Jazz Articles about Rob Dixon

About Rob Dixon

Album Review

Saxophonist Rob Dixon, who has called Naptown (aka Indianapolis) home for most of his adult life, salutes the city's enviable jazz heritage on Naptown Soul, leading a splendid quartet through its paces on four of his original compositions (one of which opens the album and three of which close it), a pair by Indy legend Wes Montgomery and two others. Guitarist Dave Stryker and organist Sam Fribush are in the starting lineup (with drummer Richard Sleepy" Floyd), and ...

Liner Notes

Steve Allee: Naptown Sound

by Steve Allee
May 8, 2025

Submitted on behalf of Kyle Long, Producer/Host at WFYI in Indianapolis.If you ask the average music fan to name the greatest jazz cities in America, it's unlikely that Indianapolis would top their list. That's a shame, as those familiar with the city's history know better. They see the unique fingerprints of Indianapolis musicians across the broad timeline of jazz. In all fairness, Indianapolis, or Naptown as we locals affectionately call it, doesn't have the unrivaled depth ...

Album Review

Leah Crane: Lucky to Be Me

Read "Lucky to Be Me" reviewed by Jane Kozhevnikova

by Jane Kozhevnikova
August 23, 2022

Hailing from Indianapolis and based in Chicago, versatile singer Leah Crane released Lucky to Be Me in 2022 after working on it since 2019. Joining her on the album is Paul Langford, a Chicago-based singer, arranger, keyboardist, producer and conductor. The album also features Rob Dixon on saxophone, Daniel Duarte on guitar, Shawn Sommer on bass and Tom Hipskind on drums. Lucky To Be Me has a variety of instrumentation ranging from a duet to an ...

Album Review

Charlie Ballantine: Vonnegut

Read "Vonnegut" reviewed by Mark Sullivan

by Mark Sullivan
January 4, 2021

Indianapolis-based guitarist/composer Charlie Ballantine took his inspiration from iconic American novelist Kurt Vonnegut for this project, the most complex set of music in his already lengthy and varied recording career. He was joined by fellow Indianapolis musicians: saxophonist Rob Dixon, saxophonist/clarinetist Amanda Gardier, pianist Mina Keohane, bassist Jesse Wittman and drummer Cassius Goens. Dixon, Gardier and Wittman have appeared on several prior Ballantine recordings, so there is a strong base of shared experience to draw upon. Kurt Vonnegut ...

Album Review

Derrick Gardner & The Big dig! Band: Still I Rise

Read "Still I Rise" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
July 23, 2020

Trumpeter Derrick Gardner, a Chicagoan who has performed around the world with a who's who of jazz luminaries from Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie and Frank Foster to Nancy Wilson, Tony Bennett and Harry Connick Jr., to name only a few, traveled to Winnipeg, Canada, to assemble and record his Big Dig! Band, several sizes removed from Gardner's sextet, The Jazz Prophets, a working group since it was formed in New York City in 1991. Gardner not only shines as trumpet ...

Album Review

Rob Dixon: Coast to Crossroads

Read "Coast to Crossroads" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki

by Chris M. Slawecki
January 18, 2019

"The album is called Coast to Crossroads because I'm based in Indiana, the Crossroads state, but I also work a lot on the West Coast and East Coast," explains saxophonist Rob Dixon, who leads this trio session with drummer Mike Clark and seven-string funk guitar maven Charlie Hunter (who also served as producer), plus occasional guest trombonist Ernest Stuart. Personal connections between the three principals enable their musical connections to flow richly and deep: Indianapolis Jazz Hall of ...

Album Review

The Rob Dixon Trio: Coast to Crossroads

Read "Coast to Crossroads" reviewed by Mark Sullivan

by Mark Sullivan
August 13, 2018

Saxophonist Rob Dixon, who mainly plays a muscular tenor sax here, is based in Indiana (the Crossroads state) but also works a lot on the East and West Coasts--hence the album title. He has done three tours with guitarist Charlie Hunter's band, and the 7-string guitar phenomenon returns the favor here by both playing and producing the album. The core band is completed by legendary drummer Mike Clark (who made his name playing with pianist/composer Herbie Hancock in the 1970s), ...