Billy Novick performances

Billy Novick is internationally recognized as a musician, performer, arranger and composer. He has toured extensively throughout North America, Europe and Asia, and has made spotlight appearances at numerous festivals, including the Kool, Newport, Edinburgh, Brecon (Wales), Marsiac (France), Breda (Netherlands) and L.A. Classic jazz festivals, as well as the Philadelphia and Winnipeg folk festivals. If you haven't had a chance to see him perform in concert, you've undoubtedly heard his clarinet and sax on the countless recordings, film scores, television shows and commercials where he has been featured. He recently created a musical score for The Washington Ballet's adaptation of The Great Gatsby, which premiered to seven sold-out houses at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. His jugband adaptation of Peter and the Wolf (on Alcazar Records, with Dave Van Ronk narrating) was premiered in New York's Lincoln Center in 1992, and his orchestral arrangements have been performed throughout the US and Europe.

Born in Long Island, NY, in 1951, Billy Novick began playing clarinet at age eight. He picked up the sax at fifteen, and began playing club dates and concerts around the New York area. When he went to Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, he spent his weekends performing at various jazz festivals throughout the Midwest. Mr. Novick left Carlton after a year, moving to Boston to study at Berklee College of Music.

In 1973, Novick joined the David Bromberg band. After leaving the band, he started touring and making regional appearances as a sideman with a series of pop performers, including Leon Redbone, Jonathan Edwards, and Martha and the Vandellas. When not on the road, he could be found performing with his own jazz trio at various clubs and colleges and composing music for modern dance. While rehearsing for a dance performance in 1976, Novick was introduced to the innovative guitarist Guy Van Duser, and the two began a collaboration that continues to flourish. The duo has issued nine recordings, including the award-winning "The New Pennywhistle Album," and have been frequent guests on the Prairie Home Companion radio show. In May, 1995, Novick and Van Duser were featured in a 20 minute interview on National Public Radio's All Things Considered. In 1986, Mr. Novick joined the internationally-acclaimed New Black Eagle Jazz Band, and continues to perform with them. He has appeared on more than 35 of the band's recordings.

Although jazz has always been his first love, Mr. Novick has always had an eclectic sensibility and enjoys being able to play a wide range of musical styles. He has performed with blues greats Robert Junior Lockwood, Willie Dixon, and Duke Robillard, as well as jazz musicians such as Scott Hamilton, Milt Hinton, Herb Pomeroy, Dave McKenna and Butch Thompson. He has also appeared in concert performing Brazilian music, Celtic music, Klezmer music, French cabaret, and played with the dynamic Argetinian group "Los Changos." Novick's versatility has has enabled him to have a very active career as a studio musician, being featured on more than 250 recordings with a wide variety of artists including folk artists Bill Staines and David Mallet, singer/songwriter Susan Werner, Tex-Mex star Freddy Fender, blues great Ruth Brown, Celtic singer/harpist Aine Minogue, and even rock legend J. Geils.

As a composer or arranger , his music has appeared in dozens of feature films, including John Sayles' "Eight Men Out" and "Lone Star," Wes Craven's "Music Of The Heart," "The Opposite of Sex," and "Seabiscuit." His clarinet playing can be heard on theme songs of the popular PBS shows "Antiques Roadshow" and "This Old House," as well as more than a hundred commercials, film and television soundtracks.

Mr. Novick has released seven albums under his own name, the most recent being "Music from the Great Gatsby."