Teen Town

Bassist and Loyalsock Township High School student Gabriel Severn will travel to New Orleans in January to be recognized at the 2020 Jazz Education Network (JEN) Conference. Severn will be awarded the Dr. Lou Fischer JEN Co-Founder Scholarship, which honors his contribution to the jazz industry. His composition “Song for Fina” has been selected to be performed by the U.S. Navy Commodores at the conference’s Young Composers Showcase.

“I’m really honored to receive these awards. I’m excited to be a part of the conference, and to meet, hear and learn from so many artists that I admire. It’ll be a great time,” Severn said.

JEN is dedicated to building the jazz arts community by advancing education, promoting performance and developing new audiences. The JEN conference brings thousands from around the globe for the annual event, now in its 11th year. The U.S. Navy Commodores, based in D.C., is the Navy’s premier jazz ensemble.

Severn is the recipient of five DownBeat Student Music awards, which are considered the most prestigious awards in jazz education and the educational equivalent to the Grammys. One of the DownBeat awards was for the composition “Song for Fina.” Severn’s love of the Brazilian bossa nova and samba inspired him, and he dedicated the tune to a close family friend for her birthday.

The original recording, released last year on all streaming platforms, features producer and Special EFX guitarist Chieli Minucci who is a multiple Emmy Award winner and multiple Grammy Award nominee. The recording also features Special EFX members Joel Rosenblatt on drums and Jay Rowe on keys.

In the past three years, Severn has appeared in numerous music festivals, played alongside many of his musical icons, and had his music spun on radio stations around the world. Now almost 15, he’s been performing since he was 7, and travels extensively to perform as a soloist and with his band, Teen Town.

Most recently he appeared as a guest performer and panelist at the 2019 Jazz Philadelphia Summit. He also appeared recently with Doug Wimbish, of Living Colour, at the 2019 Philadelphia WimBash, at the 2019 COTA Jazz Festival, at the 2019 Detroit BASSDAY, and at the 2019 Elkhart Jazz Festival.

Teen Town has toured throughout Pennsylvania and opened for major artists including Sheila E., the Victor Wooten Trio, the Tierney Sutton Band and the Original Drifters. They’ve taken the stage at many notable festivals and events, including the Berks Jazz Festival, the Dauphin County Wine and Jazz Festival, TEDx Harrisburg and the Scranton Jazz Festival. - Williamsport Sun Gazette

Just a few months after his first bass lesson at age 7, the young Gabriel Severn joined a Motown tribute band and learned to lay down a groove.

That band performed almost 100 times over the span of several years in Gabriel’s hometown in Pennsylvania, appearing at events, benefits, music festivals, and on radio and TV. At 12 Gabriel was featured on the Detroit Bass Players in the BASSMINT series, and now, at 14, Gabriel will be a special guest artist at Detroit’s annual BASSDAY event held at the Motown Museum and the Aretha Franklin Café.Gabriel developed a love for the bass before he could even talk. His intense devotion to music coupled with a desire to master the bass has taken him on a memorable journey: he’s won five DownBeat awards, performed coast to coast, appeared at many notable music festivals, performed alongside several of his musical heroes, recorded his award-winning original music with prominent jazz artists, and had his music spun on radio stations around the world – all before his 14th Birthday.

Gabriel’s musical sophistication and depth has earned him three 2019 and two 2018 DownBeat Student Music Awards, considered the most prestigious awards in jazz education and the educational equivalent to the GRAMMYs.

A love of Brazilian bossa nova and samba inspired Gabriel to write the tune “Song for Fina”, which he dedicated to a close family friend for her birthday. It evolved into a DownBeat award-winning composition, and he made his recording debut with “Song for Fina” in late 2018. His follow-up tune, “Kick Start”, was released in February and earned him a second DownBeat Award in composition. Guitarist Chieli Minucci, the multiple Emmy Award winner, multiple GRAMMY Award nominee, and Special EFX leader took the producer’s seat, and the project also features world-class Special EFX members Joel Rosenblatt (drums) and Jay Rowe (keys).

Jazz and fusion filled Gabriel’s ears as a baby and as a toddler, he’d call out “the bass! the bass!” in the car and at concerts.
The moment he was shown a Jaco Pastorius video at age 2, he was hooked. While learning the Motown classics with the tribute band, Gabriel would push himself by transcribing jazz and fusion bass solos. At age 11, he received international recognition with his video playing Jaco’s challenging bass solo in “Havona”. The video was followed by many more that showcased his diverse skills and musicianship, and his remarkable playing grabbed the attention of many, setting his professional career into motion. He became the first Markbass Rising Star, joined the Ernie Ball Music Man family of artists, and developed a custom line of bass strings made by Carlos Pavicich in France. He recently became an endorsing artist for the Paul Lairat Stega fretless bass, and he endorses several other companies, including Singular Sound, Advanced and Soundbrenner.

