Jazz Articles about Mike DiRubbo

About Mike DiRubbo

Album Review

Mike DiRubbo: Way Out Northwest

Read "Way Out Northwest" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
August 24, 2026

Some recordings try to overwhelm the listener with grand statements. With Way Out Northwest, alto saxophonist Mike DiRubbo is not trying to reinvent modern jazz but to remind us how rewarding it can be when four musicians know one another, allowing the music to develop through relationships built over time. Pianist Tilden Webb, bassist Jodi Proznick and drummer Jesse Cahill have shared enough club dates with DiRubbo to know each other's preferences. The track list of six original compositions, alongside pieces ...

Album Review

Mike DiRubbo: Way Out Northwest

Read "Way Out Northwest" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
August 12, 2026

Alto saxophonist and composer Mike DiRubbo, an acclaimed artist on the New York City jazz scene for more than three decades, traveled all the way to Vancouver, British Columbia, in October 2025 to record Way Out Northwest with a hand-picked all-Canadian rhythm section: pianist Tilden Webb, bassist Jodi Proznick and drummer Jesse Cahill. The result of their collaboration is a sturdy, swinging slice of contemporary jazz embracing half a dozen of DiRubbo's eloquent original compositions and others by ...

Liner Notes

Mike DiRubbo: Human Spirit

by C. Andrew Hovan
February 26, 2023

In an era that seems to more fully embrace the idea of the 'tough young tenor,' alto saxophonist Mike DiRubbo puts forth a singular voice that stands apart from the crowd. With exceptions such as Kenny Garrett, Steve Wilson, and Vincent Herring, DiRubbo is one of the few musicians of this generation to choose the alto horn as his main axe, although his sound and approach seems heavily rooted in the conventions of the tenor and its many historic practitioners. ...

Liner Notes

Steve Davis: Systems Blue

by C. Andrew Hovan
February 25, 2023

From Kid Ory to Roswell Rudd, the role of the trombone has changed dramatically over the brief span of jazz history, as we know it. Whether it be keeping a beat via the style of “tailgating," exploring a multitude of textural possibilities through the challenges of the avant-garde, or working somewhere in that middle ground that we call mainstream jazz, the instrument has remained a highly expressive vehicle for communication within the idiom. It's somewhat surprising then that a fairly ...

Album Review

Mike DiRubbo: Threshold

Read "Threshold" reviewed by Edward Blanco

by Edward Blanco
March 21, 2014

New York-based alto saxophonist Mike DiRubbo is one of the most recognizable and formidable forces in the jazz world today. A former student of the late great jazz icon Jackie McLean and a fixture in the Big Apple's vibrant jazz scene, DiRubbo is no novice. He has a substantial discography, and experience performing with some of the best players in the world. The adventurous Threshold is the artist's eighth album as leader where--with the exception of Charlie Parker's Bebop classic ...

Album Review

Mike DiRubbo: Threshold

Read "Threshold" reviewed by Hrayr Attarian

by Hrayr Attarian
March 18, 2014

Mike DiRubbo's eight disc as a leader, Threshold finds the ever inventive alto saxophonist in a solidly hard bop environment that is reminiscent of Blue Note records of the 1950s but has a clear modern edge. In addition to leading a superb and sympathetic quintet, DiRubbo penned eight of the nine tracks on this riveting record with a momentum that never slacks from the first note to the last.DiRubbo's acerbic, passionate tone marks his tight and intelligent improvisations ...

574

Take Five With...

Take Five With Mike DiRubbo

by AAJ Staff
January 31, 2011

Meet Mike DiRubbo:Born on July 25, 1970 in New Haven, Connecticut, Mike DiRubbo began his musical life as a junior high school clarinetist, and switched to alto saxophone at 12. A primarily self-taught saxophonist, he developed into a talented instrumentalist drawn inexorably to the notion of improvising. At a high school band concert, Mike had the opportunity to perform with the Dwike Mitchell--Willie Ruff duo, an experience that would add to his desire to be a professional musician ...