"Jazz is an indigenous American art form, but it is also a thoroughly global enterprise. And few of the music's practitioners embody its universality more completely than saxophonist Uri Gurvich" DOWNBEAT

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Uri Gurvich is a composer, saxophonist and educator who pairs improvised music with the global sounds of the Middle East, North Africa, Eastern Europe, and South America. Based in New York City since 2005, Gurvich won acclaim as a bandleader with his albums, The Storyteller and BabEl, released on John Zorn’s label, Tzadik, and featuring some of the most prominent voices on the contemporary jazz scene: Argentinian pianist Leo Genovese, Bulgarian bassist Peter Slavov, Cuban drummer Francisco Mela. All Music Guide called Gurvich “a major new voice in jazz,” while The Los Angeles Times wrote that his music “transcends borders.” His third album, KINSHIP, was released on the French label, Jazz Family, and premiered at Jazz at Lincoln Center.

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Gurvich and his quartet have performed at premier venues in the U.S. such as the Village Vanguard, Town Hall, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Atlanta Jazz Festival, Burlington Jazz Festival, and The Stone. He also performs regularly in Europe and South America with his own projects and with the World Citizen Band. Currently, Gurvich is working on a new large-scale project featuring the critically acclaimed Bergamot String Quartet alongside his jazz quartet.  ​

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Gurvich has shared the stage and recorded with such artists as: Grammy winner - Esperanza Spalding, John Zorn, Billy Cobham, Mingus Big Band, Lionel Loueke, Chris Potter, Dave Liebman, Elio Villafranca, Ben Monder, George Garzone, Alon Yavnai, Avishai Cohen, Jorge Rossy, Paquito D'Rivera, Uri Caine, Anat Cohen and Django Bates among others.

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EDUCATION - 

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Uri Gurvich is a faculty member at The New School University - College of Performing Arts. He holds a B.M. from Berklee College of Music and a M.M. from The New School University.

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Gurvich was a guest lecturer and clinician at Berklee College of Music, The Danish Royal Academy of Music, Cornell University, Ithaca College, Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, TAI University (Madrid, Spain), Conservatorio Superior de Musica (Valencia, Spain), Universidad De Las Américas (Quito, Ecuador), Rimon School of Music (Tel Aviv, Israel) and Koyo School of Music and Dance (Kobe, Japan). 

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