Jeff Oster (version 2)

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Meta in MA (talk | contribs) at 01:52, 7 January 2019 (Attempting to make article appear to be less promotional.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

  • Comment: Still reads more promotional then encylopedic presentation. Remember to include notable stuff only, we aren't the News. I think the subject is notable and if article is changed could be a worthy inclusion. Hell in a Bucket (talk) 00:26, 6 January 2019 (UTC)
  • Comment: There are still concerns as to his notability at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Jeff Oster. The Independent Music Award (Music Resource Group) doesn't appear to be that notable (I could not revive that article). FLOW did get a grammy but that would be more towards notability for that band. AngusWOOF (bark • sniff) 17:21, 16 December 2018 (UTC)

Jeff Oster is an American musician who specializes in trumpet and flugelhorn in New Age music genre. He is a member of the four-piece band Flow. Oster's style has been described as "Miles Davis meets Pink Floyd."[1] He is three-time winner of the Independent Music Awards[2][3][4] and ten-time winner of the Zone Music Reporter Awards (formerly NAR LifeStyle Music Awards).[5][6][7][7][8] He was featured on the Laura Sullivan's Grammy Award- winning album Love's River.[9][10] FLOW's debut album reached number 4 on the Billboard New Age Albums Chart in 2017.

Jeff Oster
Jeff Oster
Jeff Oster
Background information
Birth nameJeffrey Oster
Born1957
Danville, Illinois, US
GenresJazz, New Age, Ambient, Funk
Occupation(s)Musician, composer, producer, financial advisor
Instrument(s)Trumpet, flugelhorn
Years active2003-present
LabelsRetso; Artist Garage
Websitehttp://jeffoster.com/

Early life

Oster grew up in Highland Park, Illinois. After several moves, he attended Coral Gables High School in Florida, and was a member of their marching band "Cavaliers Band of Distinction"[11][12] The band's director William Ledue was influential in his formation as a trumpeter and got him his first job playing "Taps" at the funeral of a veteran.[12] In 1978, at age 19, Oster discovered Chuck Mangione's album "Feels So Good" which led him to order a Yamaha Flugelhorn that he still plays today.[12]

After high school through 1987 Oster performed with a variety of acts including three piece power rock trio in Miami, Los Angeles and performed in big bands and as a horn player with R&B bands, and a casino lounge band that toured Vegas, Lake Tahoe, and Atlantic City.[12]

During this time, Oster wrote singer/songwriter music and unsuccessfully tried to get them covered by other artists. After struggling ten years living in Los Angeles he decided turned to writing original music. In 1987, at the recommendation of a friend, Oster passed his Series 7 exam, became a financial advisor,[13] and decided to save enough money to hire professionals to record his music.[12]  

New Age transition

By 2003, Oster started writing instrumental horn music when he purchased a personal computer with music creation software on it. After uploading performances of that music to MP3.com, he found that four songs were downloaded at a rate of 40,000 per month and were on the website’s Top Ten Downloads list.[13]

Oster connected with Will Ackerman, the founder of Windham Hill Records, an artist Oster had been listening to and playing along with since 1979. In late 2003, Oster and Ackerman recorded four of these tracks on his debut extended play (EP) album AT LAST. The title song from AT LAST won the Best New Age Song award at the 5th Annual Independent Music Awards in 2006.[13][2]

Oster and Ackerman added five more songs to the mix and released Oster's first full length album titled RELEASED in 2005 which garnered the 2005 Album of the Year and Best Contemporary Instrumental Album awards at the NAR Lifestyle Music Awards, voted on by broadcasters.[6]

Continuing musical career

In 2007 Oster teamed up again with Ackerman on TRUE. The first track of the album, Saturn Calling, won the 7th Annual Independent Music Awards' Best New Age Song in 2008.[4][3][2] The album also won the Album of the Year and Best Contemporary Instrumental Album awards at the NAR Lifestyle Music Awards.[5][14]

Oster's SURRENDER album, released in 2011, garnered him Zone Music Reporter's Album of the Year and Best Chill/Groove Album awards.[7][15] The Echoes' staff selected the album for their 25 Essential CDs for 2011.[16]

In 2015 Oster released his album next. It received Zone Music Reporter's Album of the Year and Best Chill/Groove Album awards[17][18]

In 2016, Oster also released Jeff Oster LIVE! from performances at The Fenix in San Rafael.[19]

In 2018 Oster released REACH.[20][21]

