Home » Member Page

Blaise Siwula

Blaise has been performing and recording in NYC since 1989 on saxophones & clarinets spontaneous composed music.

About Me

Blaise Siwula Born 02-19-1950 in Detroit, MI I have been involved with the arts for most of my life. I began studying the alto sax at the age of 14 in middle school and have been playing/ studying in varying capacities since.

After periodic explorations of drama, poetry, architecture, visual art, a B.F.A. and an M.F.A. and a stint in Europe, I arrived in NYC in 1989 with my family and an alto sax. In the past 26 years I have been actively involved with the NYC Improv Scene: Amica Bunker, the Improvisers Collective and most recently the C.O.M.A. series at ABC No-Rio since 1998. As a composer I have incorporated traditional musical scoring techniques with visual/graphical and performance oriented presentations and a simple philosophy- sound and vision are inter-related in life and art resulting in communication. As a performer I have been honored to perform in a number of states in the USA and Canada as well countries such as Great Britain, Holland, Switzerland, Germany, Romania, Poland, Croatia, Morocco, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, The Philippines, Portugal, Mexico, Slovenia, Denmark, South Korea and Austria.

Although primarily an alto saxophonist I play a number of reed, flute, percussion and string instruments at varying degrees of competency per composition requirements and recently began including computer altered sound files in performance as background for improvisation. Currently my instruments of choice are: Alto, Tenor & Soprano Saxophones Bb Clarinet, Eb Alto Cl & Bb Bass Cl This has resulted in my performing and collaborating with an extreme variety of types of improvised musicians including...

David Haney, Richard Russo,Guitarist Sten Hostfalt Saulo Ferreira, Danny Martin, Paul LeGrande & Stuart King Doug Walker's Alien Planetscapes Cecil Taylor's Ptonagas Microtone composer and guitarist John Gilbert William Hooker's Ensembles, Judy Dunaway's Balloon Trio Rowe Siwula Miano Trio Dialing Privileges Trio w. Dom Minasi & John Bollinger BCJ Trio with Chris Welcome & John McCellan A + B2 with Robert Marsh Market Street Jazz w. Ken Simon, Hal Onserud, Karen Borca & Jackson Krall Dagaz Trio w. William Parker & Michael Evans BE Duet w. Evan Gallagher Tan Dun Katsuyuki Itakura - “Big Hearts” and now “New York Encuentro” Michael Khoury The Improvisors Collective (NYC), Glass Factory w. Donald Miller, Duet with Ravi Padmanabha, The B & B Duet w. Bob Meyer Erie Nites w. Robyn Siwula, HSM w. Gary Hassay & Toshi Makihara, Trio with Eyal Maoz & Dale Miller, The Jeff Platz Ensemble Joseph Scianni, Jeffrey Hayden Shurdut Music in the Foreground w. Ge-Suk Yeo, the Slam trio w. Adam Lane & Toshi Makihara, The Lower Eastside Social Club w. Matty Paris, Gregory Wildes, Christobal Jacques and Drew Gardner, Expositions of Freedom Now! w. Vattel Cherry & Jeff Arnal, MAMBO MANTIS w. Bonnie Kane, Chris Welcome & Ray Sage, Guitarist Carsten Radtke

I have been honored also to work with these musicians and composers - Peter Kowald, John Fischer, Perry Robinson, Newman Taylor Baker, John Voigt, Wilber Morris Clare De Brunner, Joseph Daly, Vincent Chancey, Christoph Irmer, Maria de Alvear, Theo Jorgesmann, Ralff Schussel, Hans Tammen, Killick, Phillip Lang, Tini Hagler, Michael Zerang, Fred Lomberg Holmes, Stan Nishimura, Nils Gerod, Jesse Henry, Louis Barnes, Mark Hennen, Rashid Bakar, Pelthead, Fly, Frank Keeley, Christian Begemann, Pieter Prije, Olaf Rupp, Harri Sjorstrom, Richard Keene, Tor Snyder, Bob Littman, Matt Weston, Eric Zinman, Glynnis Lomon, Tatsuya Nakatani, Dominic Duval, Jay Rosen, Heiner Metzger, Hans Schüttler, Likas Ligeti, Sarah Weaver, James Ilgenfritz, Motoko Shimizu, Ed Chang, Brian Osborne, Raoul Björkenheim, Sei Mguel, Fala Mariam, Margarida Garcia, Manuel Mota, Ernesto Rodrigues, Guilherme Rodrigues, Moe Staiano, Hill Greene, Joe McPhee, Daniel Carter, Christopher Forbes, Bern Nix, Paul Hession, Francois Grillot, Yuki Saga, Ryusaku Ikezawa, Jiro Shoda, Syd Smart, Mario Rechtern, Jacques Nobili, Hannes Schweiger, Hermann Stangassinger, John Edwards, Mick Beck, Paul Moore, Mike Fortune, Kit Demos, Gary Wallen, Django Carranza, Brian Groder, Jordon Schranz, Mike Pride, Alan Wilkinson

