Spring has finally landed in New York!  As if you need an excuse to be out and about, here are a bunch of upcoming performances this month!  For those on the West Coast, I'll be headed back to Washington & Oregon in July, and am in the process of putting together some shows out there, so stay tuned!

At the end of the month, Saturday April 27 to be precise, the Queens Jazz OverGround Spring Jazz Festival is happening at Flushing Town Hall.  This is the culmination of many months of work by me and my fellow QJOG members.  It's going to be an incredible day of music, and thanks to support from the Queens Council on the Arts and M&T Bank, it's 100% free to the public!  My band Pannonia will perform at 7 pm, in addition to 6 other great bands, workshops and masterclasses, and performances by some local middle and high school ensembles.  The event runs from noon-10:30, with the evening performances starting at 6.  If anyone is interested in volunteering at the event, drop me a line...

Plenty of shows coming up before then as well - Brian Adler's Helium Project plays at Queens Kickshaw this Friday, April 5, fresh off a recording session last week.  The band is sounding great, and Brian has done a great job of bringing together influences from South America and India into a cohesive and unique set of music.
I'm also really excited to be part of a great double bill April 24 at the Brooklyn Launchpad.  I'll lead a quintet, with fellow Seattle transplant and Hipstones member Dylan Heaney on sax, Danny Fox on keys, Peter Brendler on bass and Alex Wyatt on drums.  Alex leads his sextet as the other half of the show.  I've heard his band a few times now, and it's some really great original music!

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Lots of great stuff happening this February...

I'll be mixing the upcoming Pannonia CD this month with Mike Perez-Cisneros, who also mixed Time Gels. One step at a time, this record project is moving towards completion... updates will of course be forthcoming.

Speaking of recording projects, The Hipstones are headed into the studio in the next couple months to record a new record. The new songs have been sounding great live, and I'm excited to be part of the new CD! If you have a moment to check it out, they're crowdfunding this record and can use help. Find out how here (http://www.thehipstones.com.au/) .

Also in the fundraising process, the Queens OverGround is putting on a jazz festival right here in Queens this April. Who knew, apparently putting on a festival is expensive, especially since we're trying to make it a completely free event for the public! Read more about the organization here (http://www.queensjazz.org) . If you're in NYC, you can support us by coming to our midwinter Jazz Party Feb. 11 (see calendar for details). If you're out of town and want to contribute, there's a link on the QJOG website where you can make a tax-deductible donation.

Thanks for reading, and for your continued support!

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This January is one of those rare times when many of the projects I'm involved in all hit at the same time!  If you've read recent installments of my newsletter, you've heard me rave about the music of Sofia Rei & Pedro Giraudo.  Both are back in action this month - Sofia's band will be playing as part of an APAP showcase concert at the Zinc Bar, featuring 4 great bands.  Pedro's band plays at the new Jazz Gallery space.  If you haven't heard either of these musicians' work yet, go check them out online, and then come hear us live!

Nico Soffiato and I have been curating a duo series called 2x3 for a few months now, and we're excited for this coming installment, at a new venue for us, the Firehouse Space in Brooklyn.  Joining us will be two more great duos - Aaron Shragge is a trumpet and shakuhachi player I befriended many years ago at the Banff Jazz Workshop, and he brings a duo with the great guitarist Ben Monder.  Rounding out the evening will be two fantastic musicians, Dan Blake on saxophone and Leo Genovese on piano, who luckily aren't on the road with Esperanza Spaulding at the moment, which means they can come play with us!  Rumor has it, they may have copies of their new CD there too...  As always with this series, each duo will perform a short set on the first half of the evening, followed by some inter-duo collaborations on the second half.  Really looking forward to this one!

The Hipstones & Nathan Parker Smith Large Ensemble are also back in action this month.  Anthea & Mark (of the Hipstones) have been writing some really beautiful new music, and the band is sounding great!  And Nathan's band is a seriously good time - think big band meets math metal. Or something like that - it's hard, loud and fun, and the band is full of great players.

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Two great shows added for this coming weekend. This Saturday, Nico and I will appear as one of 4 duos in a new series, "Douglass Duos", curated by Jorge Roeder. We're excited to appear with some great musicians, including Julian Lage, Sofia Rei, Shai Maestro, Camila Meza and, of course, the great Jorge Roeder.

Then on Monday, I'll be playing with a great all-Queens based band led by bassist Bob Gingery, also featuring Mike Baggetta & Alex Wyatt. We'll be at the LIC Bar from 8-9.

