Career
Napoleon performs as sideman and leader. He also arranges and produces for his own recordings and for other artists. He has led an organ trio with Quincy Davis on drums, and Jared Gold on Hammond B3 organ. They have toured throughout the United States and the United Kingdom, where they did a concert for BBC radio and played several clubs. He has also led a sextet, with Gold, Davis, Josh Brown on trombone, Frank Basile on baritone sax, and Justin Walter on trumpet.
He also tours internationally with singer/pianist Freddy Cole. He is the guitarist on Cole's 2009 release, The Dreamer in Me, and performs on and arranged the music for Cole's Grammy-nominated 2010 release, Freddy Cole Sings for Mr. B. and Cole's 2011 release, Talk to Me. Napoleon has appeared on TV with Cole, on a 2007 PBS special and on the 2009 Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Telethon.
The Randy Napoleon Trio appears on two CDs, Enjoy the Moment and Randy Napoleon: Between Friends. Both feature organist Jared Gold, and drummer Quincy Davis. They have been compared to Wes Montgomery's organ trio. Between Friends, a 2006 release from Azica Records, features the trio on half the tracks and a quartet on the other, with Davis, bassist David Wong, and Benny Green on piano. The Randy Napoleon three-horn sextet appears on his 2012 release, The Jukebox Crowd.
Napoleon has also toured with Benny Green(2000–2001), Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, CHJO (2003–2004) and Michael Bublé (2004–2007). He has appeared on TV in Japan with CHJO and throughout Europe and the United States with Bublé.
His U.S. TV appearances with Bublé include David Letterman, Jay Leno, The View, The Today Show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Regis and Kelly, Dancing with the Stars, the Radio Music Awards, Entertainment Tonight, and a PBS special, Caught in the Act, which is available on DVD/CD from Reprise Records. He has also appeared on TV with Sachal Vasandani and others.
Napoleon has also performed with jazz artists including The Bill Charlap Trio and Rodney Whitaker. He has appeared with cabaret artists including Eric Comstock and Barbara Fasano, and has worked with musicians from his own generation, such as Josh Brown (trombone), Gerald Clayton (piano), Justin Ray (trumpet), Julius Tolentino (saxophone), and vocalists Melissa Morgan and Sachal Vasandani.
Napoleon has played in venues across the United States, including Lincoln Center, The Hollywood Bowl, The Kennedy Center, Radio City Music Hall and throughout the world, such as Royal Albert Hall in London, and the Sydney Opera House in Australia.
| “ | There are always going to be people that seek out music that's heartfelt. The hardest part is doing the music justice and playing it as well as it can be played. The blessing we have is these old recordings of past jazz masters. | ” |
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