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Jeff Arnal (b. 1971)

Biography • Press • Discography • Sounds

Biography "Percussionist Jeff Arnal's balletic sense of time and imaginative deployment of colour have combined into a highly original concept" The Wire Inspired by punk and the spirit of the DIY movement in the early 80's - Jeff began playing drums in garage bands at the age of 13 in his hometown of Lilburn, GA. He moved to Baltimore, MD in 1991 to study orchestral percussion at Peabody Conservatory. From 1993-1996, Arnal studied composition and contemporary music with Stuart Saunders Smith. It was during this time that he began performing improvised music, pulling from his interests in new music, jazz and rock - setting into motion a lifelong journey investigating sound, percussion and improvisation as composition. This new direction brought Arnal to Bennington College to study music with visionary-percussionist Milford Graves. From 1997-2000, he had the profound experience of playing with Charles Gayle - the culmination of this work led to a series of duo concerts at Tonic in NYC. Between 2000-2012, Jeff was based in NYC. He has performed and collaborated with a wide range of musicians and choreographers throughout the U.S. and Europe with appearances at: Ausland (Berlin), Berlin Exploratorium, deSingel (Antwerp), Festival of Music & Literature (Paris), German Nordwestradio - NDR (Bremen), Hallwalls (Buffalo NY), Music at the Anthology (NYC), Music Gallery (Toronto), Roulette (NYC), and Vision Festival XIII (NYC). His collaborations with choreographers have been produced at PS 122, Joyce SoHo, Danspace Project at St. Mark's Church, The Chocolate Factory and Judson Church. He has received grants and fellowships from ASCAP, Brooklyn Arts Council, Meet the Composer and Art Omi International. In 2010, he was endorsed by Istanbul Agop cymbals. His music can be heard on a number of independent record labels. 2011 releases include: Silver Ash 7" with Aaron Dugan & Casey Block + Pail Bug with Astrid Weins, John Hughes & Dietrich Eichmann. Arnal has been active as a curator of music, dance and multimedia events in the NYC music community. From 2001-2006 he was Co-Artistic Director of Improvised and Otherwise, an annual experimental music and dance festival in Brooklyn, NY. Jeff also served as curator of On The Way Out, a monthly music series he founded in 2003. Currently Jeff is a Senior Program Specialist at The Philadelphia Music Project, a program of The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage. Arnal holds a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies: Music Composition and Filmmaking from the University of Maryland and an MFA in Music from Bennington College.

Selected Press "Someone to be reckoned with on either side of the Atlantic" Ken Waxman, Jazz Word "Jeff Arnal's percussion is immensely righteous, like some spirit dancing freely on the flames of a fire." Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG "Arnal dances on his percussion, playing highly subtle, speedy and multicolored patterns, with great virtuosity and refinement." DM, Vital Weekly MEJA: "Eschewing bombast and grandstanding, percussionist Michael Evans and Jeff Arnal are sympathetically matched in their sensibilities... two drummers create one full and balanced meal." David Greenberger, Signal to Noise Mogami with Ryan Smith: "This is an oddity deserved of the "believe It Or Not" category. It's very simple in execution, but quite complicated in the aural identification department... This is so good, that once you really get into the recording, it's like living a whole new life." C.H.C, Neozine

Press Links

All About Jazz - 12/2011 Silver Ash review by Glenn Astarita Squid's Ear - 12/2011 Silver Ash review by Marc Medwin Furthernoise - 10/2011 Silver Ash + Pail Bug review by Derek Morton The Wire - 1/2010 Generate Records review in by Philip Clark All About Jazz - New York - 8/2009 article about Generate Records by Marc Medwin Jeff Arnal : CD Roundup - One Final Note 2005 by Ryan McDermott

Selected Discography

• (2011) Pail Bug with Dietrich Eichmann, John Hughes, Astrid Weins (CD) - Generate • (2011) Silver Ash with Aaron Dugan, Casey Block (7") - Generate • (2009) Brooklyn Mantra with Ernesto Diaz-Infante (7") - Generate • (2009) Quadrologues with Seth Misterka, Nate Wooley, Reuben Radding (CD) - Clean Feed • (2009) Dog Day with Aaron Dugan (CD) - C3R • (2007) Live in Hamburg with Dietrich Eichmann (LP) - Broken Research • (2006) Rogue States with Gordon Beeferman (CD) - Generate • (2006) MEJA with Michael Evans (CD) - C3R • (2006) Looking in My Ear with Lars Scherzberg, John Hughes (CD) - Creative Sources • (2006) Transit with Seth Misterka, Nate Wooley, Reuben Radding (CD) - Clean Feed • (2004) Red with Seth Misterka, Chris Dahlgren (3" CD) - Generate • (2004) Mogami with Ryan Smith (CD) - Public Eyesore • (2004) Rara Avis with Seth Misterka, Gordon Beeferman (CD) - Generate • (2004) The Temperature Dropped Again with Dietrich Eichmann (CD) - Leo • (2002) Tripwire with Lars Scherzberg, John Hughes (CD) - Generate • (2002) Focus Quintet with Anita Dechellis, Chris Forsyth, Dan Dechellis (CD) - Sachimay • (2001) Spy Satellite with John Dierker, Jonathan Vincent (CD) - Generate • (2001) Top Floor Encounter with Lars Scherzberg, John Hughes (CD) Oaksmus • (2001) Bodies of Water with Gordon Beeferman (CD) - Generate • (2001) Badlands with Blaise Siwula, Vattel Cherry (CD) - Cadence Jazz • (2000) Red Room with John Dierker (CDr) - Generate • (1999) Generations Duo with Philip Wofford (CDr)

Sounds

Pail Bug gen 18

Fifth Pail - excerpt (1:11)

Silver Ash gen 17

Furthernoise bonus track - October 2011

Untitled (4:23)

Live on WFMU - June 20, 2011

Lifeboat / Intermission (9:22)

John Dierker / Gordon Beeferman / Jeff Arnal

Wombat - 2008 (5:58)

Vision Festival 13 (7:19)

Ernesto Diaz-Infante / Jeff Arnal gen 15

Brooklyn Mantra part 2 (5:54)

Rara Avis gen 09

Conspirators (6:12)

Mogami

816 Bees (4:46)

On the Way Out gen 04

Yucatán (3:06)

Tripwire gen 07

Phenomorphic Festival - Hamburg 11/13/04 (1:41)

Spy Satellite  gen 06

Getaway Car (4:25)

Quartet with John Hughes: bass - Knitting Factory 2 /97 (excerpt)

Quintet with John Hughes: bass and Mike Cerri: trumpet - UMBC 11/95 (excerpt)

Cover art / photo credits: JA - Matt Schulz; JA - Tom Greenland;
Silver Ash - Amy Carrigan; Brooklyn Mantra - Ilona Sturm;
Rara Avis - Ben McCoy; mogami - Mark Bouthilette;
Spy Satellite - Michelle Lolli