Laura Dreyer, a native of the San Francisco Bay Area, has been a dynamic
member of the New York jazz scene since her arrival. Her original compositions
fuse elements of jazz, funk, and rock with a Brazilian flair, creating a unique,
contemporary palette of sound with a wide array of textures.
Mysterious Encounter, her longstanding Brazilian-jazz ensemble features Dreyer
on saxophones and flute and has featured many well-known musicians in the
Brazilian Jazz idiom. The group headlined the Kennedy Center's "Mary Lou
Williams Women in Jazz Festival" and opened for David Sanborn at the Syracuse
Jazz Festival. They have also performed at many of New York City's top clubs,
including Sweet Rhythm, Birdland, Le Bar Bat, Sete MOMA, The Fifth House
Performance Space, El Taller Latino Americano, Caviarteria, La Belle Epoque,
Zanzibar, Europa Café, the popular Tribeca lounge, Dekk, and Cachaça.
Laura was recently awarded two grants in 2010 from The Lower Manhattan Cultural
Council to produce a live concert which featured The New York Brazilian Jazz
Funk Project. In the Summer of 2010 Laura was a featured performer and educator
in Busan, South Korea at The Friends of Music in Korea music festival.
A multi-instrumentalist, Dreyer is in great demand as a sideperson. Her love of
Brazilian music in particular has been fostered by her work with such noted
musicians such as pianist Dom Salvador, with whom Laura performed in Rio de
Janiero at the 2010 Copafest, vocalist Leny Andrade, guitarist Romero Lubambo
(who has performed as a guest with Mysterious Encounter), pianists and Weber
Iago, drummer Portinho, percussionist Helcio Milito, Brazilian Breeze,
vocalist/percussionist Kerry Linder, as well as many others.
Audiences have heard her burning alto and rugged tenor in the bands of such
diverse artists as Dr. Billy Taylor, Rufus Reid, Akira Tana, Walter Bishop Jr.,
Mel Lewis, Robert Palmer, Nnenna Freelon, Lea Delaria, The Big O Orchestra, and
saxophonist/author James McBride. Laura has toured Cyprus with the Broadway show
Five Guys Named Moe, performed in the national tour of the Duke Ellington
tribute Hit Me With a Hot Note which featured Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr.,
as well as performing in the on stage band of the award winning musical Hot and
Sweet at the New York Musical Theatre Festival. Dreyer has also appeared with
various big bands and small ensembles at Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, the
Village Vanguard, 7th Ave. South, S.O.B.'s, the Hartford Jazz Festival, and the
Savannah Jazz Festival, as well as tours of Europe and Japan.
A scholarship student at the prestigious Berklee College of Music, Dreyer
studied with noted music educators Andy McGee, Joe Viola, and John LaPorta. In
addition, she took private lessons with saxophone greats Joe Henderson and Joe
Lovano, composers Lyle Mays and Jim McNeely. The National Endowment for the Arts
awarded Laura three grants: one in performance and two in professional jazz
study/composition. She participated in the BMI composition program conducted by
composer/trombonist Bob Brookmeyer. Four of her songs have received honorable
mention in Billboard Magazine's songwriting contests. Dreyer was a founding
member and contributing arranger for the big band DIVA. She remained with the
ensemble for six years, playing both lead alto and tenor. With DIVA, she
performed at Tavern on the Green, annual conferences for the International
Association of Jazz Educators, New York's famed Blue Note jazz club, the Kennedy
Center, and such prestigious festivals as Newport, Montreal, Pori, and Berlin.
Since Diva accompanied a wide range of solo artists, Dreyer also had wonderful
opportunities to perform with major talents such as Rosemary Clooney, Dave
Brubeck, Joe Williams, Jack Jones, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Rebecca Parris, Maurice
Hines, Diane Schuur, Slide Hampton, Clark Terry, and many others.
Dreyer is very active as a music educator, having served on the faculties of the
Jamey Aebersold jazz clinics, Cazadero Music and Arts Camp, and the New York
Pops Salute to Music program. Laura is currently a faculty member in the Jazz
Department of the prestegious Hoff-Barthelson Music School in Scarsdale, New York
where she teaches jazz woodwinds, theory, conducts ensembles, and leads jazz
improvisation classes, as well as The Church St. School for Music and Art in
Tribeca, where Laura teaches piano and woodwinds. She regularly conducts clinics
and workshops at high schools and colleges which have included The Berklee
College of Music and The 2007 Jazz Improv Convention. Dreyer was a featured
columnist in Saxophone Journal for five years, and continues to write for
various music publications including Jazz Improv Magazine, and Sax on the Web.
In addition to her music career, Laura has studied and performed comedy improv
and sketch comedy at The People's Improv Theatre and the Magnet Theatre in New
York City, and has appeared on television and radio as an improv and voice
actor.
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Mysterious Encounter
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