When Gabriel turned 12, he gathered some of central PA’s best and most promising young musicians to form the jazz fusion band, Teen Town. Teen Town has gone on to win a 2019 DownBeat award, has toured throughout Pennsylvania, and is taking audiences by storm audiences by storm with their fresh approach to fusion, their undeniable chemistry, and their exceptional talent and energy. While their name pays homage to one of the great jazz fusion tunes of the ’70s, their music spans several decades and genres, from originals to the Average White Band to Weather Report to Chick Corea. Teen Town has opened for a number of major artists, including the Victor Wooten Trio, the Tierney Sutton Band, and the Original Drifters, and they’ve appeared at many notable festivals and events, including the 2018 and 2019 Boscov’s Berks Jazz Festival, the 2017 and 2018 Dauphin County Wine & Jazz Festival, the Scranton Jazz Festival, and TEDx Harrisburg.

As a soloist, Gabriel has been a guest with many ensembles in the past seven years.
Those credits include performing at the 2018 and 2019 NAMM Shows in LA, the 2018 Dallas International Guitar Festival, the Berkshires Jazz Festival, and recently at the 2019 Philadelphia WimBash with Doug Wimbish of Living Colour. He’s studied with and been mentored by Victor Wooten, Anthony Wellington, Gerald Veasley, Adam Nitti, and many others. He’s had the honor of receiving scholarships and attending Wooten’s Bass/Nature Camp, the Berklee College of Music’s Groove School, the Central PA Jazz Camp, Gerald Veasley’s Bass Bootcamp, the Keystone Jazz Institute and the Uptown Music Collective.

For more information, please visit www.gabrielsevern.com - Bass Musician Magazine

Named after a composition by the late bassist Jaco Pastorius, the trio Teen Town are literally teens, ranging in age from 14 to 19, but playing jazz-rock fusion at a world-class level. They recently won a 2019 Down Beat Student Music award, and were a big hit at the 2018 Scranton Jazz Festival. - WVIA Public Radio

READING, Pa. - When does the student surpass the master?
"Gabriel, that's the bass player, Gabriel Severn, he's only like 14 and he's crushing it," said accomplished Washington D.C. bass player David Dyson. "He's incredible on the bass." Dyson sat in the back of a ballroom at the DoubleTree Hotel in Reading and noticed a familiar set of fingers on stage. "That was like my fourth time giving a master class there and he was there," Dyson recalled. "He could be giving one himself."As Dyson dissects his former student's riffs, he can't help but travel back in time. "I wasn't playing like that when I was 14," Dyson said.
Meanwhile, just down the hall, is a woman who grew up in a unique environment made up of music and joyful jazz mayhem. "We were the loud, crazy house with lots of music," explained Teri Webb, a Jazz DJ from Delaware. "It's the same kinda thing with artists like this, with festivals like this, you have a little boy who plays the bass," said Webb. And she says these stories can only happen right here. "It's so amazing to me that it's Reading and it's not New York, San Francisco, D.C., it's Reading". The festival runs through the weekend. - WFMZ TV 69

For Gabriel Severn, ever since he was a toddler it's been all about that bass.

“I was in the back seat of our car, and my dad would turn on the music, and I would always point out the bass,” Severn, 14, said in a recent telephone interview. “I'm pretty sure it was the low frequency that resonated with me. I was always drawn to it.”

The bass phenomenon's trio, Teen Town, will perform for the second time at Boscov's Berks Jazz Fest on Friday at 7:30 p.m. in Club ECP at the DoubleTree by Hilton Reading, along with Kayla Waters. Last year the trio opened for the Victor Wooten Trio.

Since his YouTube video — in which he played, note-for-note, the late Jaco Pastorius's solo from “Havona”—went viral, thanks to its being shared by Bass Players United on Facbook, Severn's career as a professional bass player has taken off.

As a result of the approximately 2.5 million views logged for his video, the bass/amp company Markbass designated him one of its “Rising Stars,” and he has performed at the NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) annual January showcase concerts in 2018 and 2019.

He has also performed in the Prodigy Concert at the Berkshires Jazz Festival in Massachusetts, and Teen Town has performed at festivals in Pennsylvania, opening for major artists like Tierney Sutton and the Original Drifters.