Collaborations

NASA

In 2007, Oster took the sound rendering of data collected by the Cassini spacecraft's radio and plasma wave science instruments as the basis for the song "Saturn Calling" which appeared as the first track on his album "TRUE." The song received the Best New Age Song award at 7th Annual Independent Music Awards in 2008.[22][2]

Blue Eternity

Oster also performs with Michael Manring (founder of the group Montreux) and Carl Weingarten (a founding member of the progressive rock group, Delay Tactics) in a group called Blue Eternity.[23][24] They perform at venues such as the Fujitsu Planetarium at De Anza College in Cupertino, CA.[25]

Laura Sullivan

In 2012, Oster was a featured artist on two tracks of Laura Sullivan's Grammy Award winning album Love's River.[9][10] [26]

Pete Seeger

In 2013, Oster and other artists wrote and performed music on Pete Seeger's spoken word album Pete Seeger: The Storm King; Stories, Narratives, Poems, which was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album,[27][28] and was the last album Seeger released before his death.

FLOW

In 2015, guitarist Lawrence Blatt invited pianist Fiona Joy Hawkins and Oster to record with him at William Ackerman’s Imaginary Road Studios to create an album emblematic of past iconic Windham Hill ensembles, with Ackerman and Tom Eaton serving as co-producers. Once the trio began recording, it became clear that Ackerman could be an essential part of this group as an artist as well as producer. The group was launched as a four-piece group when Ackerman agreed to take a more foundational role. The band's name is an anagram of the initials of their names.

Flow has one self-titled album which was released on October 6, 2017. The album was #4 in Billboard's New Age Album chart on October 28.[29] The album received the ‘New Age Album of the Year’ at the 16th Annual Independent Music Awards show at New York City's Lincoln Center on April 3, 2018. It held the #1 position on the ZoneMusicReporter's (ZMR) Top 100 Radio Airplay Chart for two months, was nominated for and won two ZMR awards, ’Album of the Year’ and ‘Best Contemporary Instrumental Album’, at 14th Annual ZMR Awards show on May 12, 2018 at Loyola University's Roussel Hall in New Orleans.[8]

Deepak Chopra

In 2017, Deepak Chopra, a prominent figure in the New Age movement, together with Kabir Sehgal and Paul Avgerinos published a book on the core values that the United States has represented as a destination for those who sought a new life and freedom to thrive. The book, titled "Home: Where Everyone is Welcome," featured 34 poems and was accompanied by a CD of twelve songs inspired by immigrants cultural contribution to the United States.[30] Along with Chopra, Sehgal, and Avgerinos, Oster and Ackerman co-produced the CD with Oster performing on three tracks.[31]

Departure

In 2018, Oster began performing with FLOW's co-producer Tom Eaton and guitarist Vin Downes in a group they named Departure[32] and appeared on an Echoes streaming "living room concert." One of the songs performed in the streaming concert appears on Echoes album, Victoria Place: Echoes Live 23.[33] Departure has also performed at the 1867 Sanctuary Arts & Culture Center in Ewing, NJ.[34]

Influences & Style

Oster has said "As I've grown, I've been inspired by Bill Chase, and Herb Alpert, and Miles Davis and Chris Botti, along with Steely Dan, Pink Floyd, Will Ackerman, Yes, U2, and today by artists such as Kendrick Lamar."[1]

Oster's style has been often described as "Miles Davis meets Pink Floyd"[1] or "Miles Davis meets Enya."[35] Middle Tennessee Music explained it as "This music is a top shelf blend of ambient jazz and funk with the sweetest Horn tones you’ll find this side of the big pond…probably on the other side, too!...Soothing frequencies, ambient atmospheres, and master musicianship combine to form the ultimate configuration of funk grooves and soulful, jazzy vibes."[36]

Financial services career

Oster has been working in financial services. From 1988 to 1994 he worked with Independent Advantage Financial where he became a senior vice president and national sales manager.[37] From 1994 to 1997, he worked with Prudential Securities as a senior vice president in investments, and since then has served as a Registered Principal and Branch Manager of Raymond James Financial.[37]

Discography

  • AT LAST (EP, 2004)
  • RELEASED (2005)
  • TRUE (2007)
  • SURRENDER (2011)
  • next (2015)
  • Jeff Oster LIVE! (2016)
  • REACH (2018)

