JASON RIGBY
Tenor Saxophone

Aretha Franklin, Village Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Fresh Sound Records Artist, Cameron Brown

Jason Rigby is a promising young saxophonist who has been staying busy playing with a number of original NYC small and large groups, subbing with the Village Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, performing concerts with Aretha Franklin and composing for and leading original improvisation-based ensembles.

Coming out of the tenor saxophone styles of John Coltrane, Joe Henderson and Wayne Shorter, Jason’s musical approach of freeform/straight-ahead jazz is heavily influenced by the compositions by Shostakovich, Mahler and Ornette Coleman, the prose of Ernest Hemingway, the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright and the concept of Art Deco design.

Jason has recorded with Cameron Brown, David Liebman, Tim Horner and Tony Malaby and has appeared on the Fresh Sound-New Talent, Soul Note, Koch Jazz, NuJazzCity and Blue Birdland record labels. Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, Jason lived in Chicago briefly before moving to New York.

Winner of DOWNBEAT magazine’s award for Best College Jazz Instrumentalist in 1999, Jason received his Bachelor’s degree from Youngstown State University, studied briefly at the DePaul University School of Music and received his Master’s degree from the Manhattan School of Music in 2000.

Jason is also an active educator and has taught for the New York Pops Salute to Music educational outreach program, and has been on the faculty staff at the Larchmont Music Academy, the Hartwick College Summer Music Festival and Institute, the Steiner School in New York City and the PolyPrep Country Day School in Brooklyn.