Robin Porter

ROBIN PORTER is an award-winning saxophonist and composer based in London, renowned for his versatility, musicality and expressive sound. A sought-after instrumentalist, he has performed at many of the UK’s most prestigious venues, captivating audiences with his artistry and individuality.

Robin’s primary creative outler is his contemporary jazz trio ‘Aspyrian’, a dynamic project blending original compositions and improvisation with the sincerity of soulful songwriters and grit of alternative bands. Under his leadership, Aspyrian has released two acclaimed albums, earned two Help Musicians awards, and toured the UK twice, bringing their distinctive sound to stages nationwide.

Coy Simmons

Born: March 21, 2001

Coy Simmons is a Jazz Fusion musician from Decatur, Illinois. His music focuses on heavy and complex emotions conveyed through various instrumental arrangements. His previous project "Vesuvio" has released a self titled album, and his current project is called "Frock" with an album coming soon. He primarily plays alto and soprano saxophone, but is also featured as a guitarist in his own works. Currently he resides in Boston, Massachusetts. 

Craig Roselieb

Born: September 3, 1961

Craig Roselieb, a 1979 graduate of Downers Grove South High School, completed his Bachelor of Music at Northern Illinois University in Music Education and Saxophone performance in 1984, where he was a 3-year member of the NIU Jazz Ensemble under Ron Modell, and was a winner in the 1983 Concerto Competition on Alto Saxophone as a student of Steve Duke.  He earned his Master of Music in Instrumental Conducting from Northwestern University in 1988, where he directed the Symphonic Band and Concert Band under John P. Paynter, and directed Jazz Lab Band and played jazz tenor in the NU Jazz Ensemble with Don Owens.   Mr. Roselieb began his teaching career at Glenbrook North High School from 1984-87, continued teaching at Wheaton Central High School from 1988-90, and joined the District 99 music faculty in 1990. He was appointed Director of Bands at Downers Grove South High School in 1994, and retired in May, 2018 after a 33 year career.  His responsibilities at DGS included conducting the Wind Ensemble, Marching Mustangs, and Jazz Ensemble, as well as co-directing the Wind Symphony, Symphonic Band and Concert Band. 

Christopher Boscole

Born: March 9

Composer and arranger Christopher Boscole plays piano, keyboards, and soprano saxophone.  He has produced 14 albums that cross over in a variety of genres and formats - original piano solos in improvisational, new age , folk, pop, and classical styles, jazz piano trio and sextet, contemporary instrumental jazz ensembles with synthesizers and vocals, and latest upcoming release “Time for Love” - classic love songs featuring vocals, sax, and guitar.

Boscole's music has seen years of long term charting in top 10 airplay on new age radio, Sirius, Pandora, Spotify, Musak, I tunes, You tube, and other formats. He grew up in a musical household as his mother was a singer and piano teacher. After learning music basics from his mother, he studied classical piano for years with Mikiko Miyamoto, winning honors at adjudications. Christopher studied saxophone with Bill Wicker and played sax and piano in school jazz groups and later pop music and rock n roll as he worked for years as a pianist and keyboardist with a variety of artists/bands in Seattle including Diane Schuur, Phil Sheeran, Michael Powers, Jay Thomas, Top 40 Bands - Modern Dance, Yankee, and Impala USO Air Force show tour.

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)

Nathan Hanson

Born: May 11, 1963

Saxophonist and composer Nathan Hanson makes music that invites listeners to stand outside themselves and the flow of time. His improvisations are “lithe and soaring, engaging in judicious honk 'n' splatter” (New York City Jazz Record).  

In Europe, Hanson has performed at the Atlantique Jazz Festival, Splendor in Amsterdam and the Sons d’Hiver Festival in Paris. In the US he’s played at New York’s Knitting Factory, the Outpost in Albuquerque, the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, and Chicago’s Elastic.  

With grants from New Music America and the Minnesota State Arts Board Hanson has launched solo projects that explore how space interacts with sound. Whether it’s a cathedral, a tree farm, or a sculpture garden, Hanson investigates how to channel the sound of each performance space. The energy of the audience circulates with the music, silence and breath. The effect leads listeners to become more present to the unfolding of each moment.  

David Aaron

Born: April 4, 1966

Canadian saxophonist David Aaron regularly works as a freelance musician, as well as a private teacher, composer, arranger and producer and has scored a number of live theater pieces plus numerous films, including two films most recently featured at Cannes.

