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The Saxophone Cartel

About Me

The Saxophone Cartel is an energetic, adventurous, experimental, and unique woodwind collective exploring the boundaries of jazz and free improvisation. The Cartel sound ranges from jazz to classical to noise to funk to world to blues to free improv, all with humor and joie de vivre. The Sax Cartel was founded at the IU School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana in April 2003. The Cartel is available for concerts and clinics nationwide as well as live and recorded horn section work. Please visit www.saxophonecartel.org for showtimes and updates!!!
You can purchase "Caught in the Act" from CD Baby
What people are saying about The Cartel:
"Wonderful group. Original stuff and well played." -- David Liebman
"Brilliant!" -- Benedikt Eppelsheim, designer of the tubax, subcontrabass tubax, and soprillo saxophones
"All-saxophone groups tend to be quartets, but the Saxophone Cartel bumps the standard format up to a sextet, adding detail rather than mere weight to the ensemble sound. They keep at a slant to Jazz orthodoxy: there are nods to classical polyphonic tradition (the gradually swelling procession of “Passacaglia”) and the punchy horn charts of James Brown’s band (“Key of J.B.”), and even the more Jazz-centric pieces feature scrimshaw-intricate arrangements rather than the usual head/solos/head structure...There are several free improvisations, which place the emphasis on spontaneous convergence, as riffs and melodies emerge and are quickly seized on: despite abrasive moments such as the squiggly opening to “Newton’s Nightmare,” the mood is playful rather than confrontational or austere...The imaginative arrangements (mostly Benjamin Himpel’s handiwork) offer a more individual voice than any of the players’ actual solo work, perhaps, but Caught in the Act is still well worth hearing, offering a few new wrinkles on the familiar sax-ensemble format." -- Nate Dorward, © Cadence Magazine 2006 www.cadencebuilding.com
"The Saxophone Cartel is a joy to experience! Their multidimensional music weaves together sublimely tuneful original compositions, free improvisation, and humor. They even resurrect music by the Six Brown Brothers. This ensemble will make you smile." -- Tom Walsh, Assistant Professor of Saxophone and Jazz Studies, Indiana University
"The Saxophone Cartel is an exciting new saxophone sextet that explores the boundaries of the saxophone repertoire, from completely composed classical pieces, to imaginatively arranged jazz compositions, to almost completely improvised pieces, that utilize all the members of the saxophone family, including the rarely heard bass saxophone. The group's extraordinary and entertaining music goes well beyond strictly classical or jazz boundaries, and the Sax Cartel performs with both precision and colorful and joyous verve, rivaled in the US perhaps only by the World Saxophone Quartet and the ROVA Sax Quartet." -- David Miller, Jazz Fables
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Crook
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If I Knew
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The Old Man

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 5/26/2008
Band Website: www.saxophonecartel.org
Band Members: Cam Collins - alto, soprano sax, clarinet: Cam Collins is originally from Columbus, Indiana, and grew up around music. Upon deciding to study music at the collegiate level, Cam began studies at the Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington. There, he studied saxophone with Dr. Thomas Walsh, and clarinet with James Campbell. During his second year in college, Cam auditioned for, and was accepted into, the U.S. Naval Academy Band as lead alto in the “Next Wave” jazz ensemble. Cam has performed as a soloist with many leading ensembles, including the Columbus Philharmonic, Indiana Ambassadors of Music, Carmel Symphony Orchestra, Pat Harbison Big Band, and most recently, lead alto saxophone with the Disneyland All American College Band. Cam has received numerous awards and honors for musicianship, like the Columbus Indiana Mayor’s Arts Award (2002), Esprit de Corps Award (2002), U.S. Marine Corps’ Semper Fidelis Award for Musical Excellence(2002), and the Louis Armstrong Jazz Award. Over the course of his career, Cam has appeared with many big names of the music industry, including Fred Hersch, Bill Watrous, Tom Kubis, John Clayton, Shelley Berg, Wayne Bergeron, Bobby Rydell, Steve Allee, Bob Florence, Gregg Field, Steve Houghton, Bill Warfield, Dave Samuels and Gary Foster, to name a few. He has studied privately with Rich Perry, Mark Turner, and Ellery Eskelin. Cam currently resides in Glen Burnie, Maryland. www.camcollinsjazz.com

Michael Eaton - alto, tenor sax, clarinet: Michael Eaton is from Liberty, Missouri, a suburb of Kansas City. He attended IU-Bloomington from 1999-2004, studying with Eugene Rousseau and Tom Walsh. He was a member of David Baker's IU Jazz Band, which recorded a CD in 2001. Michael appeared with local and regional ensembles, including the Steve Allee Big Band, the Buselli-Wallerab Jazz Orchestra, Rob Dixon's Triology, the Bloomington Pops, Monster Zero Orchestra, eclectic rock band Blue Moon Revue, rock/funk/jam band Montezuma's Revenge, Brandon Meeks, Üt Haus, Art Deco Quartet, Kyle Quass, and others. He co-led the (x)tet for three years, and recently organized two free improv large ensembles: the 2006 BIASfest Coltrane Ascension Ensemble (an electro-acoustic "Ascension"), and the Michael Eaton Large/Large Ensemble (reminiscent of the Brötzmann Tentet). Michael has studied privately with James Moody, David Baker, Gary Foster, and Doug Webb. He has performed live in concert with David Baker, The Temptations, Sylvia McNair, Matt Darriau, Ingrid Jensen, Jim Snidero, Eugene Chadbourne, and Fred Hersch. He lives in Brooklyn, NY. www.myspace.com/michaeleatonsax

