MORGAN FAW
SAXOPHONIST/BANDLEADER/COMPOSER/ARRANGER
CD RELEASE SHOW!! ⬇️
The Flame, as in "Keepers of the Flame," (2021 - Present)
"I have always wanted to lead a group where we collectively gave ourselves the space to create seperately or collaboratively. One of the many lessons my mentor, Ralph Peterson taught me was to not wait by the phone for a big break. He encouraged us to make our our path, give us our own big break, so I took that as my que to just get going!"
This group is a family. That is my favorite part about this group, that i get to play alongside my best friends...my brothers.
Their first record, “It Takes a Village” is a collection of tunes Faw wrote in dedication to his mentors, family, and many life lessons he has learned through his experiences as a person and as an aspiring musician.
“There is a long history of art benefiting from Black Culture globally! So, instead of trying to find a way to benefit from Black Culture and Art, I wanted my music to be “something to bring to the table- so to speak. A Thank you to something that has given me so much. Thats what The Flame is, that is what “It Takes a Village” is. It is my first, of hopefully many, contributions to the culture that is Black American Music.” - Faw
Christian Napoleon, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, started playing the drums at age 3. He has performed alongside many different artists over his career, some include Ralph Peterson and his GenNext Bigband, Melissa Aldana, Tomoki Sanders and Morgan Faw.
Napoleon is a student at Berklee College of Music, where he is studying music business/management with world-renowned musicians such as Ralph Peterson, Neal Smith, Dave Santoro. He performs with Tomoki Sanders in VISAGE, a genre-bending group that focuses on jazz improvisation with elements of experimental R&B and electronic music.
Drums
Bass
Bassist Isaac Coyle originally hails from the California Bay Area. He began his musical studies on guitar at the age of 6, but switched to primarily playing bass at the age of 14. While in high school Isaac had the opportunity to study under many fantastic musicians such as Howard Wiley, Ben Wolfe, Jeff Chambers and others. He was also a part of honor bands such as the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra and SFjazz High School All-Stars, while continuing to gig frequently around the Bay Area. He graduated from El Cerrito High School in 2019 and currently attends the Berklee College of Music in Boston on a full tuition scholarship, studying with World Renowned Artists such as Bassist Linda May-Oh as well as Saxophonist Tia Fuller . In his first year, Isaac had the brief opportunity to also play in Ralph Petersons GenNext Bigband (alongside Morgan Faw and Christian Napoleon).
Piano
JT Ho-Mueller is a Pianist from Charlotte, SC, currently attending Berklee College of Music. He has studied with Alam Mulay while at the school.
He got his start on playing with saxophonist Seventhsun all over the Boston, MA scene as well as performing on his debut record.
It was through his connection to Seventhsun, that he was introduced to Morgan Faw and Christian Napoleon. Over the next year, Ho-Mueller would become close with Faw and Napoleon, compelling Faw to hire him to tour with his band The Flame.
