Andy Jaffe

Andy Jaffe is a distinguished jazz composer, arranger, pianist, author, and educator who has been a leader in jazz pedagogy for over twenty-five years. He currently serves as the Lyell B. Clay Artist in Residence and Director of Jazz Activities at Williams College, and is the Artistic Director of the Williamstown Jazz Festival. His extensive teaching career includes faculty positions at the Berklee College of Music (1977-81), the University of Massachusetts Amherst graduate program in Afro-American Music and Jazz (1994-98), the Institut Musical de Formation Professionnelle in France (1984), Amherst College (1987-99), Tufts University (1992-93), and Smith College (1997-99). At Williams, where he has taught since 1989, he directs jazz ensembles and teaches courses in jazz theory, improvisation, arranging, composition, and the music of Duke Ellington and John Coltrane. Jaffe’s discography includes the acclaimed "Manhattan Projections," featuring jazz luminaries Branford Marsalis, Wallace Roney, and Marvin “Smitty” Smith, and "Double Helix," a piano duo with the late Tom McClung. His large ensemble work is showcased on "An Imperfect Storm," featuring the Bill Lowe-Andy Jaffe Repertory Big Band and the Slovak Radio Orchestra. As a composer, he has written for a wide range of instrumental ensembles, including a double quartet commissioned for Branford Marsalis and the Ciompi Quartet. Jaffe is also a prolific author; his text "Jazz Harmony" is recognized as a seminal work in the field, now in its fourth printing, and he has recently completed a text on Jazz Composition. He has been honored with the IAJE award for "Outstanding Service to Jazz Education" and has twice won Fellowships in Composition from the Artists Foundation.