About

“Brainy, with a heart.”
— Jazz Weekly

Award-winning saxophonist, composer, arranger, and producer Andrew Van Tassel is an emerging voice on the contemporary jazz scene.

Van Tassel studied with Jerry Bergonzi, Miguel Zenón Donny McCaslin, John McNeil, and Jason Moran at the New England Conservatory of Music, as well as Jacam Manricks at the Manhattan School of Music, and myriad other notable jazz artists including Taylor Eigsti and Bruce Williams. He has since collaborated with artists including the GRAMMY-nominated Terraza Big Band and Michael Mayo.

In 2025, he won the 7 Virtual Jazz Club Competition and the Unsigned Only Music Competition, and his work as a composer has been recognized by ASCAP and the International Songwriting Competition on multiple occasions.

His second album as a bandleader, Shape-Shifter, was released by Brooklyn Jazz Underground Records in 2021 and explored the intersection of contemporary jazz and live electronics. His previous album, It’s Where You Are, was released by Tone Rogue Records and received international critical praise, including being named among the year’s Top 10 releases by multiple publications.

An active performer and sideman, Van Tassel has performed and recorded with artists across jazz, rock, hip-hop, and electronic music. As a leader, he has appeared at venues including Rockwood Music Hall, Berlin Jazz Club, ShapeShifter Lab, Cornelia Street Café, the Bar Next Door, as well as festivals and concert stages across the United States.

As an educator, Van Tassel most recently served as Lecturer in Jazz Saxophone at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has also worked as a guest artist and clinician at universities across the country.

“A hybrid of traditional and contemporary… plenty of both but all of neither.”
— The Jazz Writer

Press

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