Josh Lawrence
Trumpeter, composer, bandleader, and educator living in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City.
Lawrence hails from Philadelphia, where he is currently on faculty at the University of the Arts, Drexel University, and the Kimmel Center Creative Music Program and sits on the board of the Lancaster Ave Jazz and Arts Festival. He has three solo albums under his name, has recorded as a sideman with Erykah Badu & Boyz II Men, and performs with pianist Orrin Evans’ Captain Black Big Band, bassist Anthony Tidd’s PACT, the George Gee Swing Orchestra, saxophonist Bobby Zankel & the Warriors of the Wonderful Sound, guitarist Matt Davis’ Aerial Photograph, drummer Francois Zayas, and singers Laurin Talese & Venissa Santi.
With bassist Jason Fraticelli and drummer Anwar Marshall, Lawrence co-leads the Fresh Cut Orchestra, a burgeoning large ensemble from Philadelphia that started with a commission from Lenny Seidman of the fabled Painted Bride Art Center.
Lawrence hails from Philadelphia, where he is currently on faculty at the University of the Arts, Drexel University, and the Kimmel Center Creative Music Program and sits on the board of the Lancaster Ave Jazz and Arts Festival. He has three solo albums under his name, has recorded as a sideman with Erykah Badu & Boyz II Men, and performs with pianist Orrin Evans’ Captain Black Big Band, bassist Anthony Tidd’s PACT, the George Gee Swing Orchestra, saxophonist Bobby Zankel & the Warriors of the Wonderful Sound, guitarist Matt Davis’ Aerial Photograph, drummer Francois Zayas, and singers Laurin Talese & Venissa Santi.
With bassist Jason Fraticelli and drummer Anwar Marshall, Lawrence co-leads the Fresh Cut Orchestra, a burgeoning large ensemble from Philadelphia that started with a commission from Lenny Seidman of the fabled Painted Bride Art Center.
FCO’s debut release, From the Vine, features all original music, and has a "far-reaching, panoptic quality". Across nine tracks, the swarming and immersive From the Vine—released in 2015 on Ropeadope Records—fills your ears with a variety of textures. The album received Four Stars in Downbeat and the New York Times’ Ben Ratliff writes:
The Fresh Cut Orchestra is a new young 10-piece Philadelphia-jazz municipality, a little hard to define and very much worth looking into… there’s a range of music here that might broaden your context, from tight Ellingtonian ballads to squalling empathetic vamp tunes to post-rock and electronica. The group’s first record, From the Vine, is full of grooves, never dry.
They return to Ropeadope Records on August 26, 2016 with Mind Behind Closed Eyes, a highly varied collection of pieces from the three composers.
Lawrence's new solo project #ColorTheory showcases his original compositions for quintet with an upcoming recording featuring saxophonist Caleb Curtis, pianists Orrin Evans & Adam Faulk, bassist Madison Rast, and drummer Anwar Marshall.
The Fresh Cut Orchestra is a new young 10-piece Philadelphia-jazz municipality, a little hard to define and very much worth looking into… there’s a range of music here that might broaden your context, from tight Ellingtonian ballads to squalling empathetic vamp tunes to post-rock and electronica. The group’s first record, From the Vine, is full of grooves, never dry.
They return to Ropeadope Records on August 26, 2016 with Mind Behind Closed Eyes, a highly varied collection of pieces from the three composers.
Lawrence's new solo project #ColorTheory showcases his original compositions for quintet with an upcoming recording featuring saxophonist Caleb Curtis, pianists Orrin Evans & Adam Faulk, bassist Madison Rast, and drummer Anwar Marshall.
Other recent work has included a residency at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia, scoring the Big Sky Award-winning documentary Love & Terror on the Howling Plains of Nowhere by director Dave Jannetta, performances w/ Rudresh Mahanthappa, Jaleel Shaw, and Don Byron, and completion of his five-movement Harlem Suite composed for the Captain Black Big Band’s Musical Tribute to Thomas Hart Benton presented by Revive Music in February 2015 at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Josh Lawrence plays a Yamaha trumpet (YTR6310Z) & flugelhorn (YFH-731) and is a Reunion Blues artist.