Aurora Nealand is an American multi-instrumentalist (saxophone, clarinet, accordion), singer and composer. Among her many musical endeavors, she leads her own traditional jazz band, Aurora Nealand and the Royal Roses.
Early life and education Nealand was born the youngest of four children in Pacifica, California, to parents she calls "hippies". In 2001, Nealand earned a degree in music composition from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where she created her own major in music composition. While studying at Oberlin, Nealand spent eight months in New York City where she learned about Laurie Anderson, Brian Eno and Philip Glass. She also studied at the Jacques Lecoq School of Physical Theatre in Paris, France.
Nealand moved to New Orleans in 2004.
Career Nealand embarked on a cross country bicycle trip, during which she interviewed rural Americans and compiled their stories into a musical piece titled "American Dreams". The trip concluded in New Orleans, where she began playing traditional jazz, much of which she had grown up listening to in California. Nealand formed The Royal Roses in 2011 for a tribute concert to Sidney Bechet at Preservation Hall in New Orleans. Along with the Royal Roses, Nealand also performs as a member of the rockabilly band Rory Danger and the Danger Dangers and solo under the name The Monocle. In 2019, Nealand, under the name Monocle, brought her project "KindHumanKind" to the New Orleans Contemporary Arts Center, receiving a positive review from OffBeat magazine. Nealand began playing musical scores to the silent films of comedian Buster Keaton. She frequently performs in a duo with New Orleans pianist and singer Tom McDermott. As of 2023, her latest project is Aurora Nealand and the Reed Minders.
Over the course of her career, Nealand has performed with artists as diverse as Pauline Oliveros, Jonathan Hart Makwaia, Preservation Hall Allstars, Bill Frisell, Tim Berne, James Singleton, Arto Lindsey, Germaine Bazzle, John Boutté, and Johnny Vidacovich, among many others.
Nealand has performed as a featured artist at many venues and festivals worldwide, including Montreal International Jazz Festival, Istanbul Jazz Festival, Big Ears Festival, Copenhagen Jazz Festival, MPB Jazz Festival in Brazil, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, SummerStage in New York City, and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.
She has worked as a musical facilitator with Found Sound Nation, an organization which facilitates international musical collaboration. She has been a teacher and performer with the Walden School for Young Composers for 20 years. Additionally, she is the co-founder of SONO (Sound Observatory New Orleans), which facilitates workshops of new music in the New Orleans region.
Nealand was voted "Best Female Performer" by the 2016 Gambit awards, and her band was named "Best Traditional Jazz Band" in the 2015 and 2017 Big Easy Awards. She was named one of DownBeat magazine's "Rising Stars" on both soprano saxophone and clarinet in 2017, 2018, and 2020.
Awards and honors
2021: South Arts: Jazz Road Creative Residencies grant recipient 2020: Downbeat Rising Star: Soprano Saxophone; Clarinet 2019: OffBeat Best of the Beat Award: Best Saxophonist 2018: Offbeat Best of the Beat Award: Best Saxophonist 2018: Gambit Big Easy Awards: Best Traditional Jazz Band 2018: Downbeat Rising Star: Soprano Saxophone; Clarinet 2018: Pivot Arts Incubator residency, Chicago 2017: Downbeat Rising Star: Soprano Saxophone; Clarinet 2017: Gambit Big Easy Awards: Best Traditional Jazz Band 2016: Gambit Big Easy Awards: Best Female Performer 2015: Gambit Big Easy Awards: Best Traditional Jazz Band 2014: Offbeat Best of the Beat Award: Best Saxophonist 2014: Contemporary Arts Center (New Orleans) residency 2013: MacDowell residency 2013: OneBeat Music Fellow (U.S.) Atlantic Center for the Arts residency
Discography
Aurora Nealand and the Royal Roses +TitleRelease dateLabelTribute To Sidney Bechet - Live in New Orleans April 29, 2011IndependentLookback TransmissionApril 24, 2014IndependentComeback ChildrenApril 11, 2016Independent
Aurora Nealand and Tom McDermott +TitleRelease dateLabelCity of TimbresMay 8, 2015IndependentLive at Luthjen'sMarch 2, 2020CD Baby Guest appearances +Album titleSong titleRelease dateLabelWhy Are We Building Such a Big Ship? (eponymous album) – 2007Nola RecordsWhat's in the Bag?: New Orleans and Beyond (with Seva Venet) – 2007IndependentLucky Devil (with Meschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns) – 2010IndependentTreme: Music from the HBO Original Series, Season 2"Ferry Man" (with the Royal Roses)2012RounderIngrid Lucia Presents New Orleans Nightengale Revue"Ne me quitte pas"2012American Brat CollaborationGordon Webster Live in Rochester – 2012Gordon Webster SwingsBamboula"Opulence" (with Tom McDermott)2013Minky RecordsWWOZ on CD: And We Just Keep Groovin' "Ti Ralph" (with the Royal Roses)2013Friends of WWOZRiverboat Jazz Festival 2014: Classic Jazz in Danish Design"I Cover the Waterfront" (as Aurora Nealand New Orleans Group) 2014Riverboat Jazz FestivalI Wanna Sing Right: Rediscovering Lomax in Evangeline Country"Rory O'Moore" (with Wilson Savoy, Joel Savoy and Joshua Caffery)2015Valcour RecordsBest of the Good (with Panorama Jazz Band)2016IndependentThe Next One (with Panorama Jazz Band)2017IndependentKicks (with Rickie Lee Jones) – 2019The Other Side Of DesireLetters to George (with George, Canadian band) – 2023Out Of Your Head RecordsOceans and (with Tim Berne and others) – 2023Intakt RecordsDoubles (with Basher) – 2022Sinking City RecordsByron Asher's Skrontch Music: Lord, When You Send in the Rain – 2024Sinking City Records
References
External links
Aurora Nealand at Nolamusic.net