In addition to his growing number of appearances, he is part of the Ernie Ball Music Man (guitar/bass manufacturers) family of artists, and has even developed a custom line of strings made by Carlos Pavicich in France.

The mind boggles at this level of success for a 14-year-old in the jazz world.

How did it happen?

Severn was born in England to professional British jazz/fusion trumpeter Eddie Severn and former Michigan-born trumpeter Vivian Severn (she had to give up playing because of an ear problem). The family moved to the Poconos, then settled in Williamsport, where Eddie Severn is on the faculty at Lock Haven University.

When Gabriel was 7, he started lessons with a local teacher at the Uptown Music Collective, a community music school in Williamsport. After a couple of months of learning the basics of rock-style bass playing on a child-size, 28-inch electric bass, he began playing in the school's Motown/soul band, The Urban Souls.

Then, a year later, “I decided to start learning Jaco's “Teen Town,” because I always thought it was really cool. I found I actually could play it, and I wanted to keep going from there.”

In spite of his still struggling with hand coordination and having small hands, Severn succeeded in learning the solo, and recorded it for YouTube.

“Jaco has been my biggest influence,” he said. “I transcribed a lot of his stuff.”

Severn now studies with bassist Anthony Wellington — best known for being the other bassist in Victor Wooten's band — who runs a private music studio, Bassology, in Waldorf, Md. (where he also teaches by Skype), and who teaches at Wooten's Bass/Nature Camp and Gerald Veasley's BassBoot Camps.

Wellington encouraged Severn to attend a concert by Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, of which Wooten is a founding member, and met Wooten—who has since become a mentor — there. About a year later, he went to Wooten's camp outside Nashville, Tenn., on acres of natural land.

There, bass players from all over the country gather to participate in workshops and small ensembles taught by various guest artists, including Wooten, and also spend time hiking and learning about nature. They even learn to start fires by rubbing sticks of wood.

“Victor is a very groove-oriented player,” Severn said. “We learned a lot about how to fit into the pocket with the drummer, and how to play with a band, and how to work with singers and make them sound good by changing notes in a chord.”

He said he also read Wooten's book, “The Music Lesson,” which focuses on “taking music to a spiritual level.”

In spite of a hectic schedule that includes school, sports, performing, bass lessons, recording and composing, Severn said he doesn't feel a lot of pressure.

“Sometimes there's quite a bit of work with school, but I find a way to balance it out,” he said.

Currently, he said, he's starting to play drums “just a little bit,” and he's looking into learning piano “for the theory and harmonic knowledge,” and to help him in composing music.

Wellington has been teaching him theory along with bass technique.

As for the future, he hasn't decided yet about what he will do after he graduates from high school.

“I have a very open mind,” he said. “I know I want to play with as many people as I can.”

Written by Contact Susan L. Pena - Reading Eagle Consultant
Contact: life@readingeagle.com. - The Reading Eagle

