Four weight categories:
Feather weight_Soprano
Welter Weight_Alto
Middle Weight_Tenor
Heavy Weight_Baritone/Bass
Here is the line up:
Soprano Saxophones:
Jessica Lurie
NYC-based instrumentalist Jessica Lurie defies all boundaries bringing her individual sound to diverse types of music while preserving their stylistic authenticity. Jessica’s main instruments are saxophones, flute, clarinet, as well as voice and accordion, and she is an avid composer as well.
Lurie moved from her home town of Seattle to Brooklyn 9 years ago and has been thrilling audiences on both coasts and in Europe. Jessica has performed, toured or recorded with international artists including Bill Frisell, The Indigo Girls, Ivan Neville, The New Mastersounds, Danijel Zezelj, David Krakauer, Fred Wesley, Amy Denio, Zemog, Pharoah’s Daughter, Skerik, Mike Clark, Allison Miller, Big Head Todd & the Monsters, Carl Densen, Garaj Mahal, The Pat Grainey Dance Company, Eyvind Kang, Wayne Horvitz, Booker Washington Jr., Leo Neocentelli, Paul McCandless, Calvin Weston, Sleater Kinney, The Shakin’ Ray Levis Society, Frank London, Kenny Wolleson, Todd Sickafoose, Jenny Scheinman, James Blood Ulmer Trio, Nels Cline, NYC’ s Circus Amok and Great Small Works theatre company among others. In addition to freelancing and working with her own Ensemble, Jessica performs and composes for the Tiptons Saxophone Quartet, Living Daylights trio, Ayn Sof Bigger Band, The Romeo Studs and La Buya.
Matt Darriau
Saxophonist, clarinetist, ethnic-woodwind specialist and composer Matt Darriau has made several innovative contributions to the New York music scene. His background in the fertile and eclectic milieu of the New England Conservatory of Music’s Third Stream Program in the 1980?s and his continued practice of jazz, balkan, klezmer and celtic folk idioms, have helped shape his esthetic and passion for creating new and unusual music.
Michael Eaton
Michael Eaton is a Brooklyn, NY based saxophonist, composer, and educator. As a saxophonist and improvising artist, his professional career to date has spanned a variety of idioms, encompassing jazz, free improvised music, soul, rock, western classical, funk, reggae, rockabilly, brass bands, and beyond. He embraces a progressive and holistic vision of jazz, cognizant of its rich historical origins and development, but reaching for a personal outlook with an eye towards future possibilities.
Michael's 2014 debut album on Destiny Records, Individuation, highlights original music performed by his New York quartet along with trumpeter Jon Crowley. Individuation integrates angular themes and propulsive modern jazz with intricately rhythmic minimalistic vamps, freebop, Cageian prepared piano, and multi-layered open platforms. The band is joined on several cuts by a very special guest, master musician and saxophonist David Liebman. AllAboutJazz's Dan Bilawsky calls Individuation "an auspicious debut that marks Eaton as one to watch", and Vitto Lo Conte writes in Music Zoom that it signifies "a great debut album of a saxophonist and a quartet who seem to have all it takes to get noticed in the world of contemporary jazz".
Alto Saxophones:
David Engelhard
A New York saxophonist with southern roots, David Engelhard grew up in Atlanta, GA and got his start playing with local jazz legends Kevin Bales, Kinah Boto, Kebbi Williams, before moving to NYC. He studied with many teachers in Atlanta including Sam Skelton, Mace Hibbard, Kevin Bales, and David Sanchez in Atlanta, and with Antonio Hart, David Berkman, and Michael Mossman at Queens College in NYC, where earned a Masters in Jazz Performance. During his time in NYC he's taken to studying with many players including David Binney, Donny McClaslin, and Aaron Goldberg.In New York, David continues to perform with some of the best jazz musicians in the city, and has performed/worked with Javier Arau Jazz Orchestra, Michael Webster's Leading Lines, and along with player such as Ingrid Jenson, Carl Maraghi, and more.
Matthew Martinez
Matt Martinez was born and raised in Mineola, New York, just 30 minutes outside of Manhattan. At the age of 9, Matt heard Jazz greats such as Charlie Parker and John Coltrane for the first time. Hearing these legends made Matt want to play the saxophone, and that is what he has been doing since the time he was in the 4th grade. Through the years Matt has been able to work with and study with musicians such as Antonio Hart, Steve Wilson, Gary Smulyan, Barry Harris, Claudio Roditi, Antoine Roney, Michael Carvin, John O’Gallagher, and many others. He currently goes to school at the City College of New York, where he is a junior studying music.
Tenor Saxophones:
Andreas Toftemark
Andreas Toftemark is a 25 year old saxophone player and composer, currently living in New York. In 2013 Andreas finished his first music study at MGK in Copenhagen. In summer of 2012 I got accepted at the Swedish jazz school Fridhem which is considered one of the best jazz schools in Scandinavia. 2013 till 2016 student at Conservatorium van Amsterdam, that is known to be one of the best jazz conservatories in Europe. Currently studying at The New School of Jazz, that is located on Manhattan New York.
Baritone Saxophones:
Jeremy Danneman
Jeremy Danneman is a saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer based in New York City. He is most well-known for his albums, released on Ropeadope Records, and his work as Founder of the Parade of One Project, which is an organization that engages the international community with a unique blend of performance in public spaces, recording, and educational programming.
Dave Sewelson
Sewelson arrived in New York City in the summer of 1977, settled in the East Village becoming an active member of the Downtown Scene, playing with the 25 O’Clock Band, Jemeel Moondoc’s Jus Grew Orchestra, William Parker’s Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra and Saheb Sarbib’s Multinational Big Band and the Microscopic Septet. He has played with many wonderful musicians, including, Billly Bang, John Zorn, Peter Kuhn, Alex Cline, Roy Campbell, Sonny Murray, Kidd Jordan, Daniel Carter, Will Connell and Stephanie Stone.. Dave’s current projects include, Two Sisters Inc. with David Hofstra and Claire Daly, a quartet with Peter Kuhn, Smooth Freejazz, Sewelsonics, and The Daves.
Kevin Edell
Kevin Edell is a NYC based saxophonist. He has performed with groups Cause and the Effects and Sweet Blue Fire.
Larry Bustamante
Larry Bustamante was born and raised in Staten Island, NY. His passion in music began in high school when he first started to play the baritone. From there, he went to Brooklyn college, and finished a bachelors degree in music education. He currently plays in the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra directed by Arturo O'Farrill, and Eco-Music big band, and has played with Rudresh Mahanthappa, Ray Santos, Mark Gross, Aretha Franklin, and Dr. Cornel West.