“His use of extended flute techniques is unusually fine; they are there to serve musical ends, not flutistic vanity.”
In 1998, John toured with the original jazz-fusion band Groove Revelation whose CD, The Arch Cape Sessions, was acknowledged for its originality. In 2000, Groove Revelation released its second CD, Grindin’, with most of the music composed by John.
More recently, he performs regularly with his jazz trio, The Savage 3, which performs largely original material and with Cartridge, a lap-top and woodwind duo, with composer/performer Will Redmond. In addition, John has played with the Andrew Hill Sextet+11 in performances at The Jazz Standard and Birdland and is a featured soloist on Andrew Hill’s 2002 release, A Beautiful Day. John has also performed at the Knitting Factory, The C-Note, and Up Over Jazz Café.
Downbeat Magazine exudes that John’s flute playing is “gorgeous” and The Guardian (in England) describes his flute sound as “yearning” and his soloing as “exquisite”.
As a Ph.D. candidate in flute performance in our department, John studies flute with NYU flute faculty member Keith Underwood, improvisation and chamber music with Dr. Esther Lamneck, and also takes occasional lessons with NYU flute faculty member and composer Robert Dick.