Award winning Pianist/Arranger/Composer Andy Nevala is based in Denver, CO. He has been recognized by Downbeat Magazine on 9 different occasions, winning Downbeat Music Awards for composition (2002), arranging (2003), and performing/directing (2000, 2000, 2002). He moved to Colorado in 1997 after graduating from Boise State University to pursue graduate studies in music. He completed a Master of Music in Theory and Composition from UNC in 2000, and is currently completing a Doctorate in Jazz Piano Performance from the University of Colorado, Boulder. His newest CD, "Alone Together", was released September 18th, 2007, and is on the Capri Label. The CD is available at HMV, CD Universe, Artist Direct, Emusic, Itunes, and Capri Records, among others. He has toured Canada, Europe, Japan, South America, and has performed in every state in the US except Alaska and Hawaii. He has most recently performed with vocalist Steve Lippia and guitarist Eddie Turner, nominated in the 2006 Blues Music Awards as "Best New Artist". Andy has been a featured artist at the Calgary C-Jazz Festival (2007), the Gene Harris Jazz Festival (2003, 2008), and the Kinser Jazz Festival (2007), and has performed as a sideman at the JVC Jazz Festival in NYC (Birdland), the Ottawa Blues Fest, the WDR in Bonn, Germany, the Berlin Blues Fest, the Aspen Jazz Festival, the Telluride Jazz Festival, the Vienna Blues Fest (Austria), and has also completed 2 tours with the Glenn Miller Orchestra. While at UNC he directed and performed in Combo's I and II, winning downbeat awards for Outstanding Performance by a College Combo and Best Blues/Pop/Rock Group winner, respectively. He also performed in the award winning Jazz Lab I, under the direction of Dr. Gene Aitkin, and was a featured soloist on the UNC Jazz Program recording "Gene Aitkin directs UNC Jazz Lab Band I - Alive XVII", playing piano and Hammond B-3. At UNC he performed with Conrad Hertwig, Brian Lynch, Louis Bellson, Peter Erskine, and Pete Fountain, as well as opened for Kurt Elling, Russell Malone, Poncho Sanchez and McCoy Tyner. While at the University of Colorado, Boulder, he performed in Jazz Ensemble I and Combo I, winning downbeat awards for Outstanding Performance Original Song, Jazz Arrangement Co-Winner, Outstanding Group (Combo I) and Outstanding Jazz Ensemble (CU JazzEnsemble I). He also directed Combo's IV+III, Jazz Ensemble II, and taught the Jazz Piano class. At CU, he performed with Chris Potter, Jiggs Whigam, and James Carter. Andy has also been commission to arrange for the Glenn Miller Orchestra, the Denver Brass, the Steve Lippia Big Band, Conjunto Colores, his own groups, and has recorded on over 20 CD’s released in the US, Japan, and South America. His current groups have performed live on KUVO (89.3 FM), and have been on the most recent compilation cd’s released by KUVO, “Live at the Oasis”.

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