High School Honor Band Festival: Jazz Lab Band I

Saxophonist Steve Wilson has toured and recorded with Chick Corea, Dave Holland, Buster Williams, Mulgrew Miller, James Williams, Lionel Hampton, and Ralph Peterson, Jr., amongst the many jazz greats with whom he has collaborated. His discography encompasses over one hundred recordings, including seven as leader.

Mr. Wilson has consistently placed in the Downbeat Magazine Critics and Readers Polls in the alto and soprano saxophone categories since 1997. He has previously taught at William Paterson University, The New School, SUNY Purchase, and has been Artist-in-Residence at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, and for Cityfolk, Inc. in Dayton, Ohio.

Wilson has toured and/or performed with Lionel Hampton, Out of the Blue, The Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, The Four Tops, Stephanie Mills, Ellis Marsalis, Hamiet Bluiett, Buck Clayton, Mel Lewis, Michele Rosewoman, Ralph Peterson, Jr., Mulgrew Miller, Dave Liebman, Leon Parker, Renee Rosnes, Joe Henderson, Frank Foster, Peter Leitch, John Hicks, Dave Holland, Benny Powell, Etta Jones, Benny Golson, Chick Corea, Dianne Reeves, John Clayton, Billy Childs, David Berkman, Ray Drummond, Marvin “Smitty” Smith, James Williams, Bruce Barth, Geoffrey Keezer, The Charles Mingus Big Band, Michael Weiss, Jimmy Heath, Benny Carter, Dr. Billy Taylor, Mulgrew Miller, and Buster Williams.

Steve Wilson’s teaching philosophy emphasizes mastering the technical and musical fundamentals that will enable the student to be a total musician, as well as a skilled performer. In addition, an awareness and appreciation of the earlier periods of jazz and American music are encouraged.

Alto saxophonist, composer, and educator David Bixler has recently embarked on an artistic reemergence with the release of three new recordings: In the Face of Chaos (2019) with Bixler, Boccato, Cowherd, and Sturm, Blended Lineage (2020) with the Bixtet, and Inside the Grief (2020) with trio incognito. A traumatic brain injury suffered by his youngest son necessitated a shift in Bixler’s priorities during the last decade—a period in which his family devoted much of its energy to the care of its youngest member. Because of this new lens, Bixler’s repurposed creative approach is evident in his most recent output.

For the recording In the Face of Chaos, Bixler assembled pianist Jon Cowherd, bassist Ike Sturm and percussionist Rogerio Boccato who are sensitive interpreters of Bixler’s music. Their combined effort produces music that is challenging for the listener without being afraid to embrace beauty. In All About Jazz, Dan Bilawsky writes “In the Face of Chaos marks a re-emergence, if not a complete artistic rebirth, for David Bixler. It serves as a true inspiration, drawing beauty from pain, and peace from personal struggle . . . In the face of chaos, with Bixler's knowing horn leading the way, wisdom and wonder win out.”

Blended Lineage, a four-movement work for nine musicians was included in Jay Miller’s Best of 2020 in The Patriot Ledger. The recording features trumpeter Mike Rodriguez, pianist Jon Cowherd, bassist Luke Sellick, percussionist Fabio Rojas, and a string quartet comprised of violinists Judith Ingolfsson, Heather Martin Bixler, violist Josh Kail, and cellist Rubin Kodheli.  Marco Cangiano, writing about Bixler’s playing in New York City Jazz Record states, “There is no rush, no instance on patterns, just the careful choice of the right note and an unusual openness to what the other musicians have to say.”

His latest recording, Inside the Grief, is a product of the trifecta of 2020: COVID-19, systemic racism, and the presidential election. Bixler went into the studio in the fall with bassist Gregg August and Venezuelan percussionist Fabio Rojas and created a setthat captures the searing urgency of this time.

Bixler is the host of LINER NOTES with David Bixler, a podcast centered on conversations with jazz musicians. He also serves as Director of Jazz Studies at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio. As both a Selmer and Vandoren Artist he is active as a clinician and performer throughout the world.

Bixler and his family reside in New York City.

Trumpets  
1 Lucas Vile   
2 Eliana Peron 
3 Christian Amaya 
4 Abby Jesso 
5 Jonathan Blanco

Trombones   
1 Ruth Wadzinski 
2 Lucas Davis
3 Mason Armitage 
bass Xander Soural

Saxophones  
alto 1 Adam Hanna  
alto 2 Luke Wells  
tenor 1 Dylan Reese  
tenor 2 Ash Murray 
baritone Matthew Reed

Rhythm Section  
piano Jonathan Guelfand
guitar Miles Anderson  
bass Danny Yang  
bass Nina Petersheim 
drums & cymbals Evan Palermo 
drums & cymbals Sam Batty