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NATE BIRKEY
Nate Birkey--trumpet / vocals
Nate Birkey's quiet but intense demeanor typifies an artist restlessly pursuing the evolution of his own musical personality. As a composer, trumpeter, and vocalist, Nate Birkey imbues warmth and broiling energy into his music, as heard on his five recordings for Household Ink Records. Though a California resident from 1985 to 2004, Nate currently resides in New York City and has been performing, recording, and touring with his group, The Nate Birkey Quartet, which includes former Sonny Rollins pianist Mark Soskin, drummer Marko Marcinko, and bassist Tony Marino; the latter two are regulars with Dave Liebman.
Nate was born in South Bend, Indiana, where he spent his early childhood before moving to Colorado at age 10. He began studying piano at age six but then fell in love with the trumpet in the fifth grade after discovering his father’s old cornet in the closet. "It just felt more natural to me. I didn't mind practicing the trumpet, so I put the piano aside, joined the school band, and started taking trumpet lessons."
After graduating from Evergreen High School, he was accepted to the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston where he studied jazz performance and composition, and he later went on to study classical trumpet and composition at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Nate has recently received awards from the Santa Barbara Arts Fund and the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers. As a studio musician, he has appeared on over sixty different recordings and has performed with pianists Roger Kellaway, Eric Reed, and the Headhunters' drummer, Mike Clark. Nate has made television appearances on ABC’s Good Morning America and KTLA’s Morning Show, was a featured guest artist with the UCSB Jazz Ensemble in 2002, and has performed at such notable venues as Catalina Bar & Grill in Hollywood, Yoshi’s in Oakland, Dazzle Jazz Club in Denver, and Adagio Jazz Club in Savannah, GA.
Critics have compared Birkey's subtle vocal and trumpet approach to that of Chet Baker and Miles Davis respectively - a sound poised and assured, powerfully stark and spare, creating an atmosphere at once solitary and electric.
He has received critical praise in the Los Angeles Times, All About Jazz – New York, Cadence Magazine, Rocky Mountain News, Jazz Improv Magazine, Savannah Morning News, Santa Barbara Independent, S.B. News-Press, and other publications.