BIO | drejcalle

Dr. Ed Calle Bio

Saxophonist, composer, orchestrator, producer, scholar, entrepreneur, and professor, Dr. Ed Calle is known for his extraordinary ability to masterfully perform virtually any musical style including bebop, Latin and contemporary jazz, world music, and pop. Throughout the globe, his peers and colleagues often laud his virtuosity and versatility. For example, while outside the Blue Note in New York City sharing some time with his mentor and friend Michael Brecker, fans asked Michael about being the most recorded saxophonist on the planet. Brecker smiled, looked at his pupil, and stated, “Thanks, but Ed’s probably on as many or more records. He records a lot for South American artists and we don’t see those credits quite as often. Regardless, in my estimation, Ed is likely the most versatile saxophonist on the planet.” Longtime mentor and collaborator Arturo Sandoval more succinctly affirms, "We call Calle - the monster." Drum legend Peter Erskine calls Ed "a Miami musical treasure."

Born in Caracas, Venezuela to Spanish parents, it was obvious from the very start that Ed was a natural player whose energetic, passionate, and distinct sound captured the attention of everyone listening. His teachers and schoolmates often suggested that Calle’s sound was actually part of his DNA. Now, Calle can be heard on more than 1,200 albums, almost 9,000 singles, and countless movie and television soundtracks both as a sideman, soloist, composer, arranger, and producer. He appears on Grammy-award-winning albums by Frank Sinatra, Juan Luis Guerra, Arturo Sandoval, Juanes, Vicky Carr, Gloria Estefan, and Jon Secada. Calle has also recorded and performed around the world with music royalty such as Phil Ramone, Tom Dowd, Carlos Santana, Eddie Money, Greg Allman, Emilio Estefan, Chick Corea, Michael Brecker, Dave Weckl, Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, Willy Chirino, John Patitucci, Steve Gadd, Anthony Jackson, Donna Summer, the Bee Gees, Natalie Cole, Smokey Robinson, Shakira, The Temptations, The Four Tops, The Spinners, Armando Manzanero, Barry Gibb, Oscar D’Leon, Dave Valentine, Lenny Kravitz, K.C. & the Sunshine Band, Gloria Estefan, Diego Torres, Julio Iglesias, David Bisbal, Alejandro Sanz, Michael Bolton, Luis Enrique, Busta Rhyme, Bob James, Bobby Caldwell, Franco de Vita, Frankie Valli, Rihanna, Idina Menzel, Extreme, the Pet Shop Boys, George Clinton, Albita, Placido Domingo, Roberto Carlos, Ricky Martin, JLo, Chayanne, and Vanessa Williams just to name a few.

A five-time Grammy nominee, Calle is the 2015 Latin Grammy Award Winner for best instrumental album with Dr. Ed Calle Presents Mamblue. Mamblue is an Afro-Cuban jazz orchestral spectacular featuring more than 100 of the most influential jazz and studio musicians in the history of South Florida. Ed earned a 2014 Latin Grammy nomination and 2015 Grammy nomination for his work as a founding member of the Afro-Cuban Funk Super group PALO for PALO! Live. Among his many solo recordings, Ed Calle Plays Santana garnered a Latin Grammy Award nomination in 2005. In the Zone (2006) features original compositions and jazz standards and earned a Latin Grammy nomination in 2007. Also released and critically acclaimed in 2015, the first studio record by the World Music 5, America, features chamber jazz orchestrations of original and classic music from the Americas with bandmates Negroni's Trio & violinist Federico Britos. Exploring the duo realm with his longtime friend and colleague Jose Negroni, Calle is also featured on the 2015 Latin Grammy nominated Sony Records release Negroni +9.

Beyond the myriad of duties he juggles daily, Calle is in great demand as a jazz clinician and enjoys working with students. Calle regularly donates his time and expertise with students at South Florida public, private, and charter K-12 schools. Internationally and domestically, Ed has served as a guest artist and clinician in Ecuador, Guatemala, Italy, Spain, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico, and in the U.S. with the Dade County Public Schools Middle and High School Honors Jazz Ensembles, the Jazz Roots High School Honors Band, the Thelonious Monk Jazz Institute, the U.S. Navy Commodores in D.C., and at colleges including the University of Miami, Washington State University, Brigham Young University, Temple College, the University of North Florida, the University of Florida, the University of Central Florida, Florida International University, Florida State College at Jacksonville, West Palm Beach Community College, Brown University, and many more.