Morgan Price - soprano, alto, baritone sax, recorder: Morgan Price hails from Rockville, Maryland and started playing saxophone at the age of 9. Under the encouragement of his high school band director, Peter Perry, he discovered his passion for music. He enrolled at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in 2002 and pursued a degree in jazz studies under the direction of David Baker and his saxophone professor Tom Walsh. While at IU, Morgan became deeply involved in the creative music scene, co-leading groups such as the (x)tet, Mojai and a large ensemble tributes to Charles Mingus; and playing in regional groups in a wide array of styles. Upon graduating with a Bachelors degree and a Performer's Certificate in 2007, Morgan moved back to the east coast. In his short career, he has played at venues such as Ravinia in Chicago and the Victor Wooten F.U.N.K. Fest in Indiana; the Kennedy Center and the Library of Congress in Washington, DC; and the Knitting Factory and the Abrons Arts Center in New York City, among other places. He has also been a jazz scholar at the Steans Institute for Young Artists and served on the faculty of Birch Creek , and currently serves as the music librarian for the Duke Ellington Orchestra. Morgan is dedicated to creative music endeavors and continues to involve himself in challenging projects, including his recent work in electronic music, under the pseudonym Eschatology . He currently lives in Brooklyn, New York. www.myspace.com/morganpricesax

Colin Renick - alto, tenor, baritone sax, bass sax, bass clarinet: Colin Renick is a saxophonist/composer currently living in Annapolis, MD where he is active as bandleader, free-lance saxophonist, and composer/arranger in the Washington, DC/Baltimore area. A member of the United States Naval Academy Band since 2007, Mr. Renick earned Masters degrees in Classical Saxophone Performance and Jazz Studies from Indiana University, where he studied with Otis Murphy and David Baker while serving as Associate Instructor of both Saxophone and Jazz. Comfortable in a spectrum of musical styles from classical to free improvisation, he seeks to unite the broad landscape of his musical and non-musical influences with the spirit of the moment through his performances, improvisations, arrangements, and compositions.

Peter Sparacino - alto, tenor sax: A native of San Mateo, California, Peter began his musical life at age 9 playing clarinet in youth symphonies in the San Francisco Bay Area. However, while in high school, his band director urged him to be as versatile as possible and at 16 Peter began playing the saxophone. That summer he attended the Stanford Jazz Workshop, and the talent pool and great jazz artists on the faculty inspired him to begin studying jazz seriously. In 2002, he auditioned and was accepted into the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music jazz studies program, studying under saxophone professor Tom Walsh. During his time in Indiana, Peter played with many different groups and musical configurations, including the Buselli-Wallarab Jazz Orchestra, the Fort Wayne Symphony, and of course the Saxophone Cartel. After a post-college 6 month stint working on a cruise ship in the Caribbean, Peter moved back to San Francisco where he quickly immersed himself in the local music scene playing regularly with such notable Bay Area groups as the Contemporary Jazz Orchestra, the Fil Lorenz Collective West Jazz Orchestra, Bay Area salsa powerhouse Mazacote, the Tin Cup Serenade, the Vince Lateano Quartet, Stymie and the PJLO, and his own quartet/quintet as well as many others. In addition, he maintained an active teaching schedule, teaching privately, conducting clinics at local high schools, and teaching during the summer at the Young Musicians Program in Berkeley, CA. In the fall of 2008 Peter moved to Brooklyn, New York, where he currently resides. http://www.msypace.com/sparacinojazz

www.myspace.com/colinrenick Matt Cashdollar - alto, tenor, baritone, C melody sax, flute, didjeridoo: Matthew Cashdollar is a multi-intrumentalist that hails from Fort Wayne, In. After graduating North Side High School in 1996 with an academic-honors diploma, he attended Indiana-Purdue University in Fort Wayne where he was part of the saxophone quartet, wind ensemble, jazz ensemble, as well as the vocal jazz ensemble and university singers. Outside of IPFW, Cashdollar also played with several groups (including jazz, funk, soul, reggae, hip-hop, and modern rock) that toured around Indiana and its surrounding states. He finished his Bachelor's in Instrumental Music Education in the Fall of 2001. Matt graduated from IU with an MM Jazz Studies in 2005. Currently, he resides in Chicago where he teaches privately, coaches jazz combo at Benet Academy (Lisle, Il), and records with international jazz-house producer Anthony Nicholson. www.mattcashdollar.com

Type of Label: Major

My Blog

New recordings up!

Hi friends and strangers-Just posted today are a few tracks from a recent gig that we performed at An die Musik in Baltimore last week. We had a lot of fun and the tapes turned out well, so take a lis...
Posted by on Mon, 10 Nov 2008 13:02:00 GMT