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I'm happy to report that last month's Italy tour with guitarist Nico Soffiato was a great success!  In addition to 4 shows and a clinic with the duo, we also added some fantastic Italian musicians for one quartet and one trio show.  All the concerts were extremely well received, and the musicians were extremely well fed.

And now, back to December in New York...
Tonight we celebrate the release of Sofia Rei's fantastic new CD "De Tierra y Oro" (Of Earth and Gold).

Also this month, a couple more shows I'm really looking forward to.  Dec. 17, the Queens Jazz OverGround gets together with our Brooklyn brethren, the Brooklyn Jazz Underground, for a one day jazz fest at the Shapeshifter Lab, a great new Brooklyn venue.  Then, my band Pannonia is back at the Queens Kickshaw, fresh off of our studio recording, it will be fun to play live again.

Hope to see you at one of the shows if you're in New York, and if not, have a fantastic holiday season!

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Getting geared up for another trip out west... looking forward to teaching at the University of Oregon Jazz Camp in Eugene, followed by shows in Eugene and Seattle, with a new configuration of my quintet. Both with feature a frontline of myself and trombonist Dave Glenn, as well as some of the northwest's finest rhythm section players. We'll pay tribute to the late great trombonist/composer Bob Brookmeyer, and unveil some new pieces of mine.

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Many updates to the website! Check out the new Duo and Pannonia pages, as well as my updated Teaching page. Also, check out this new organization I'm proud to be a part of, the Queens Jazz Overground - a collective of some great Queens-based jazz musicians. We just had a fantastic launch party last week - stay tuned for more about this.

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May is full of exciting shows... Nico Soffiato and I kick off a new series we're curating, called "2 x 3", where we'll invite two other duos to join us for mini-sets & inter-duo collaborations. Our first two happen this month (May 4 @ The Launchpad, and May 12 @ IBeam)

Pannonia will be appearing at the Cornelia St. Cafe Wednesday, May 16. The band is sounding great, and this will be a great venue for it! More shows & details on the Calendar page...

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Getting geared up for a trip to the Pacific Northwest, with fun shows coming up in Seattle (Tues Apr 17 @ The Royal Room) & Portland (Thurs Apr 12 @ Ivories).

Nice write-up about the Seattle show in The Stranger - we're one of the picks of the month! (Nice to be listed right underneath McCoy Tyner)

http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/some-of-that-jazz/Content?oid=13185436

New videos are up of the latest Pannonia show in Brooklyn. Here's a taste...

More videos on the Pannonia page

Lots of shows coming up in the next few months...

Pannonia will be playing in Brooklyn (March 5) and Queens (April 27), and the Josh Deutsch / Nico Soffiato Duo kicks off a new series featuring collaborations with other duo projects in May.

In April, I'll be headed back to the Northwest, with shows in Seattle, Portland and Eugene, playing with some of my favorite West Coast musicians. Check the calendar page for all the details...

5.28.11

Recectly returned from a very successful CD release tour on the West Coast, with the Josh Deutsch / Nico Soffiato Duo. The CD is available now from CDBaby, and will be up on iTunes shortly...

April and May are full of exciting events!

Coming up April 27th, I'm rolling out a new set of music for my new band "Pannonia" with trumpet, violin, trombone, bass & percussion. Then in May, I'll be heading out West with Nico Soffiato for a West Coast CD release tour! Our new album, TIME GELS, has been mastered, and is in the production process, and will be available online and in person at our shows in Seattle, Eugene, Mt. Shasta and Oakland. Check the Calendar page for details...

1 week to go in the Josh Deutsch / Nico Soffiato Rockethub CD campaign... Thanks to all who've supported us so far! We're 70% of the way to our goal at this point. Find out how to contribute HERE.

Here's an interview with Nico and I about our project: http://blog.rockethub.com/crowdfunding-a-jazz-album-behind-the-scenes-w-0

Coming up next week are a couple fun shows, one with the PanAmericana Big Band at the Tea Lounge in Park Slope, and one with a new incarnation of my quintet at the University of the Streets in the East Village. Check the Calendar page for details...

Nico Soffiato & I have launced a project on ROCKETHUB, which is a "crowdfunding" website, where we're working towards a new record with the support of our friends and fans. Check out the introductory video on the page, and please consider supporting our project! We're offering all sorts of fun gifts if you do...

Lots of shows coming up, including 2 duo shows in late September and early October, & two quintet shows in October, including once on the fall FONT festival. Check the calendar page for details...

Soon after I get back to NYC, the Nico Soffiato/Josh Deutsch duo kicks into high gear, with 3 shows coming up in June - Check the calendar page for details.