Results for "saxophone, alto"

François Carrier

Born: June 5, 1961

Alto saxophonist and improviser François Carrier is definitely going his own way. Carrier singular vision has led him to maintain a wide recorded presence all over the world. His rich, deep playing that blends lyricism with boldness and a sense of surpassing one’s self has earned him a place in the Annual International Critic’s Poll of El Intruso of El Intruso 2018, 2017 as well as 2015 and in the DownBeat’s 2013 Best Alto Sax Players List. In 2001 he won a Juno Award in the Best Contemporary Jazz Album category for his third album Compassion (Naxos Jazz). To date, François combines an impressive discography of over 35 internationally acclaimed albums with legendary musicians such as Paul Bley, Gary Peacock, Bobo Stenson, Tomasz Stanko, Uri Caine, Jason Moran, Dewey Redman, Mat Maneri, Sonny Greenwich, Jean-Jacques Avenel, John Edwards, Steve Beresford, Rafal Mazur, etc

Smirnov Andrew

Born: April 2, 1985

Richard Underhill

Richard Underhill's wonderful warm alto sound, great writing and arranging skills and in-from-the-outside soloing make him one of Canada's most distinctive jazz performers. Richard won a 2003 Juno Award for his jazz solo debut 'Tales from the Blue Lounge' and was nominated for the Prix du Jazz at the 2003 Montreal Jazz Festival. The founding member of Toronto's acclaimed Shuffle Demons, he has toured Europe and Canada to critical acclaim for over 22 years. A truly original jazz composer and arranger, Richard's exciting original music captivates audiences with singable melodies, outstanding musicianship and engaging performances

Patrick Cornelius

Born: September 4, 1978

After 18 years in New York City, alto saxophonist and composer Patrick Cornelius has cultivated a substantial body of work as a composer and bandleader, and performed his original music in some of the world’s top jazz venues. Hailed as “self-assured" and “resourceful" by The New York Times, “Elegant" and “Extraordinary" by DownBeat Magazine (in whose annual Critics Poll he has been listed among the “Rising Stars" multiple times), and “Bold and Gifted," by All About Jazz, Cornelius’ discography of six albums as a leader (and two as co-leader) features established masters (like Jeff Ballard and Frank Kimbrough) as well as rising stars (including Gerald Clayton, Kendrick Scott, and Miles Okazaki)

Grace Kelly

Born: May 15, 1992

As Grace Kelly defiantly reminds us on The Other One, a standout number from her upcoming

Album, Trying To Figure It Out, she’s not looking to be like anyone else. “Got my own thing,” she sings over the song’s urban, trance-like groove. Although the singer and saxophone player has been acclaimed by critics and audiences alike as a jazz musician, the track’s exhilarating chorus, haunting keyboard hook and brittle electro edge show an artist interested only in playing what she loves labels be damned.

While a current Kelly concert might delight jazz purists with Great American Songbook standards, it could just as easily inspire mainstream listeners with Gracei-fied takes on the likes of Daft Punk’s Get Lucky, Coldplay’s Magic or Sia’s Chandelier.

Rudresh Mahanthappa

Born: May 4, 1971

Hailed by Pitchfork as “jaw-dropping… one of the finest saxophonists going,” alto saxophonist, composer and educator Rudresh Mahanthappa is widely known as one of the premier voices in jazz of the 21st century. He has over a dozen albums to his credit, including the acclaimed Bird Calls, which topped many critics’ best-of-year lists for 2015 and was hailed by PopMatters as “complex, rhythmically vital, free in spirit while still criss-crossed with mutating structures.” His most recent release, Hero Trio, was considered to be one of the best jazz albums of 2020 by critics and fans alike.  Rudresh has been named alto saxophonist of the year for nine of the last eleven years running in Downbeat Magazine’s International Critics’ Polls (2011-2013, 2015-2018, 2020-1), and for five consecutive years by the Jazz Journalists’ Association (2009-2013) and again in 2016. He won alto saxophonist of the year in the 2015-2018 & 2020 JazzTimes Magazine Critics’ Polls and was named the Village Voice’s "Best Jazz Artist" in 2015.  He has also received the Guggenheim Fellowship and the Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, among other honors, and is currently the Anthony H. P. Lee ’79 Director of Jazz at Princeton University.

Rob Wilkerson

Born: September 27, 1973

With saxophonist Rob Wilkerson’s group, you are as likely to hear a tune by Elliott Smith or Coldplay as a jazz standard. Rob’s original music acts as the central force, blending seemingly disparate elements in a cohesive “other.” Imaginary Landscape, Rob’s debut album on the Fresh Sound New Talent label, reflects his diverse influences, and was deemed worthy of several “best of 2004” lists. As an improviser and composer, Rob is deeply interested in melody and mood; harmony serves these considerations, rather than dictating them. In the words of Marc Meyers (All About Jazz), “…Rob Wilkerson speaks to our times

Stefano DiBattista

Born: February 14, 1969

Stefano di Battista(born February 14, 1969 in Rome) is an Italian jazz saxophonist who plays soprano and alto. He began playing at thirteen with friends and became interested in jazz on hearing Art Pepper. In Italy he received guidance from Massimo Urbani and by his twenties di Battista was performing in Paris. He put out his debut as a leader in 1997 and has toured with Elvin Jones Jazz Machine.

Akira Sakata

Born: February 21, 1945

Akira Sakata was born in Kure-city, Hiroshima in 1945. Studied marine biology at Hiroshima university. Formed a group Saibo-bunretsu (Cell fission) in Tokyo in 1969, and was also performing with various free-jazz musicians during this time. Since the late 1960s, Sakata has been a constant figure in jazz and creative music scenes as an ever evolving and adventurous, multi-instrumentalist, and member of classic groups such as Yamashita Yosuke Trio, from 1972 till 1979, and Wha-ha-ha plus many of his own, like the Sakata Akira mii. He has recorded with Chris Cosey, Peter Brotzmann in Last Exit, DJ Krush, Yoshimio, and others.

In 2005 he began peforming with guitarist Jim O'Rourke, drummer Chris Corsano and acoustic bassist Darin Gray. They've since released five albums together

Paul Van Kemenade

Born: May 17, 1957

PAUL VAN KEMENADE Rotterdam / Netherlands 1957; altosax- composer- programmer- organiser Stranger than Paranoia festival (since 1993) Recorded 30 CD's under own name at his record label KEMO, wrote 250 compositions in different settings,5* Downbeat 2011, in 1999 Boy Edgar Dutch lifetime achievement award for jazzmusicians, in 2007 Royal decoration. At the age of 13 and started in 1974 to study music/saxophone at the Brabants Conservatory Tilburg and the last year in 1980 in Amsterdam. PROFESSIONAL: 1976 he started to play in a cabaretshow and in dance/nightclubs untill 1980. In 1977 he started with improvisation music and initiates own bands and projects playing his own compositions