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Saxophonist and jazz scholar Loren Schoenberg was born on July 23, 1958 in Fairlawn, New Jersey. He began piano lessons at the age of three, learning simple scales from his mother. A year later, a neighborhood teacher took over teaching duties.
By the early '70s, an interest in old films from the '40s and '50s led Schoenberg to jazz music. He was especially taken with the music of Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw. He quickly began snatching up old 78s of classic jazz recordings and taking in jazz shows at local clubs in New Jersey, where he not only got to meet the jazz greats, but often was allowed to demonstrate his musical skills for them. Teddy Wilson and Hank Jones were just two of the jazz legends who became impressed by Schoenberg's abilities and interest in jazz and both agreed to give him some lessons. Wilson would later introduce the 14-year-old Schoenberg to his idol, Benny Goodman.
Schoenberg became increasingly involved in the New York jazz scene, volunteering at the now-defunct Jazz Museum in New York City and meeting more and more of his jazz idols. He also began working with radio station WBAI and produced several jazz programs for them.
At age 15, Schoenberg decided to take up the saxophone in addition to his regular piano studies with Sanford Gold. Schoenberg was eventually accepted to the Manhattan School of Music, where he began as a music theory major, with a minor in piano. A gig with Eddie Durham's Jazz Quartet put Schoenberg and his sax alongside the former Count Basie Band member as well as other legendary artists like Al Casey, Jo Jones and Roy Eldridge. After the experience of these gigs and two years into his Manhattan School education, Schoenberg switched his focus to the saxophone.
A lifelong fan of Benny Goodman and an emerging expert on jazz history, Schoenberg was tapped by Goodman to manage his archives. Schoenberg left the Manhattan school to pursue this new project, but continued playing, forming the repertory group, the Loren Schoenberg Big Band. Several years later, Goodman hired Schoenberg to be his personal and business manager. Upon the death of Goodman, Schoenberg found himself once again in charge of the late clarinetists' archives, this time working at Yale University.
Schoenberg continues to be a committed historian and custodian of jazz music and tradition. His articles have appeared in various publications including the New York Times, The Lester Young Reader, The Oxford Companion to Jazz, and Masters of the Jazz Saxophone. In the summer of 2002, Schoenberg's first book, The NPR Curious Listener's Guide to Jazz, was published by Perigee Books, with an introduction by Wynton Marsalis.
In 2002, Schoenberg was appointed Executive Director of a proposed National Jazz Museum in Harlem. He's currently still serving in that position, working to expand the museum's work and reach.
Check out this week's Piano Jazz Shorts: the Piano Jazz podcast.
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Set List for Loren Schoenberg on Piano Jazz:Supposin' (Denniker, Razaf)
Harlem Jazz Museum Blues (Schoenberg, McPartland, Mazzaroppi)
Medley: Close as Pages in a Book (Romberg/Fields) / Some Other Spring (Hertzog)
I'm Coming Home Virginia (Cook, Heywood)
Darn That Dream (Goodman, DeLange)
Prelude to a Kiss (Ellington, Gordon, Mills)
Topsy (Battle, Durham)
By the early '70s, an interest in old films from the '40s and '50s led Schoenberg to jazz music. He was especially taken with the music of Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw. He quickly began snatching up old 78s of classic jazz recordings and taking in jazz shows at local clubs in New Jersey, where he not only got to meet the jazz greats, but often was allowed to demonstrate his musical skills for them. Teddy Wilson and Hank Jones were just two of the jazz legends who became impressed by Schoenberg's abilities and interest in jazz and both agreed to give him some lessons. Wilson would later introduce the 14-year-old Schoenberg to his idol, Benny Goodman.
Schoenberg became increasingly involved in the New York jazz scene, volunteering at the now-defunct Jazz Museum in New York City and meeting more and more of his jazz idols. He also began working with radio station WBAI and produced several jazz programs for them.
At age 15, Schoenberg decided to take up the saxophone in addition to his regular piano studies with Sanford Gold. Schoenberg was eventually accepted to the Manhattan School of Music, where he began as a music theory major, with a minor in piano. A gig with Eddie Durham's Jazz Quartet put Schoenberg and his sax alongside the former Count Basie Band member as well as other legendary artists like Al Casey, Jo Jones and Roy Eldridge. After the experience of these gigs and two years into his Manhattan School education, Schoenberg switched his focus to the saxophone.
A lifelong fan of Benny Goodman and an emerging expert on jazz history, Schoenberg was tapped by Goodman to manage his archives. Schoenberg left the Manhattan school to pursue this new project, but continued playing, forming the repertory group, the Loren Schoenberg Big Band. Several years later, Goodman hired Schoenberg to be his personal and business manager. Upon the death of Goodman, Schoenberg found himself once again in charge of the late clarinetists' archives, this time working at Yale University.
Schoenberg continues to be a committed historian and custodian of jazz music and tradition. His articles have appeared in various publications including the New York Times, The Lester Young Reader, The Oxford Companion to Jazz, and Masters of the Jazz Saxophone. In the summer of 2002, Schoenberg's first book, The NPR Curious Listener's Guide to Jazz, was published by Perigee Books, with an introduction by Wynton Marsalis.
In 2002, Schoenberg was appointed Executive Director of a proposed National Jazz Museum in Harlem. He's currently still serving in that position, working to expand the museum's work and reach.
Check out this week's Piano Jazz Shorts: the Piano Jazz podcast.
Subscribe!
Set List for Loren Schoenberg on Piano Jazz: