Ep 100 - Alexa Tarantino; one of the “Top 5 Alto Saxophonists of 2019”

Alexa Tarantino is an award-winning, vibrant, young jazz saxophonist, woodwind doubler, composer, and educator. 

Tarantino was recently named one of the “Top 5 Alto Saxophonists of 2019” by the JazzTimes Critics’ Poll. 

She has performed regularly as a leader and side woman with the Alexa Tarantino Quartet,  Cecile McLorin, Ulysses Owens Jr., LSAT (the quintet co-led with baritone saxophonist, Lauren Sevian), Arturo O’Farrill & The Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, Sherrie Maricle & the DIVA Jazz Orchestra. 

Alexa is an artist on the Posi-Tone Records label, and her debut quartet record, Winds of Change, released late-May 2019, peaked at #15 on the JazzWeek Charts and landed at #79 for JazzWeek’s Top 100 records of 2019. Her second record is Clarity, released in June 2020, which features Steven Feifke (piano), Joe Martin (bass), and Rudy Royston (drums). 

She is currently on faculty for Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Youth Programs, and represents the organization as a Clinician and Educator for various schools, festivals, and workshops. 

Alexa holds a Master’s degree in Jazz Studies from The Juilliard School and Bachelor’s degrees in Jazz Saxophone Performance and Music Education from the Eastman School of Music. 

She is the Founder and Director of the Rockport Jazz Workshop in Rockport, Massachusetts and Co-Founder of A Step Ahead Jazz virtual workshop with pianist Steven Feifke. 

Alexa Tarantino is a Vandoren Artist and Yamaha Performing Artist.

The link to her full biography, along with more Resources for this episode, is on our website.

In this episode, we talked about:

• Her solfege project, So You Think You Can Solfege 
• Her musical background, and the connection with Music Learning Theory
• Working with baritone saxophonist, Lauren Sevian
• How she developed her own voice
• Being a musician during the pandemic
• Her studio set-up
• Her musical influences
• Future of improvised music post-covid
• and more

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