Album Notes

Jeremy Kittel, violin; Dann Friedman, sax; John Nam, piano; Andrew Kratzat, bass; and Chad Hochberg, drums.

Celtic and Jazz fiddler Jeremy Kittel is rapidly earning a reputation as one of the nation's top young traditional musicians. The US National Scottish Fiddle Champion of 2000 and Junior National Scottish Fiddle Champion the previous two years, Jeremy also competed internationally in Irish fiddling. In 2003 he dazzled judges at the first Alternative Styles Competition of the American String Teacher Association/National Band and Orchestra Association, winning the Alfred Award for Best Improvisation, Mark O'Connor Award of Merit, and International Association for Jazz Education Award for Best Jazz Performance. Jeremy was the first recipient of the Daniel Pearl Memorial Violin, won the 2004 Detroit Music Award for Outstanding Acoustic/Folk Instrumentalist, and graduated from the University of Michigan with their highest musical honor, the Stanley Medal. In 2005 he was named Outstanding Folk Artist by the Detroit Music Awards and given the ASTA Alternative Strings Award for Music Traditions, and in 2006 won three Detroit Music Awards: Outstanding Jazz Recording, Outstanding Jazz Composer, and Outstanding Folk Artist.

Kittel has performed at hundreds of concerts and festivals over the past few years including the Millennium Stage of the Kennedy Center, "A Prairie Home Companion," Detroit Jazz Festival, Chicago Celtic Fest, Bethlehem Musikfest, Detroit Festival of the Arts & Milwaukee Irish Fest.

"“Jazz Violin” goes from swinging to sentimental, all of it orchestrated expertly by a young man who’s clearly double trouble in the violin world. " - The Ann Arbor News

"There is remarkable maturity here, both in the playing and the writing. Yet Kittel is barely 21, only beginning his journey. It will be fascinating, and no doubt thrilling, to watch where he goes from here. " - Current Magazine

"Kittel seems destined to be a world-class talent, and "Jazz Violin" - which he characterizes as "my first steps on a new path" - is the ear-catching debut of a formidable jazzer. " - Lansing State Journal

"Jeremy Kittel is one of the most brilliant of the new crop of terrific young fiddlers. His excellence at interpreting and extending the Celtic fiddle tradition are exceeded only by his startling inventiveness and poise on jazz violin. Listen for him." -Darol Anger

"Jeremy Kittel is one creative violinist on the move. I believe that Jeremy will have a lot to show us heading into the future." Mark O'Connor

"Michigan's own homegrown fiddle virtuoso just keeps getting better and better. Honestly, if you miss a couple of concerts by this guy, you come back to find he's entered on a whole new stage of musical development. We welcome Jeremy Kittel back to the Ann Arbor Folk Festival because frankly, we can't wait to hear what the heck is next." - The Ark

"Jeremy Kittel has already established himself as a world class fiddler." Sing Out!

"star fiddler Jeremy Kittel... whose jaw-dropping duo performance in the recent local live broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion brought down the house" Ann Arbor Observer

"Jeremy is just too damn young to play as well as he does." Fiddler Magazine

"Keep an eye on this young man; he is truly something special." David Balakrishnan, Turtle Island String Quartet

"The young Ann Arbor fiddler lit things up at last week's Detroit Music Awards, showing off the technically proficient but soulful Celtic folk that has already earned him a heap of honors -- including the U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Junior Championship. We'd call him a rising star, but he's clearly already risen." Detroit Free Press