References

  1. ^ a b c Jazz, All About. "Take Five with Jeff Oster". All About Jazz. Retrieved 2018-11-24.
  2. ^ a b c d "Past IMA Programs - Independent Music Awards". Independent Music Awards. Retrieved 2018-11-26.
  3. ^ a b Director, Promotions (2007-12-18). "The Capstone's Connections: Indepedent Music Awards winners". The Capstone's Connections. Retrieved 2018-11-26.
  4. ^ a b "Review of the Album "Next" by Jeff Oster". GAIA Prime Internet Radio. 2015-07-24. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
  5. ^ a b "NAR 2007 Lifestyle Music Award Winners". www.zonemusicreporter.com. Retrieved 2018-11-24.
  6. ^ a b "NAR 2005 LifeStyle Music Award Winners". www.zonemusicreporter.com. Retrieved 2018-11-26.
  7. ^ a b c "2011 ZMR Music Award Winners". www.zonemusicreporter.com. Retrieved 2018-11-26.
  8. ^ a b "2017 ZMR Music Award Winners". www.zonemusicreporter.com. Retrieved 2018-12-01.
  9. ^ a b "Search Results for laura sullivan". GRAMMY.com. Retrieved 2018-12-01.
  10. ^ a b "Pianist Laura Sullivan - Love's River". www.newagemusicworld.com. Retrieved 2018-12-01.
  11. ^ "PressReader.com - Connecting People Through News". www.pressreader.com. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
  12. ^ a b c d e "Ambient Visions Presents an Interview with Jeff Oster". www.ambientvisions.com. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
  13. ^ a b c "Leader of the Band | ThinkAdvisor". ThinkAdvisor. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
  14. ^ "New Age/Ambient/World Music Reviews". zonemusicreporter.com. Retrieved 2018-11-26.
  15. ^ "Jeff Oster's Surrender now released". www.newagemusicworld.com. Retrieved 2018-11-24.
  16. ^ "25 Essential Echoes CDs for 2011". Echoes. 2011-12-06. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
  17. ^ "2015 ZMR Music Award Winners". www.zonemusicreporter.com. Retrieved 2018-11-24.
  18. ^ "VICE Exclusive: Can We All Please Calm Down and Just Listen to Some New Age Jazz for Once?". Vice. 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2018-11-24.
  19. ^ "Jeff Oster Live! by Jeff Oster". Music and Media Focus. 2016-09-09. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
  20. ^ "JEFF OSTER - "Reach" - JazzMonthly.com". www.jazzmonthly.com. 2018-09-18. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
  21. ^ "JEFF OSTER, Reach | Home | Jonathan Widran Reviews www.jonathanwidran.com". Home | Jonathan Widran Reviews www.jonathanwidran.com. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
  22. ^ . "All That Cassini Jazz: Musician Uses Saturn's True Voice to Make Beautiful Music – Solar System Exploration: NASA Science". Solar System Exploration: NASA Science. Retrieved 2018-11-23. {{cite news}}: |last= has numeric name (help)
  23. ^ "Oster/Manring/Weingarten in Echoes Living Room". Echoes. 2012-01-04. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
  24. ^ "CD/DVD Reviews". www.mwe3.com. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
  25. ^ eMinor. "Show at BLUE ETERNITY - Live at Fujitsu Planetarium". ReverbNation. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
  26. ^ "Love's River by Laura Sullivan". Music and Media Focus. 2013-01-05. Retrieved 2018-12-01.
  27. ^ "Pete Seeger". GRAMMY.com. 2018-05-22. Retrieved 2018-12-01.
  28. ^ "Disk 1 | Pete Seeger: The Storm King". www.peteseegerthestormking.com. Retrieved 2018-12-01.
  29. ^ "New Age Music: Top New Age Albums Chart". Billboard. Retrieved 2018-12-01.
  30. ^ "| At Home with Deepak Chopra and FriendsThe Guitar". The Guitar. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
  31. ^ "Home - Where Everyone Is Welcome - New Age Music Guide". New Age Music Guide. 2017-07-31. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
  32. ^ "Ambient Visions Presents an Interview with Vin Downes". www.ambientvisions.com. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
  33. ^ "Departure Concert Streaming on Echoes". Echoes. 2018-08-07. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
  34. ^ "Vin Downes, Tom Eaton & Jeff OsterSaturday, October 7 — 8:00 PM | 1867 Sanctuary Featured Events". 1867sanctuary.org. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
  35. ^ "CD/DVD Reviews". www.mwe3.com. Retrieved 2018-11-24.
  36. ^ "Jeff Oster's New Age Ambient Funk – Listen To The Horn". Middle Tennessee Music.com. 2015-09-15. Retrieved 2018-11-24.
  37. ^ a b "About Us | Bio - Jeffrey Oster". Raymond James Financial. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
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