – Ellen Roe and Ed Sarath, had a big impact on me as a student.
Now I would say one of the great things about being a musician is you’re always surrounded by people who inspire you. One of the things I find really exciting is playing a lot of other music. It’s a lot of fun to make music with chamber musicians and large ensembles.
What are the greatest challenges you’ve faced as a musician and how have you overcome them?
I’m really interested in a lot of aspects of music: I’m a composer, a clarinetist, also a flutist, primarily a saxophonist, I write, I arrange, I also have scholarly interests.
I would say that trying to balance all those things have always been my biggest challenge. Really more than anything else because I will head down a particular path for a while but three months down the line, I’ll get a commission and I’ll get really excited about composition again. It’s being able to keep all of those hats on.
One of the things that I really love is how I’ve tried on many hats musically. I often refer to my artistic career as chasing rabbits down a whole. One of my goals as a teacher is to try to help my students find the end of the rabbit hole quicker than I did. - Andrew Bishop
Do you have any memorable moments in a performance?
There’s sort of the stereotypical ones where you get a headlining slot as a sideman or at a major jazz festival like the North Sea Jazz Festival. Honestly, one of the things that I’m realizing at sort of this stage that I’m at now, one of the career defining moments are often making music with great friends that you’ve had incredible chemistry with for a long time. I have a trio with a bassist, Tim Flood and Gerald Cleaver and I’ve known them since graduate school. While it may just be a small venue we’re playing, it’s sometimes just as meaningful to make music with really great friends and people you share a history.
Do you have any doubling advice for people to get into doubling or not get into doubling?
It’s an interesting question that’s often asked of me. My generation was, you could argue, the last generation where it was considered a must. There were still travelling big bands where you’re going to have to play clarinet and flute. Certainly, it’s been a great asset for me through the years– to play shows or other kinds of events. Now, what has been really fun is that it’s certainly opened up a lot of creative avenues. I’ll write music for myself and that’s a lot of fun.
The advice I’d give if you’re interested in that is focus in on one at a time. Just pick a 4-6 month zone where you take some lessons where you just try to edge that instrument up. For me, that’s often over the summer when I’m not teaching at the Univ. of Michigan. I’ll take some lessons from colleagues of mine, get some new advice, get some new repertoire, etudes. Or I’ll explore a creative process on one of those instruments. And try to push forward that one instrument in a period. I have to say that it was really hopeful on all instruments to study classical.
When I studied clarinet, I didn’t improvise on it at all – I didn’t play jazz. I just played classical rep: Mozart Clarinet Concerto, Demnitz Etudes, or Klose Etudes. I think I should’ve began to explore the possibility of using that as a jazz instrument because I do that a lot now and that’s been very beneficial.
What has been the most fulfilling aspect of your life as a musician?
It’s changed over the years. Right now, it’s teaching. One of the things that I really love is how I’ve tried on many hats musically. I often refer to my artistic career as chasing rabbits down a whole. One of my goals as a teacher is to try to help my students find the end of the rabbit hole quicker than I did. It’s teaching but I think just being able to blend being a creative artist, that gets to try to imagine new ways of combing music, with the technical demands of the instrument that require you get to learn new repertoire. It’s just fun to get to have this endless factory of things to explore, whether it’s some time on technique or I’m going to try to combine these two different types of music forms or I can combine Bach cello Suites on tenor saxophone, or try to adapt a solo bass piece. Those are fun challenges and the things that keep me going. They’ve sustained me through my musical career.
About Andrew Bishop
Andrew Bishop is a versatile saxophonist, clarinetist, flautist, composer, improviser, educator, and scholar comfortable in many musical idioms. Dave Lynch of All Media Guide wrote, “A composer of contemporary orchestral and chamber music, Bishop combines a jazzman’s fire and flow with a rigorous compositional sensibility, resulting in a potent and highly satisfying blend.” He maintains an active national and international career and serves as an associate professor and chair of University of Michigan Department of Jazz and Contemporary Improvisation in Ann Arbor where he teaches applied jazz saxophone, composition, and improvisation. He is a Conn-Selmer and Vandoren artist.
Bishop studied jazz and improvised music with David Baker, Jerry Bergonzi, Tom Fowler, Dave Liebman, Craig Owens, Ellen Rowe, Ed Sarath, and Reggie Workman; saxophone with Jean Lansing and Donald Sinta; and composition with William Albright, William Bolcom, Evan Chambers, Michael Daugherty, and Walter Mays.
Bishop’s three recordings as a leader, De Profundis, Time and Imaginary Time, and the Hank Williams Project (Envoi Recordings) received widespread acclaim from TheNew York Times, Downbeat Magazine, The Chicago Reader, All Music Guide, Cadence Magazine, All About Jazz – New York, All About Jazz – Los Angeles, The New York Jazz Record, StereophileMagazine, and TheDetroit Free Press, among others. Elliot Simon of the New York Jazz Record recently wrote, “De Profundis impresses with its astute combination of musicianship, spirituality, and compositional insight.” Furthermore, De Profundis received a “Record of the Year (Honorable Mention)” by the New York Jazz Record in 2015.
Bishop also leads a variety of his own projects. As a sideman he has performed with Reid Anderson, Geri Allen, Karl Berger, Dave Ballou, Sandip Burman, Kenny Burrell, Eugene Chadbourne, Ray Charles, Gerald Cleaver, Kris Davis, Marty Ehrlich, Michael Formanek, Drew Gress, Jerry Hahn, Robert Hurst, Chris Lightcap, The Either Orchestra, Mat Maneri, The Manhattan Transfer, Tony Malaby, Ben Monder, Jeremy Pelt, Mario Pavone, Tom Rainey, Hank Roberts, Jacob Sacks, Tyshawn Sorey, Craig Taborn, Clark Terry, Ben Waltzer, Matt Wilson, and John Zorn, among others. He has participated in over 40 recordings as a side musician.
As a composer and arranger, Bishop has received over 25 commissions from professional organizations, universities, and numerous residencies. He has also received recognition and awards from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP); The Chicago Symphony Orchestra; the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; and a nomination from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His orchestral composition “Crooning” was recorded by the Albany Symphony Orchestra on Two American Piano Concertos (Albany Records) featuring pianists Ursula Oppens and Ian Hobson. He has also completed composition and arranging projects for Ellery Eskelin, Steve Houghton, Robert Hurst, Dave Liebman, and Matt Wilson.