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Drummer and Composer Nasar Abadey is the founder, leader and driving force of SUPERNOVA®. This band performs music from the threshold of Jazz to beyond space and time, while having an artistic license to express their compositions through traditional African rhythms, bebop, fusion, Afro-Cuban, Afro Brazilian, modal and free form. The band’s musical inspirations include, but are not limited to, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie and many more. Based in Washington, DC Abadey has also built a solid reputation as a sideman with several groups, and has performed with many national artists throughout his career. Abadey began playing drums at age five, drawing influences from powerhouse drummers such as Tony Williams, Max Roach, Roy Haynes, Elvin Jones, Art Blakey and cousin Frankie Dunlop, to name a few. Nasar Abadey creates music which he refers to as Multi-D: multi-dimensional, multi-directional.
Nasar Abadey’s band SUPERNOVA’s® debut CD, Mirage was released on Amosaya Records, and his sophomore CD Diamond In The Rough was released on DPC Records. SUPERNOVA® was selected by the US State Department and the Lincoln Center as Ambassadors to tour with the American Music Abroad Rhythm Road. This one month tour took them to five (5) countries in East Africa; Rwanda, Uganda, Ethiopia, Zambia, and Mozambique. Abadey has performed with many jazz greats, and has appeared in various music festivals internationally. His credits include: Amiri Baraka, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Rouse, Gary Bartz, David Sanchez, Cyrus Chestnut, Gregory Porter, Sonny Fortune, Ella Fitzgerald, Eartha Kitt, Kenny Kirkland, Gary Thomas, Stanley Turrentine, Sun Ra, Frank Morgan, Bobby Hutchinson, Pharaoh Sanders, Russell Malone, Malachi Thompson, Andrew White, and others.
Mr. Abadey’s Eleven Piece (11) piece SUPERNOVA® Chamber Orchestra, which includes strings, was invited by Jason Moran to the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage to perform in recognition of International Jazz Appreciation Day. The Washington Renaissance Orchestra, Abadey’s sixteen piece (16) big band premiered a concert at the historic Lincoln Theatre in Washington, DC as a tribute to African American Music Month (June). Abadey often includes vocals with these ensembles, and is the founder and artistic director of both.
On two separate occasions the Strathmore Mansion in Rockville, MD honored Mr. Abadey as the Artist in Resident (AIR) Mentor first for vocalist, Integrity Reeves, and drummer, Isabelle DeLeon; and the following year to mentor soul vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, Dante Pope; and alto saxophonist, Trey Sorrells.
Additionally, he has appeared in various festivals including the San Remo (Italy), Montreal (Canada), Cap City (DC), Virgin Island (Caribbean), JVC (NYC), Morocco (Africa), Chicago Jazz Festival, Iowa City Jazz Festival, D.C. Loft Jazz Festival, Atlanta Jazz Festival, Mellon Bank Jazz Festival, (Philadelphia), The East Coast Jazz Festival, the Free World Jazz Festival (DC), International Children’s Festival (Seattle), Guatemala City Jazz Festival, Duke Ellington Festival, DC Jazz Festival, and the Mid Atlantic Jazz Festival among others.
Mr. Abadey is currently a Professor of Jazz Percussion in the Jazz Studies Department at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD http://peabody.jhu.edu/faculty/nasar-abadey/
AWARDS AND HONORS
On this auspicious evening, the DC Jazz Festival bestowed its annual Lifetime Achievement Awards on Chucho Valdés, and DC drummer-educator-bandleader Nasar Abadey, in recognition of their stellar contributions to the art form. Past Lifetime Achievement Award recipients include: Billy Hart, Sadao Watanabe, Roy Haynes, Ron Carter, Kenny Barron, James Moody, Ellis Marsalis, George Wein, Buck Hill, Hank Jones, Clark Terry, Billy Taylor, and Dave Brubeck.
Nasar Abadey and SUPERNOVA’s® musical presentation demonstrates an array of Colors, Textures and Grooves!
Endorsements:
Sonor Drums, Sabian Cymbals, Vic Firth Sticks and Remo Drum Heads
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Email: nasar@nasarabadey.com
Phone Contact: 202-412-1002