Selected Discography:

Now Available on NoFrillsMusic.com

“Songs for Albert” Shiro Onuma drums Blaise Siwula reeds

“Beneath the Ritual” Luciano Troja piano, Blaise Siwula reeds John Murchison bass “Past the Future” Blaise Siwula reeds, Carsten Radtke guitar Joe Hertenstein drums ”Sometimes The Journey Is A Vision” D'istante3 - Blaise Siwula reeds, Luciano Troja piano & Giancarlo Mazzù guitar/drums/vocals

“Mérida Encuentro- Mérida Swings” Blaise Siwula reeds, Armando Martin guitar, Edgar Caamal drums and Alvar Canto Torres guitar

“Blaise Siwula Live in London” Blaise Siwula solo tenor sax clarinet plus one duet track with Alan Wilkinson bari sax

“New York Encuentro” Katsyuki Itakura piano Blaise Siwula alto/tenor sax and Richard Gilman-Opalsky drums SLAM Records: ”D'istante3” Giancarlo Mazzù guitar/drums/vocals, Luciano Troja piano and Blaise Siwula reeds

Konnex Records: “Fulgornatus” Blaise Siwula alto/tenor sax & clarinet John Gilbert guitar

Projection: Zero Blaise Siwula alto/tenor sax Carsten Radtke guitar

The Total Improvisation Unit 1. New York Moments with Blaise Siwula alto/tenor&sop sax Dom Minasi guitar Nobu Stowe piano Ray Sage drums 2. Brooklyn Moments with Blaise Siwula alto/tenor sax, bass cl. & flutes Nobu Stowe piano Ray Sage drums\

Big Hearts (Cadence Jazz Records) - Katsuyuki Itakura piano Blaise Siwula alto/tenor sax / cl Ryusaku Ikezawa drums

The Slam Trio (Cadence Jazz Records) - Blaise Siwula alto/tenor/sop. Adam Lane bass Toshi Makihara drums

Tandem Rivers (Cadence Jazz Records) - Blaise Siwula reeds & Adam Lane bass

One Eyed Jack (Cadence Jazz Records) - Joseph Scianni piano, Blaise Siwula reeds, Ken Filiano bass & Hal Onserud bass

Sound Scapes - Denmarkâs Intuitive Music Conference 2001Concerts in Copenhagen DK

Orange Bird & Pink Bat (Art.Cappuccinet.Com) Ge-Suk Yeo vocals & Blaise Siwula reeds

Badlands(C.J.R)- Expositions of Freedom ....Now! B. Siwula/V. Cherry/J. Arnal

Duet - Blaise Siwula alto sax, Dom Minasi acoustic guitar Blaise Siwula Trio - Dialing Privileges (CIMP) Blaise Siwula al. sax. Dom Minasi 12 strg. guitar, John Bollinger drums

ROWE-SIWULA-MIANO - Tim Rowe drms, Blaise Siwula rds/perc.,Tonino Miano kybrd rsm001 1995

