For many years, trumpeter-vocalist Nate Birkey has been steadily honing his distinctive art form, that of making a “mainstream jazz” statement at once warm and creatively vibrant, true to tradition but also willing to break molds for a musical purpose. For nearly twenty years, the Colorado native was based in Santa Barbara, California, where he had studied at UC Santa Barbara after attending Berklee School of Music in Boston. But an eastward move to New York in 2005 has broadened Birkey’s horizons and deepened both his artistic resolve and his musical evolution.

            With the 2008 release of his fifth and latest album for the Santa Barbara-based Household Ink label, Almost Home, Birkey takes another step upward and outward, on his first recording made with his NYC-based group. Saxist Sal Giorgianni, pianist Jim Ridl, bassist Tony Marino and drummer Marko Marcinko (also the album’s co-producer, with Birkey) make up the core members of Birkey’s long-favored quintet format. Guests include guitarist Vic Juris, pianist Steve Rudolph, and Café on congas.

Deftly mixing standards tastefully delivered (Cole Porter’s “All of You” Michel Legrand’s “Little Boy Lost”), warm and imaginative originals in various genre leanings, and material from less-trodden sources—i.e. Willie Nelson’s “I’m Falling in Love,” and Ennio Morricone’s theme from Cinema Paradiso—the album continues Birkey’s engaging way with a song, as a fluid improviser and vocalist of understated grace. If there is a romantic tendency in Birkey’s music, with its unabashed nods to Chet Baker’s influence and an appreciation of Italianate beauty, as heard in Sandro Deidda’s opening tune, “Bianca,” Birkey keeps musicality and intelligence high, never settling for easy sentiment.                                                                                      

Almost Home is both an affirmation of where Birkey has been and a solid indicator of where he’s headed, as one of the more intriguing “new”—yet mature and self-aware--voices on the current jazz scene. His sound is timeless and timely, emotionally true and going places.

"Make way for Nate Birkey, a talented trumpeter / vocalist / composer who has been honing his talents in the Santa Barbara Jazz scene and is now getting the national exposure he deserves. Birkey's latest release, Shortest Day, recorded live in 2004, showcases his considerable gifts and puts him front and center among Jazz' most promising musicians." --Florence Wetzel, All About Jazz - New York

"Nate Birkey, he of mysterious charisma, subtle gossamer trumpet lines and understated voice, hunches over the microphone and leans into his phrases, shutting out the world." --Josef Woodard, Los Angeles Times

“All you have to do is look at his two current CDs, The Mennonite and the vocal driven Ballads, to see his affinity for Chet Baker. On both, the trumpeter strikes a pose musically and physically that is very Chet like. But the sounds are solid, and Birkey definitely deserves a place on the impressive list of trumpeters with a Denver connection.” –Norman Provizer, Rocky Mountain News

nate birkey quintet, christmas (2008)

 HI-143= $15 (postage paid) to buy

bio

Songs: 1. silent night  2. o tannenbaum  3. have yourself a merry little christmas mp3  4. we three kings  5. christmas time is here mp3  6. what are you doing new year's eve?  7. i'll be home for christmas  8. the christmas waltz mp3  9. hanukkah, oh hanukkah  10. i heard the bells on christmas day mp3

Musicians: Nate Birkey, trumpet, flugelhorn, vocals; Jim Ridl, piano; Steve Rudolph, piano; Tony Marino, bass; Marko Marcinko, drums; Vic Juris, guitar

nate birkey quintet, almost home (2008)

 HI-142= $15 (postage paid) to buy

Songs: 1. Bianca  2. All of You  3. Falling  4. I'm Falling in Love Again  5. The Promise  6. Little Boy Lost  7. Tuesdays on the Ridge  8. Sing to Me  9. Cinema Paradiso

Musicians: Nate Birkey, trumpet, flugelhorn, vocals; Sal Giorgiano, tenor sax; Jim Ridl, piano; Steve Rudolph, piano; Tony Marino, bass; Marko Marcinko, drums; Vic Juris, guitar

  nate birkey quintet, the mennonite 

   (CD) 2001, HI-128= $15 (postage paid)

1. The Fool in the Tree (Birkey) 2. Delirio (Birkey) 3. Penelope (Birkey) 4. Before She Goes Away (Birkey) 5. Northern Lights (Roney) 6. Hollow (Trotter) 7. Song Without Words (Birkey) 8. Prohibition (Trotter) 9. The Mennonite (Birkey) 10. What'll I Do? (Berlin)

Personnel: Nate Birkey, trumpet and vocals; Jamieson Trotter, keyboards; Cougar Estrada, drums; Jim Connolly, bass; also with Joe Woodard, guitar

  nate birkey Quintet, ballads

    (CD) 2001, HI-129= $15 (postage paid)

1. I'll Be Seeing You (Fain/Kahal) 2. Nature Boy (Ahbez) 3. For All We Know (Coots/Lewis) 4. Dreaming of Memphis (Birkey) 5. Hi Lili, Hi Lo (Deutsch/Kaper) 6. But Not For Me (Gershwin/Gershwin) 7. I'll Be Around (Wilder) 8. My Ship (Gershwin/Weill) 9. I Will Wait For You (Demy/Gimbel/Legrand) 10. You Don't Know What Love Is (DePaul/Raye)

Personnel: Nate Birkey, trumpet and vocals; Jamieson Trotter, keyboards; Cougar Estrada, drums; Jim Connolly, bass; also with Ruben Estrada, piano and vibraphone; Dan Zimmerman, electric guitar, Joe Woodard, guitar

     nate birkey quintet, indelibly you

     (CD) HI-122= $12 (postage paid)

"His biggest, boldest, most original statement as a musician yet."