The year 2018 was a big year for one youthful musician from Loyalsock Township, 14-year old Gabriel Severn, who might be regarded as somewhat of a prodigy on the electric bass. His musical journey is comparable to an artist at least twice his age. In the past year alone, Gabriel has won multiple awards, performed coast to coast, appeared at many notable music festivals, and recorded his award-winning original music with some of the world’s most prominent jazz artists — all before his 14th birthday. Gabriel’s musical aptitude resulted in him receiving two DownBeat Student Music Awards this year. These awards are considered the most prestigious in jazz education and the educational equivalent to the Grammys.
He made his recording debut with his DownBeat Award-winning tune “Song for Fina” on November 16, 2018. Gabriel’s love of Brazilian bossa nova and samba inspired him to write “Song for Fina,” which he dedicated to a close family friend for her birthday. On this project, Gabriel teamed up with multiple Emmy Award winner and multiple Grammy Award nominee Chieli Minucci, who produced and played guitar on the recording. Stellar world-class musicians and Special EFX members Joel Rosenblatt (drums) and Jay Rowe (keys) are also featured in the project.
His maiden voyage into composing demonstrates his musical sophistication and depth and is a step into new artistic paths.
“Right from the start, as I was growing up, I was surrounded by jazz music. Primarily because my dad is a professional trumpet player and jazz musician,” Gabriel told Webb Weekly. “So I grew up listening to jazz from a very young age.”
He continued, “For some reason, I was always drawn to the sound of the bass. I have a feeling it was because of the low frequency. But when I went to my dad’s gigs, I would always point out the bass. I used to sit in my dad’s lap as a toddler and watch videos of Jaco Pastorius.”
According to his parents, when he sat in his car seat as a baby, his ears were filled with jazz, fusion, and funk. He first learned to groove at age seven with the Uptown Music Collective’s Urban Souls, a Motown tribute band he joined just a few months after starting bass lessons with local teacher Tim Breon. The band gained significant recognition, performing at community events, benefits, music festivals, and on radio and TV. While learning the Motown classics, he would challenge himself by transcribing jazz and fusion bass solos. He received international recognition with a viral video at age 11, which set the wheels in motion for a professional career.
Gabriel is the first Markbass Rising Star, is an Ernie Ball Music Man artist, and developed a custom line of bass strings made by Carlos Pavicich in France. Several other companies also endorse him.
Although he played in a variety of bands after the Motown group, Gabriel wanted his own band, so at age 12 he gathered some of central Pennsylvania’s best and most promising young musicians and formed his jazz fusion band, “Teen Town.”
The band has toured throughout Pennsylvania and taken audiences by storm, opening for many major artists, including the Victor Wooten Trio, the Tierney Sutton Band, and the Original Drifters. “Teen Town” has appeared at many notable festivals and events, including the 2018 Boscov’s Berks Jazz Festival, the Dauphin County Wine & Jazz Festival, the Scranton Jazz Festival, and TEDx Harrisburg.
As a soloist, Gabriel has performed at the 2018 NAMM Show, the 2018 Dallas International Guitar Festival, the Berkshires Jazz Festival, and has been a guest with many ensembles in the past six years. He has studied with and been mentored by, many prominent bassists, including Victor Wooten, Anthony Wellington, and Adam Nitti. He’s had the honor of receiving scholarships to Wooten’s Bass/Nature Camp, the Berklee College of Music’s first Groove School, and has attended Gerald Veasley’s Bass Bootcamp, the Central PA Jazz Camp, the Keystone Jazz Institute and the Uptown Music Collective.
He was asked what it meant to have recorded with such world-class musicians.
“It’s great! I would never have known from when I started playing that I would have all these opportunities to play and record with such amazing players.”
Looking to the future, he said, “I would like to just study and play with as many great players as I can! I would like to do this professionally and write more music as well.”
It certainly looks like Gabriel Severn has a bright musical future ahead for himself. - Webb Weekly

The Pennsylvania Jazz Collective’s Christmas City Jazz Festival is not the most high profile musical event in the Lehigh Valley, but it is one of the best deals ($10 for 10 bands) and ranks at the top for musical quality.

About 350 people showed up at the Bethlehem Municipal Ice Rink for the third annual festival on Saturday. It was actually cool inside due to the rain outdoors. The festival ran 1-10 p.m., with acts generally doing 45 minute sets with a 15-minute intermission between each.

The electric fusion band Teen Town had Connor Rohrer on keyboards (18 years old), Logan Bedard on drums (16), and 13-year-old Gabriel Severn on five- and six-string basses. Severn amazed with his virtuosity, which probably inspired experienced bassists to increase their daily practice time. - The Morning Call

Excerpt from review:
Another trio, this one comprising teens from central Pennsylvania, opened the show.
Teen Town unassumingly walked onstage, then proceeded to floor the place with 30 minutes of jazz fusion covers from such luminaries as Weather Report and David Sanborn.
The group took its name from the Weather Report song written by and featuring fretless-bass wunderkind Jaco Pastorius. That song made an appearance in the set, with 13-year-old (!!!) bassist Gabriel Severn conjuring up the spirit of the late Jaco as his fingers effortlessly and tastefully flew across the neck. His slightly timid between-song comments revealed his age, but when he, 15-year-old drummer Logan Bedard and 18-year-old keyboardist Connor Rohrer launched into another song, you'd think you were listening to musicians much older than they are.
Like Wooten.
"I just realized backstage that I'm older than all three of those kids combined," Wooten joked.
The future is bright.
Contact Jon Fassnacht: 610-371-5017 or jfassnacht@readingeagle.com. - The Reading Eagle

Also playing the Miller Center will be Wooten, who has played the festival several times, but now is performing in a trio with Dennis Chambers and Bob Frabceschini.

Ernesto says he’s excited by that show’s opening act: Teen Town, led by Gabriel Severen, who at just 12 is “a killer bass player,” Ernesto says. The other members are 15 and 18. “I saw them play live and I couldn’t believe what I was watching from these kids,” Ernesto says. - The Morning Call