John Nasshan's "Quintessence": News

The CD "Monuments" that features Walter Blanton on Trumpet, Tony Branco on Piano, and John Nasshan on Drums has an official release date! "Monuments" has been picked up as a national release by Seattle, WA based Origin Records! The official date of release is February 2008. As we get closer, more info will be posted on this website.

KUNV 91.5FM...THE source for Jazz in the Las Vegas Area... is into our Fall Pledge Drive! Today, tomorrow, and Sunday...that's right October 5th, 6th & 7th... we are trying to reach a goal of $50,000 for our Fall Pledge Drive! If you are a Jazz lover, call our pledge line at 702-739-5868...or go to www.kunv.org and pledge your financial support of Jazz and KUNV with a TAX DEDUCTIBLE donation!
THANK YOU!

Stop on the "Music" page of this website to hear some clips of the band that were done Live! at Murphy's Pub in Henderson, NV. These cuts will give you a better idea of who and what John Nasshan's "Quintessence" really is.....

If you haven't already done it, make sure you listen to the pieces of music that I have recently posted on this site. This Improvisational Jazz was created in the UNLV recording studio. It was recorded and mastered by Gil Kaup.

Walter Blanton (Trumpet & Flugelhorn), Tony Branco (Piano), and John Nasshan (Drums and Cymbals) went into the recording studio at UNLV to try a concept. We went into the studio with the intent of finding out if the "Free Jazz" that we were playing would "translate" in a studio atmosphere. The result was a body of very creative, extremely conversational music without boundaries, that we are quite proud to share with you. Contact me via email for details on how to obtain your copy of "Monuments", email me... john@quintessencejazz.com

We are talking to a couple of clubs to play in regularly. Check in regularly to find out where and when we will perform.

You can now see John Nasshan's "Quintessence" at www.myspace.com/nasshansquintessence. I will be starting a Jazz Blog soon, so visit our page. Just click opn the link in this news item.

The Henderson Symphony Orchestra is performing in Justice Court Park in Downtown Henderson at 7:30pm, tomorrow, July 4, 2007. This will be a concert of American and Patriotic Music that will lead up to our performance of Tchaikowsky's "1812 Overture" during the City of Henderson Fireworks Show.

On July 22nd, John Nasshan is playing drums for Las Vegas favorites, The Cuunninghams. With John will be Geoff Neuman on bass, John Matteson on piano, and Nathan Tanouye and Kevin Stout on trombone. The show begins at 2pm, and tickets will sell fast so come early. For more information, go to the Calendar section of this website.

I was interviewed for a feature story in the Green Valley Newspapers ("South Valley News", Green Valley News"...you know the free one that we get on Thursday morning). Check it out. They had a photographer attend two concerts to take photos of "Quintessence", and I was interviewed by Kirk Baird from the publication. It was fun to do!

The Henderson Symphony Orchestra under the direction of maestro Taras Krysa performs Franz Liszt's "Les Preludes", Tchaikovsky's "5th Symphony", and the Sejourne "Marimba Concerto" at the Henderson Pavilion on Sunday May 6th at 2pm!

On Saturday, 05/12/07, at The Henderson Events Plaza Amphitheatre at 4pm, Phil Wigfall will be performing with us! It's always great to have Phil Wigfall be a part of any concert. His essence and creativity are great assets to "Quintessence"!

The John Nasshan Trio will be featured as part of the City Of Henderson's Cultural Arts & Tourism Concert Series on May 10, 2007 at 7pm. The concert we be held in the Henderson Events Plaza Amphitheatre. John Nasshan, Geoff Neuman, and John Nasshan Jr. are pleased to be included in this concert series

John Nasshan's "Quintessence" has been chosen to headline The Henderson Art Fest on May 12th at 4pm. This event will be held in Downtown Henderson on Water Street. For more details, go to the "Calendar" section of this site.

