Teodross Avery

East African man or woman, Old Southern black man or woman, Monster, Western white man (cowboy), Preacher (black), Musician (young or old), West Indian Man (Jamaican), NY Hip Hop Rapper, Old Man (black or white), University Professor (black or white), British Man, NY Hustler, Robot's voice (Transformer), Inspector Gadget-ish, Chinese Karate guy, New Yorker (black or white), California guy's voice (black or white).

I have a been a professional musician for 20 years. This experience has given me a lead over others because I listen and make music with different sounds. This memory intensive tool is coupled with my ability to always imitate people, which I've done since I was 7 years old. I have recorded various interludes for music albums. I have pranked called hundreds of people from strangers to relatives and no one could ever tell it was me. People in the entertainment industry have constantly told me that I should pursue a career in voice-overs. Teodross ‘Teo’ Avery As a musician, Teodross “Teo” Avery epitomizes live music—best experienced front row, and full throttle. His commanding stage presence reflects his musical ingenuity and skill. With an outstanding pedigree, both professionally and academically, Teo is a young saxophonist to watch, as evidenced by many of today’s biggest names in music relying on his wide musical reach. Perhaps most exciting, Teo makes jazz relevant in today’s shifting musical landscape without ever compromising the musical integrity. As Teo conveys, “After working with such an eclectic group of artists, I’ve learned that there is a huge gap between popular music and jazz. My goal is to Bridge the Gap and connect different generations in a way that keeps jazz hip, current and relevant to young people.” While growing up in Oakland and Vacaville, California, Teo’s parents exposed him to a broad range of music including traditional African music, Soul, Rock, and Jazz. At ten, his father started him with classical guitar lessons. Jolted by the sound of John Coltrane’s ‘Giant Steps,’ Teo switched to the saxophone. As a testament to his young promise, the great Wynton Marsalis purchased a saxophone for him. Teo eventually won a full music scholarship at 17 to attend the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston. While at Berklee, renowned A&R exec, Carl Griffin of GRP/Impulse Records, heard of Teo’s new cutting edge sound and signed him at 19, stating, “I was so thoroughly impressed with his lyricism and writing talent”. In 1994, Teo launched his first album “In Other Words”, which was welcomed by critical acclaim, including a rave review in USA Today. Still an undergraduate, Teo was now feverishly in demand by the likes of Aretha Franklin and Ramsey Lewis. He balanced all of these demands and completed college while on the road in 1995. After graduating with a wealth of professional experience, Teo did what any other talented musician would do – he tackled New York City. He landed a performing role in the successful film Love Jones in 1995. He then launched his second album, “My Generation”, under the GRP/Impulse label, in 1996. He performed with the likes of Dee Dee Bridgewater, Roy Hargrove, Leela James, Roy Ayers, Mos Def, and the late great Betty Carter, among many other great musicians. Lauryn Hill requested him as a member of her sold-out world tour from 1998 to 1999. On the heel of the Lauryn Hill tour, Teo was invited in 2000 to tour with the mega-rock group, Matchbox Twenty. As a composer and producer, Teo has amassed a stunning number of credits, which include the feature films Beauty Shop, Brown Sugar, Love Jones, and the documentary, The N Word (Tivo). In addition to co-writing “Brother” for Amy Winehouse’s debut album, “Frank” (Island Records), the multi-grammy award winning singer also featured Teo’s sax playing on an interlude entitled, “Teo’s Licks.” His television performances include: American Idol, MTV’s TRL, The Ellen Degeneres Show, The CBS Morning Show with Epic Recording