He was also the creator/producer of the Improv At The Khyber series in Halifax, Canada, which ran in conjunction with the Atlantic Jazz Festival. The series featured internationally-known musicians in an intimate gallery setting.

David has performed at legendary venues such as The Apollo Theater, Knitting Factory (NYC, Brooklyn & Hollywood), The Bottom Line, 55 Bar, Tonic, The Stone NYC, Minton’s Playhouse, The Bitter End, The Cutting Room, Hammerstein Ballroom, Fillmore NYC@Irving Plaza, Lincoln Center "Out Of Doors", B.B

Julian Siegel

Born: May 13

Julian Siegel is an in-demand saxophonist on the UK and European Jazz scene who has worked with many of the top figures in the music. He was awarded the 2007 BBC Jazz Award for Best Instrumentalist. He is currently touring with the Julian Siegel Quartet featuring pianist Liam Noble, bassist Oli Hayhurst and drummer Gene Calderazzo. The Quartet's first CD ‘Urban Theme Park’ was awarded the 2011 London Jazz Award and in February 2018 the Quartet released their new album 'VISTA' on Whirlwind Recordings. Since the release of ‘VISTA’, the band has performed internationally at Jazz Festivals including Inntöne Jazz Festival in Austria, Made in The UK at the Rochester International Jazz Festival, NY, Jazz Standard NYC, JazzFestival Göttingen, Germany, Limerick Jazz Festival Ireland, UK’s Love Supreme Festival, Bristol and Manchester International Jazz Festivals and an extensive 2018 – 2019 Arts Council England UK Tour. The Quartet was featured on the cover of UK’s Jazzwise Magazine in February 2018 and VISTA was included in Jazzwise’s Top 20 Jazz Albums of the year.

Tara Davidson

Born: 1979

Tara Davidson is a JUNO Award-winning alto and soprano saxophonist who has performed around the world at such prestigious venues as New York City’s Carnegie Hall, the acclaimed North Sea Jazz Festival in the Netherlands, the JZ Jazz Club in Shanghai, China, and The Kennedy Center, in Washington, D.C.

As a bandleader, Davidson has produced seven recordings since 2004 and performed on approximately forty recordings as a side musician. Five of her seven recordings as a leader or co-leader (Carn Davidson 9) have been nominated by the JUNO Awards for “Jazz Album of the Year”. Davidson has been associated with seven additional JUNO nominations for her work as a side musician with Ernesto Cervini's "Joy" project, Andrew Downing’s Otterville, Ernesto Cervini’s Turboprop (x2), the Mike Murley Septet, CBC Records’ “Jazz Legends Live” project, and Jens Lindemann’s Order of Canada Band (Yamaha Big Band member). In 2020, Davidson won a JUNO Award for Jazz Album of the Year: Group as a member of Ernesto Cervini’s Turboprop.

Dave Mullen

Born: April 20, 1966

Saxophonist/Composer/Producer Dave Mullen offers a welcome dose of SOLACE to a world sorely in need of it on his invigorating new album on Mullsoul Music Records that features the exhilarating musicianship of a group of his masterful peers: pianist Jon Cowherd, bassist Hans Glawischnig, drummer E.J. Strickland and, in a pair of special guest appearances, trumpeter Jim Seeley. The album was also mixed by the Grammy-winning producer engineer Jeff Jones, a regular collaborator with Jazz at Lincoln Center. Far from the somber elegy the title might imply, however, Mullen introduces 7 songs that pay homage to the likes of some of jazz's most iconic and inspiring voices John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Duke Ellington, Michael Brecker, and Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Dave Mullen has been a staple on the NYC scene for years having performed and/or recorded with many renowned artists such as Nile Rodgers, Gloria Gaynor, Roy Ayers, Gil Scott Heron, Vic Juris, Marc Ribot, Mark Egan, John Hicks, Bernie Worrell, John Medeski, Hans Glawischnig, Boris Koslov, Jon Cowherd, P-Funk, Ben Vereen, The Brand New Heavies, Eddie Hazel, Brian Jackson, George Porter, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Walter ��Wolfman�� Washington, Claudio Roditi, Cecil Bridgewater, John Gros, Victor Jones, John Hicks, Billy ��Bass�� Nelson, Jerome Brailey, Blue Man Group, Slick Rick, Danny Gottlieb, Delfeayo Marsalis, Robin Eubanks, Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez, John Benitez, and many others. Saxophonist/Composer Dave Mullen introduces his inspiring new album SOLACE on Mullsoul Music Records that features a group of his masterful peers: pianist Jon Cowherd, bassist Hans Glawischnig, drummer E.J