Jeff Oster | |
|---|---|
 Jeff Oster | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Jeffrey Oster |
| Born | 1957 Danville, Illinois, US |
| Genres | Jazz, New Age, Ambient, Funk |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, composer, producer, financial advisor |
| Instrument(s) | Trumpet, flugelhorn |
| Years active | 2003-present |
| Labels | Retso; Artist Garage |
| Website | jeffoster |
Jeff Oster is a Grammy-nominated[1] American musician who specializes in trumpet andflugelhorn in theNew Age music genre. He is a member of the four-piece bandFlow. Oster's style has been described as "Miles Davis meets Pink Floyd."[2] He is a three-time winner of the Independent Music Awards[3][4][5] and ten-time winner of theZone Music Reporter Awards (formerlyNAR LifeStyle Music Awards).[6][7][8][9] He was featured on theLaura Sullivan's Grammy-winning albumLove's River.[10][11] Flow's debut album reached number 4 on theBillboard New Age Albums Chart in 2017.
Oster grew up inHighland Park, Illinois. After several moves, he attendedCoral Gables Senior High School in Florida, and was a member of their marching band "Cavaliers Band of Distinction"[12][13] The band's director William Ledue was influential in his formation as a trumpeter and got him his first job playing "Taps" at the funeral of a veteran.[13] In 1978, at age 19, Oster discovered Chuck Mangione's album "Feels So Good" which led him to order a Yamaha Flugelhorn that he still plays today.[13] Oster was inducted into the Coral Gables Hall of Fame in 2023.[14]
After high school through 1987 Oster performed with a variety of acts including three piece power rock trio in Miami, Los Angeles and performed in big bands and as a horn player with R&B bands, and a casino lounge band that toured Vegas, Lake Tahoe, and Atlantic City.[13]
During this time, Oster wrote singer/songwriter music and unsuccessfully tried to get them covered by other artists. After struggling ten years living in Los Angeles he decided turned to writing original music. In 1987, at the recommendation of a friend, Oster passed his Series 7 exam, became a financial advisor,[15] and decided to save enough money to hire professionals to record his music.[13]
By 2003, Oster started writing instrumental horn music when he purchased a personal computer with music creation software on it. After uploading performances of that music to MP3.com, he found that four songs were downloaded at a rate of 40,000 per month and were on the website's Top Ten Downloads list.[15]
Oster connected withWill Ackerman, the founder of Windham Hill Records, an artist Oster had been listening to and playing along with since 1979. In late 2003, Oster and Ackerman recorded four of these tracks on his debut extended play (EP) albumAt Last. The title song fromAt Last won the Best New Age Song award at the 5th Annual Independent Music Awards in 2006.[15][3]
Oster's first full-length album titledRELEASED in 2005 which received the 2005 Album of the Year and Best Contemporary Instrumental Album awards at the NAR Lifestyle Music Awards, voted on by broadcasters.[7]
In 2007, Oster teamed up again with Ackerman onTRUE. The first track of the album,Saturn Calling, won the 7th Annual Independent Music Awards' Best New Age Song in 2008.[5][4][3] The album also won the Album of the Year and Best Contemporary Instrumental Album awards at the NAR Lifestyle Music Awards.[6][16]
Oster'sSURRENDER album, released in 2011, received Zone Music Reporter's Album of the Year and Best Chill/Groove Album awards.[8][17] The nationally syndicated NPR radio showEchoes' staff selected the album for their 25 Essential CDs for 2011.[18]
In 2015, Oster released his albumnext. It received Zone Music Reporter's Album of the Year and Best Chill/Groove Album awards[19][20]
In 2016, Oster also releasedJeff Oster Live! from performances at The Fenix in San Rafael.[21]
In 2018, Oster releasedReach.[22][23]
In 2019, Oster's albumREACH won the Best New Age Album Award and his song "Five Great Mountains" won the Best New Age Song Award at the Independent Music Awards.[24]REACH received Zone Music Reporter's Album of the Year and Best Contemporary Instrumental Album.[25]