Calle’s compositions and arrangements are performed and recorded regularly by a host of ensembles ranging from chamber groups to orchestras. His original saxophone quartet compositions including The Iberia Suite, Rice & Beans, Spunky, Dancing on a Cloud, and Thinking of You are in high demand and have been performed and recorded by saxophone quartets around the globe including the Miami Saxophone Quartet, various U.S. Armed Forces saxophone quartets and jazz bands including the Navy Commodores, the BLAST Saxophone Quartet (Netherlands), the Choudhary Saxophone Quartet, the Dave Fletcher Saxophone Quartet, the Horgeshimer Saxophone Quartet, the Gallagher Saxophone Quartet, the Alesi Saxophone Quartet, the Eastman Saxophone Quartet, the Red Line Sax Quartet, the Morehead State University Sax Quartet, the Ohio University School of Music Sax Quartet, and the Coral Reef Sax Quartet. In 2014, the U.S. Army Jazz Ambassadors featuring Arturo Sandoval performed Calle’s Afro-Cuban big band jazz arrangement of Jingle Bells at the White House Christmas tree-lighting ceremony. His widely popular arrangement of the theme from I Love Lucy featured on the renowned Concord Records CD/DVD Jam Miami featuring Chick Corea, Arturo Sandoval, Ed Calle, Sheila E., Poncho Sanchez, and a gathering of legendary Latin jazz giants has been performed by innumerable jazz ensembles throughout the world.

Ed and Sari Calle live with their three children in South Florida where Ed serves as Full Tenured Professor of Music Business and Production at Miami Dade College. A member of the Afro-Cuban Funk Super group PALO!, the Miami Saxophone Quartet, the World Music 5, the 14 Jazz Orchestra, and the Jaco Pastorious Word of Mouth Revisited Big Band, Calle is also an in-demand product endorser and artist with D’Addario Woodwind Reeds, Selmer Paris Saxophones, MacSax Saxophones and mouthpieces, Jody Jazz mouthpieces, DynaSample Xpression Performance Synth, KIWI Woodwind Products, Wahrburton Neck Systems, and AMT microphones. Ed also owns and operates 36th Street Music and One-Take Recording Studios.

Always learning, Calle earned a Doctor of Higher Education Leadership from Nova Southeastern University where he graduated with a perfect 4.0 average. In addition to his passion for and study of music, Ed is a lifelong student of mathematics who is frequently asked to deliver lectures exploring the relationship between music and mathematics. Dr. Calle delivered the keynote address at the MAC^3 conference in 2007 and presents lectures on the topic at many schools and universities around the globe. Addressing one of America's greatest educational challenges, Dr. Calle's published doctoral dissertation, Remedial Mathematics: Online vs. Face-to-Face: Comparison of Online and Traditional Community College Math Remediation, compares the effectiveness of online and traditional remedial mathematics education.

Often acknowledged for his musical, academic, and civic contributions and accomplishments, Dr. Calle was awarded the 2015 Miami-Dade County Mayor’s Medal, named www.facultyawards.org 2014-2015 Outstanding Professor at Miami Dade College (college wide), and 2014 United Teachers of Dade Champion of Education for Arts and Entertainment. Following in the footsteps of legends like Desi Arnaz, Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, Arturo Sandoval, Pitbull, and Andy Garcia, Dr. Ed Calle was named 2013 King of Carnival Miami. In 2000, Calle served as musical director for the Grammy Awards broadcast of the Tito Puente tribute featuring Celia Cruz, Santana, Gloria Estefan, Ricky Martin, and an all-star band. Calle also served as the musical director for the very first Latin Grammy Awards broadcast from Miami, Florida. One of his most cherished honors, Calle performed at the 2005 Latin Grammy Awards broadcast as a legend of Latin Jazz alongside Israel “Cachao” Lopez, Arturo Sandoval, Bebo Valdes, Generoso Jiménez, and a host of other legendary Latin jazz masters.

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