In his own words Woodvine describes his
music as "A creative expedition that affects its listeners on both
the emotional and intellectual levels." Andre's early experience with
improvisation began in a junior high school band; "We would try to
vary the melody without our teacher noticing." says Andre. Woodvine's
interest in jazz blossomed when he attended Berklee College of Music.
Over the past 17 years, Andre's music has taken him to stages across
the Caribbean, North America and Europe where audiences have enjoyed
his passionate tone, exciting improvisations and unique compositions.
In 1992 Andre won the Caribbean Song Competition with his piece 'Hold
You In A Song'. He has produced two CDs of original Caribbean Jazz,
Voyager in 1995 and Citronella in 1998.
Other highlights of Andre's career include a special one-hour performance
entitled 'Jazz in the sun' broadcast frequently on BET the cable jazz
channel. In 2001 Andre performed an original composition to an audience
of millions across Canada on the popular Canadian television's Mike
Bullard show. Woodvine's musical interests have extended to the development
of Caribbean Jazz through education. In 1998 Andre assisted in the
formation of the first Associate Degree of Music programme at the
Barbados Community College, where he now teaches part-time.
Andre currently enjoys a close association with the Martinique
jazz group Fal Fret with whom he has recorded two cds 'Live at L'Atrium,
(2002) and Blue Outremer (2003) Andre's recent activities include concerts
in Martinique, the St. Lucia Jazz festival, Guadeloupe, London England
and the 2003 Barbados Jazz festival.
The Cool Jazz May performance was entitled
‘Night of Bajan Jazz Icons’ and featured Andre Woodvine
and Adrian Clarke backed by Richard Evans and Dave Burnette.
Andre pleased his many fans by playing
several of his original compositions.