In 2007, Oster took the sound rendering of data collected by the Cassini spacecraft's radio and plasma wave science instruments as the basis for the song "Saturn Calling" which appeared as the first track on his album "TRUE." The song received the Best New Age Song award at 7th Annual Independent Music Awards in 2008.[26][3]
Oster also performs withMichael Manring (founder of the group Montreux) andCarl Weingarten (a founding member of the progressive rock group, Delay Tactics) in a group called Blue Eternity.[27][28] They perform at venues such as the Fujitsu Planetarium at De Anza College in Cupertino, CA.[29]
In 2012, Oster was a featured artist on two tracks ofLaura Sullivan's Grammy Award-winning albumLove's River.[10][11][30]
In 2013, Oster and other artists wrote and performed music onPete Seeger's spoken word albumPete Seeger: The Storm King; Stories, Narratives, Poems,[31] which Seeger released at the age of 93.[32] The album was nominated for aGrammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album.[33]
In 2015, guitarist Lawrence Blatt, pianistFiona Joy Hawkins, producer/guitaristWilliam Ackerman, and Oster formed the groupFlow. They recorded the self-titled albumFlow, released in 2017.[34]
The album was #4 in Billboard's New Age Album chart on October 28.[35] The album received the ‘New Age Album of the Year’ at the 16th Annual Independent Music Awards.[36] It held the #1 position on the ZoneMusicReporter's (ZMR) Top 100 Radio Airplay Chart for two months, was nominated for and won two ZMR awards, ’Album of the Year’ and ‘Best Contemporary Instrumental Album’, at 14th Annual ZMR Awards.[9]
In 2019 Flow released the albumPromise.[37]
In 2017,Deepak Chopra, a prominent figure in theNew Age movement, together with Kabir Sehgal and Paul Avgerinos published a book titled "Home: Where Everyone is Welcome," featuring 34 poems and accompanied by a CD of twelve songs inspired by immigrants cultural contribution to the United States.[38] Along with Chopra, Sehgal, and Avgerinos, Oster and Ackerman co-produced the CD with Oster performing on three tracks.[39]
In 2018, Oster began performing with FLOW's co-producer Tom Eaton and guitarist Vin Downes in a group they named Departure[40] and appeared on anEchoes streaming "living room concert." One of the songs performed in the streaming concert appears onEchoes album, Victoria Place: Echoes Live 23.[41] Departure has also performed at the 1867 Sanctuary Arts & Culture Center in Ewing, NJ.[42]
Brothers
In July, 2021, Oster,William Ackerman and TomEaton began to record the albumBrothers. Originally,Brothers was conceived by Oster as a collaboration with Ackerman, but based on Eaton's contributions, Eaton was made a "brother" and given equal billing. Recording took place at Eaton's studio in Newburyport, MA and Ackerman'sImaginary Road Studios in Vermont. Eaton performed on piano, keyboard, bass, percussion, and electric guitar, Ackerman performed on acoustic guitar, and Oster performed on flugelhorn and trumpet.[43][44] The album was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best New Age Album.[1]
In 2023 Oster released alo-fi album,hØwling lØØn, which has been submitted for nomination to the 66th Grammy Awards.[45][46]
Oster has said "As I've grown, I've been inspired byBill Chase, andHerb Alpert, andMiles Davis andChris Botti, along withSteely Dan,Pink Floyd,Will Ackerman,Yes,U2, and today by artists such asKendrick Lamar."[2]
Oster's style has been often described as "Miles Davis meets Pink Floyd"[2] or "Miles Davis meetsEnya."[44]
Oster has been working in financial services. From 1988 to 1994 he worked with Independent Advantage Financial where he became a senior vice president and national sales manager.[47] From 1994 to 1997, he worked withPrudential Securities as a senior vice president in investments, and since then has served as a Registered Principal and Branch Manager ofRaymond James Financial.[47]