sax Solo sax -solo- sax improvisations 1-11-2000..... Blaise Siwula alto sax

Watch Out! - solo sax imperovisations 1-09-2001..... Blaise Siwula alto/sop sax

Publications that have reviewed my projects include: Option, High Performance, Cadence Jazz Magazine, JazzOSphere (Fr), Modern Drummer, Jazzimprov (Fr), Jazz Times, All About Jazz, All Music Guide, Geocities, Pittsburgh Tribune, Columbia Spectator (Columbia U. NYC), Flagpole (Athens GA) and One Final Note. VENUES and/or FESTIVALS, CONCERTS, EVENTS NYC- Knitting Factory, Roulette, CBGBâs, CBâs 313 Gallery, CBGBâs Lounge,Brecht Forum, Under Acme, Cooler, Amica Bunker Fest-ivals 92-93, Symphony Space, Gargoyle Mechanique, Jerome Cooper Gallery, ABC No Rio, Amos Eno Gallery, University Settlement, Brownies, Stork Festival 1994, Angel Orensanz Foundation, U.N. Chapel. Context - Improvisors Collective 94-95, Cornelia Street, PS 122, Pink Pony, Saint Peters - Jazz Concert, Vespers and All Night Soul, The Alternative Museum, Triad Theatre, Three Jewels Cafe, I&O Festival 2002 Brooklyn, NYCaravan of Dreams, Rapp Art Center, Cave Canem Crazy Nannyâs, Gas Station, New Theatre for the Performing Arts, Viva House Benefit, 6th Street Garden La Perla Garden, La Mama La Galleria, St. Marks Dance Space, DIA, 5C, WKCR, WFMU, 1st St. Cafe, 3rd St. Music School, Vision for the 21st Century,Spiral, Nightengale, Washington Sq.Church, Sothebyâs Atlanta, GA Eyedrum 2001/02, Athens GA 2001/2002, Cullowee NC 2002, Tucson AZ 2001- Matt BeveklInstitute, Pittsburgh, PA(Pub. Health Aud), Boxheart Gallery 2001/Baltimore MD(Redroom)/ Washington DC(MOCA Gallery)/New Orleans, LA(Mermaid Lounge)/Atlanta, GA (WREK&Eyedrum)/Athens, GA(Engine Room)/ Louisville, KY(ArtWatch)/ Cahattanooga, TN(Lamarâs) 2-28/3-10-01Boston, MA - Zeitgeist 9-2000/11-2000, Middle Eastern 2-99East Hampton- FlyWheel 9-00, 11-00 Koln, Germany - The Loft w. Maria de Alvera, Theo Jorgesmann, Ralff Schussel 94 Bremen- MIB w. Nils Gerold, Michael Drews & Christoph Irmer 96 Hagan- Werkhof Hohenlimburg, Wuppertal- Gallerie Epikur & Dusseldorf- R. Steiner Sch. w.Agora II Kassel- Schlachof w. Hans Tammen, Martin Speicher, Ove Volquartz & Christoph Irmer 96Berlin- Anorak w. Harri Sjorstrom & Olaf Rupp 96, Bern & Zurich, SWD-WIM w. H. Hani & G. Muller 94 Foto-Gallerie w. Phillip Lang & Tini Hagler Amsterdam, The NLD- Binnen Pret, Quelle, De ConcertZender w. Tim Rowe & Tonino Miano 95, Nov. 2002 Tour with Ge-Suk Yeo -Amsterdam, Hamburg, Darmsatdt,Berlin, Hildesheim & Szczecin Poland Eindhoven, The Netherlands- Het Apollohuis - ãNowHereä w. Tim Rowe & Tonino Miano 95 Poughkeepsie, N.Y.- The Masc Center for the Performing Arts w. NY ensemble 90 Cleveland, Ohio- The Cleveland Center for the Performing Arts w. Evan Gallagher 90 Chicago, Ill- Lunar Cabaret w. Bob Marsh and Michael Zareng 96 Ypsilanti, Michigan- WEMU w. Bob Marsh 87,88 New Haven, Conn..- ART SPACE, Yale, St Patrickâs, May Day on the Commons w. Stan Nishimura 92,93,99,00, 01 Hartford Conn.- U. of Conn. w. William Hooker 94 Princeton, New Jersey - w. W. Hooker, M. Hennen, L. Barnes and R. Keene 97 Providence, Rhode Island - Rhode Island School of Design w. William Hooker & Jesse Henry 96Philadelphia, PA- Phil. Music Festival 1995 w, W. Hooker & D. Walker, 5 Spot w. W.H. 97Windsor (Artists Perf. Co-operative),Toronto&Montreal (CKUT- McGill U.), Canada w. Pelthd.Detroit -Contemporary Art Gallery 11-99, Entropy 11-00/6-02 (Artist Market, River front Festival, Paradigm Dance Studio, Mich. Gallery), Ann Arbor (Art Festival), Canterbury House Ann Arbor 11/2002, Rochester (Jewish Cultural Center), Pontiac (ISIS) and Royal Oak (Olympiad of Theatrical Events), Mich. w. Paradigm Dance Theatre and (a+b)2 84-89 San Francisco, California (1972-76 Coffee Houses) Big Sur Experimental Music Fest 5-2000 The Aladdin Tour with National Touring Musicals to Singapore, Bangkok, Thailand, Manila, Philippines and Hong Kong. 12/6/ 94 to 1/12/95. TV Commercial - Calvin Klein Escape Perfume 1994....Wooden Flute.