Roy Nathanson

Roy Nathanson, a New York–based multi-reedist, helped establish the Jazz Passengers, appears regularly with Matt Darriau’s Paradox Trio, and formerly belonged to John Lurie’s Lounge Lizards. His saxophone studies took place under Jimmy Heath, Joe Allard, and Les Scott, while his acting training came from Mira Rostova. Film roles include work with directors Jim Jarmusch, Chantal Akerman, and Elaine May, plus a featured part in Peter Lilenthal’s children’s movie Wasserman. Nathanson entered the Lounge Lizards in 1986; the next year he and Curtis Fowlkes launched the Jazz Passengers, for which he remains the principal composer. He also directs the Roy Nathanson Quartet, drawing on the Passengers’ rhythm section, and sustains a continuing duo with keyboardist Anthony Coleman that has toured the U.S. and Europe. Earlier sideman credits beyond the Lounge Lizards encompass Mark Ribot’s Cosmopolitans, Charles Earland, and the Shirelles. Two Meet the Composer grants supported a children’s project that led him to co-write material with students at a Queens school where he served as Artist Consultant for Instrumental Music; those third- through fifth-graders later sang as the choir on “Dreams of Someday.” During a five-year term as Annenberg Fellow at another Queens public school, Nathanson offered private lessons, conducted workshops, gave guest lectures, and developed programs linking American history to music and math.