Rick Overton Tokyo Time Zone CD

Tokyo based and New York born trumpet artist Rick Overton is a unique voice in music today. Having been called an "outstanding artist" (Paul Bayliss, International Herald Tribune/Asahi News Service), he continues to develop and change not only as a performer but also as a composer and educator as well.Rick attended Berklee College of Music (1981, Professional Music) and Shenandoah Conservatory (1984, BM Jazz Studies, cum laude, BM Education, cum laude) in the 80's. He started a long association in the 80's with one of music's living legends, Teo Macero, who sculpted many of the ideas about music that Rick still has to this day. He has performed with the SS Dolphin Cruise Line, Kings Productions, The Temptations, Seleno Clarke, Branford Marsalis, Craig Boyd, The Empire Brass Quintet, Cyrus Chestnut, Mark Whitfield, Donald Harrison, Tommy Campbell, Nat Reeves, Hunky Page, Mark Marino and a host of others.As an educator, Rick has taught form kindergarten to graduate students on two continents and has been an educational consultant on a third with bass instructor Taimei Matusmoto at the National College of Music in Ecuador. He has taught public schools in Virginia, New York and Florida as well as Japan. Rick also created the instrumental music program at Nishimachi International School in Tokyo. He is currently an Associate Professor of Jazz Improvisation and Trumpet at Tokyo College of Music in Japan. Rick created the nation's first open course in jazz improvisation at a four year university with 40-60 students per year enrolled. As a lecturer, he has presented at the National Association of Music High School in Japan and regularly at Ai Music Foundation for music teachers. He also gives lectures to music education students at Tokyo College of Music. He is heralded and sought out by other trumpet players as a trouble shooter and rehabilitation specialist.As a composer(MA Music, Composition), Rick has written in both jazz and classical music genres. His two solo CDs, "Tokyo Time Zone" (1995) and "Urbanesque" (2001) featured all original compositions. Anthony Plog, trumpet professor at Freiburg Music College on "Tokyo Time Zone" said, "I thoroughly enjoy it and play it all the time for my students and my own pleasure. It is extremely musical." Derek Sivers of CDBaby.com on "Urbanesque" commented, "This is one of the best CDs I've ever heard and I've listened to over 60,000 of them!" and Paul Bayliss of the International Herald Tribune/Asahi News Service said, "(It) may be one of the most original and inspired jazz albums in recent years."