The John and Geoff Trio will be featured on the Jazz Stage of The Henderson Art Fest on Saturday May 12th at 10am! This will be this trio's debut concert performance. The trio is: John Matteson - piano, Geoff Neuman - bass, and John Nasshan - drums (hey...that's me again).

I will be drumming and conducting the "Drinkin'-Singin'-Swingin' Show" at Terrible's Lakeside Casino in Oneida, IA on September 25th and 26th. If you are in Iowa...or are going to be in the area...come and see the show. Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis impressions with lots of "Drinkin Singin and Swingin" two shows a night on the 25th and 26th of September! Come and see the show....we'll have a taste afterwards!

Visit the "Press" section of this website to read Forrest Dylan Bryant's August 2008 review of The Monuments Trio's CD "Monuments".

The City of Henderson is building a proper Concert Hall at the corner of Water St. and Atlantic Ave., as part of their Downtown Henderson redevelopment plan. The Hall will be ready for use in about 18 months, and it will be the home of the Henderson Symphony Orchestra! It will be the site of our Performances, as well as the site of our rehearsals, and all other HSO functions. We are extremely grateful to the City of Henderson for their interest and fantastic support of the Henderson Symphony Orchestra!

After a careful and successful search, during which we auditioned five great candidates, The Henderson Symphony has chosen and to retain the services of Maestro Taras Krysa as our new Conductor. Mr. Krysa was born in the Ukraine, educated at the Moscow Conservatory, in Europe, and the United States, and is currently directing the UNLV Orchestras. Orchestras that Mr. Krysa has conducted and played Violin with include The New World Symphony, The Kiev Chamber Orchestra, and The St. Louis Symphony. The Henderson Symphony Orchestra is very excited to work with a Conductor as accomplished as Taras Krysa! Mr. Krysa takes the podium this coming Tuesday, and will conduct our performances starting February 11, 2007.

Earlier today (1/15/07), I recorded an album of "Free Jazz" with Jim Pugh on Trombone, Walter Blanton on Trumpet & Cornet, Tony Branco on Piano, and me on drums. It was a great experience creating music with wonderful musicians like these guys! It was an incredibly creative afternoon and we are very excited about the music we've created. We did the "date" at UNLV's recording studio with Gil Kaupp as our engineer. Check back with my site for a release date for this great project.

The Las Vegas Jazz Society presents "The Trumpet Summit" at the Winchester Community Center on Sunday March 11,2007 at 2pm. The show will feature 6 of Las Vegas' top Jazz Trumpet Players with a rhythm section of John Matteson on Piano, Geoff Neumann on bass, and John Nasshan on drums. Last year's Trumpet Summit was a great musical event, and this year the Summit will include a tribute to Maynard Ferguson.

Our friend Stacy James got us a gig for Valentine's Day on the "Strip", for a Corporate Party. This marks the debut of John Nasshan's "Quintessence" anywhere on the Las Vegas "Strip"!

This year's Palm Springs Film Festival Gala was the most highly attended yet! 2200 people for dinner, awards, and dancing. The favorite band of the Palm Springs and Coachella Valley "In" crowd, The Pat Rizzo Orchestra (18 men strong), provided all the music for the event, with Film Composer Paul Gelman as guest conductor for the awards ceremony. The celebs we met this year included Jessica Biel, Cate Blanchett, Kate Winslet, Sissy Spacek, Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt (without AJ), Laurence Fishburne, and Sydney Pollack. We also met composers Danny Elfman (Batman) and Phillip Glass (The Hours). The awards ceremony was once again hosted by the lovely Mary Hart of "Entertainment Tonight" fame, with the help of California Congresswoman Mary Bono.

I just got a phone call from Ms. Gennifer Flowers confirming her interview taping for "Las Vegas Arts Alive" on KUNV 91.5FM. Gennifer has recently moved to Las Vegas, and is a very high energy person that will a great guest for "Las Vegas Arts Alive", the interview show that I host on KUNV every Monday at 6pm....as soon as we schedule an air date for our show with Gennifer Flowers I will let you know...