Draft:Jeff Novotny

Novotny in 2017

Jeff Novotny (born June 18, 1976) is an American jazz composer, producer, and author, recording under the name Jeff Novotny JAZZPRJKT. He writes and produces music for many types of jazz groups, solo piano, electronics, and orchestra. Represented styles include big band, fusion, bebop, rock, metal, Latin jazz, ska, world music, stride piano, and orchestral/film music.

Education/background

A native of Latrobe, Pennsylvania, Novotny earned a Bachelor of Philosophy (B.Phil.) from the University of Pittsburgh Honors College in 1998 and a Master of Music (M.M.) in Jazz Composition and Arranging from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 2012, studying with composers Jeffrey Holmes and Felipe Salles.

Musical characteristics

Novotny's music is characterized by extreme stylistic diversity, incorporating traditional jazz elements with modern styles such as rock, metal, electronic, ska, orchestral, and world music. The structure of many of these pieces lies somewhere between developing variation (akin to Romantic and 20th-century art music) and a through-composed format, yielding a film-like, unpredictable progression as they unfold. Novotny says that in his early music he was conscientious about adhering to traditional forms and treatment of themes, but over time he chose to disregard these formalisms and to simply add material using the concepts of overall coherence and unity of character as a guideline.

Harmonic character ranges from traditional tonal music to pantonality, in which key centers are briefly touched but quickly depart without establishing a lasting tonal center, while avoiding full atonality. Novotny cites opera composer Richard Wagner as an influence in this regard.

Instrumentation is widely varied, including big band, solo piano, orchestra, rock and metal bands, electronics, and combinations of these. He has written for a number of instruments not traditionally associated with jazz, such as dulcimer, glockenspiel, harmonica, steel drums, cello, and synthesizer.

He cites influences such as John Zorn, Alfred Schnittke, and Richard Wagner, with whom he identifies for their eclecticism and unpredictability. He began incorporating prerecorded sound effects as a compositional element in his music in the early 2010's, most notably in "Cygnus X-1" (2020), which included recordings of radio transmissions from space missions and cryptic terrestrial sources.

Discography

• The Wonders of Gaiety (2023)
• The Billion-Dollar Washing Machine (2022)
• In which the valiant Horseman vanquishes the wastrel Multi-Level Marketing ambuscade. (2022)
• Vitamins! (2022)
• What to Expect…(when they least expect it) (2021)
• Cygnus X-1 (2020)
• Captain Kangaroo vs. Sex Robots (2019)
• Supercritical (2017)
• I Can't Wait to Never Do That Again (2017)
• Harold Brown (2017)
• L'Époisses (2016)
• The Hi-talian Polka (2015)
• No One Is Flying The Plane (2012)
• Svratka/Svitava (2012)
• Incontinental Breakfast (2012)
• The Uninformed Security Guard (2011)
• Whacked! (2011)
• Das Kindergefängnis (2010)
• Pleonasm (2006)
• The Wrasse and the Swallow (2005)
• Decarboxylation (2003)
• A Caribbean Odyssey (2000)

A number of these are recompositions of existing music:

Title	Original work	Original artist
The Billion-Dollar Washing Machine	Elf's Lament	Barenaked Ladies
In which the valiant Horseman vanquishes the wastrel Multi-Level Marketing ambuscade.	Lohengrin, Act III, Scene iii	Richard Wagner
Vitamins!	Rhapsody, op. 79, no. 2	Johannes Brahms
A Caribbean Odyssey	Canon in D	Johann Pachelbel
Untitled #1	One	Alanis Morissette

Unreleased works

• None of Them Knew They Were Robots (arrangement, orig. by Mr. Bungle) (2014)
• Breakout (arrangement, orig. by Swing Out Sister) (2012)
• Untitled #1 (2012)
• The Tree-Dwellers (2011)
• Alluvial (2011)
• Santa Fe Trail (arrangement, orig. by The Rippingtons) (2003)
• The Diels-Alder Reaction (2003)

Collaborations

Novotny regularly collaborates with musicians from various countries in Europe, North America, and South America. In 2020 the German jazz-rock band Panzerballett recorded a version of "No One is Flying the Plane" on their album Planet Z, which was met by generally positive reviews:

The standout for me is "No One Is Flying The Plane" by composer Jeff Novotny, which has an additional horn section and comes across as big band jazz combining with metal, with some gorgeous piano breaks and incredible bass and drums. - Kev Rowland, progarchives.com

This marked the first instance when the band recorded with a full horn section; following this, they continued to adapt several additional tracks with horns. An upcoming version of the piece recorded by the NDR Big Band (Hamburg, Germany) was delayed due to the Russia-Ukraine war and is slated for future release.

Guitarist/composer Gregory Rossetti (of the band Suspyre) provided guitar on the composer's own version of this piece, as well as on "What to Expect...(when they least expect it)".

Metal singer Ozzy Tapan (of the band Soulhenge) provided vocals and Turkish lyric translation on the jazz-ska-rock song "I Can't Wait to Never Do That Again".

Atlanta-based jazz trumpeter Joe Gransden contributed trumpet solos to "Incontinental Breakfast" and "Pleonasm".

Interview

Milwaukee-based music magazine Breaking & Entering interviewed Novotny in 2021 after the release of "Cygnus X-1"; the transcript is available on the magazine's website.

Publications

His piano music has been published in International Piano magazine. He has also published a volume of advanced piano music, Jazz Piano Solos, which includes "The Uninformed Security Guard" and "Harold Brown", through the Staten House imprint.

An unpublished analytical article, "Vince Mendoza: A Stylistic Analysis", is hosted on Scribd.com.

Comedy writing

As an author, Novotny has written two comedy books, I Can't Wait to Never Do That Again, a compendium of jokes and anecdotes, and The Man in the Van, a satirical parody of children's literature, both under the Staten House imprint.

Music Reviews

1. https://metalheadcommunity.com/jeff-novotny-jazzprjkt-cygnus-x-1-song-review/
2. https://nohoartsdistrict.com/jeff-novotny-jazzprjkts-cygnus-x-1/
3. https://www.movieboozer.com/jeff-novotny-jazzprjkt-cygnus-x-single-review/
4. https://www.thecirclepit.com/2021/09/jeff-novotny-jazzprjkt-cygnus-x-1-15-minute-track-review
5. https://www.metalcentre.com/2021/08/jeff-novotny-jazzprjkt-releases-new-single-cygnus-x-1/
6. https://nashvillemusicguide.com/jazz-composer-jeff-novotny-releases-out-of-this-world-cygnus-x-1/

Links:

1. Panzerballett recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtTk2hEQVxw&t=935s
2. Panzerballett: www.panzerballett.de
3. Spotify: open.spotify.com/artist/29q7QeOPZyVwSdIBeSzb7v
4. Youtube: www.youtube.com/@JeffNovotnyJazz/videos
5. Joe Gransden: www.joegransden.com
6. Suspyre (metal band)
7. UVB-76 radio broadcast