Artist, Shakira (2006), VH1, Regis & Kelly with Leela James (2005); The Essence Awards, Soul Train Awards, Source Awards, Saturday Night Live, MTV Awards, Billboard Music Awards with Lauryn Hill (1998-99). As a session saxophonist, Teo has collaborated with a number of award-winning artists on their productions, including Amy Winehouse – Frank (Island Records) 2004 Gold Record; G-Unit All Stars (Shady/Aftermath Records) 2004 3X Platinum; Joss Stone – Mind, Body, & Soul (EMI) 2004 2X Platinum; Talib Kweli – Quality (Rawkus Records) 2002 Gold Record; Talib Kweli – Reflection Eternal (Rawkus Records) 2000 Gold Record; Dee Dee Bridgewater – Dear Ella (Verve Records) 2X Grammy Winner 1997. Teo holds a Masters degree in Music from the Steinhardt School of Education at New York University. He is also the recipient of multiple awards, including The Sony Innovator Award (1992), The National Foundation for The Advancement in The Arts’ Clifford Brown/Stan Getz Fellowship (1992), and The NAACP ACT-SO Award (1991). Please visit www.teodrossavery.com or www.myspace.com/teodrossavery for more information. I own and operate: -(2) Roland 16-track, 24 bit hard disk recorders. - an Art Tube Mic Pre-amp. - an Audio-Technica 4033 mic and others -An Mpc 2000 sampler/sequencer/drum machine -Roland JV1080 -E-mu Proteus 2000 EDUCATION Graduate of Steinhardt School of Music, New York University (2006) Graduate of Berklee College of Music, Boston, MA-Performance and Jazz Composition Major (1995) Studied saxophone with Joe Henderson, Billy Pierce, George Garzone, Joe Viola-(1991-1995) TEACHING EXPERIENCE Taught saxophone at Cardinal Spellman, Bronx NY (1996) Taught saxophone at Berklee College of Music’s Music Mentoring Program, Boston, MA (1992-1995) Taught saxophone privately in Brooklyn, NY. (1996-2008) SPECIAL AWARDS/ACCOLADES NFAA’s Stan Getz/Clifford Brown Fellowship (1992) NAACP’s ACT-SO Award (1991) Sony Innovator Award (1993) LIVE PERFORMANCES Shakira, Mos Def, Matchbox Twenty, Lauryn Hill, Pat Monahan of Train, Aretha Franklin, Leela James, Roy Ayers, Ramsey Lewis, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Betty Carter, Roy Hargrove Big Band, RECORDINGS Teodross Avery-Bridging The Gap:Hip Hop Jazz Vol. II (2008) Teodross Avery-New Day, New Groove (1998) Teodross Avery-My Generation (1996) Teodross Avery-In Other Words (1994) Amy Winehouse-Frank (2004) 2X platinum Josh Stone-Mind, Body & Soul (2004) 2X platinum Talib Kweli-Reflection Eternal- (2000) Gold record Talib Kweli-Quality (2002) Gold record Dee Dee Bridgewater-Dear Ella (1997) 2X Grammy Winner Wu-Tang Clan- 8 Diagrams (2008) G-Unit All Stars (2004) 3X Platinum Carl Allen- The Pursuer (1993) Hank Jones- (Japanese release) (1998) Cyrus Chestnut- Manhattan Trinity-(Japanese release (1998) Tommy Flanagan (Japanese Release) (1998) MOVIES & MUSIC VIDEO CAMEOS Special appearance in the motion picture, Love Jones (1997) Performed in the music video for Beres Hammond-‘What About Joy’ Performed in the music video for D’Angelo- ‘Left And Right’ FILM COMPOSITION AND PRODUCTION Beauty Shop-MGM Films (2005) Brown Sugar-20th Century Fox (2002) Love Jones-New Line Cinema (1996) The N Word-Tivo (2005) TELEVISION PERFORMANCES American Idol, MTV’s TRL, The Ellen Degeneres Show, The CBS Morning Show-Shakira Saturday Night Live, MTV Awards, Billboard Music Awards, The Essence Awards, Soul Train Awards, The Source Awards-Lauryn Hill VHI, Regis & Kelly-Leela James VENUES & FESTIVALS New York- The Bluenote, The Iridium, The Zinc Bar, The JVC Jazz Festival (Bryant Park) Boston- Schuller’s, The Regatta Bar, Boston Globe JVC Jazz Festival Washington D.C.- Blues Alley Los Angeles- Catalina’s, The Jazz Bakery Oakland- Yoshi’s, Kimball’s East, Kimball’s West Philadelphia- Mellon Jazz Festival North Carolina- Atlantic Beach Festival Birmingham, Alabama-Birmingham Jazz Festival Has extensively toured Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Italy, England, France, Spain, Japan, S. Korea, Trinidad, Canada, and Ethiopia