Jon Irabagon

“Saxophonist Jon Irabagon is a subverter of the jazz form,” declares Martin Longley in his Jon Irabagon feature in the August 2014 issue of “The New York City Jazz Record”. “He’s a revolutionary who’s secretly messing with the changes. He might be dismantling the music’s mechanics from the inside, but from the outside he can frequently persuade a crowd that he’s an old- school practitioner. There are few players who can so deftly stride from postbop to free improvisation, avant country to doom metal and then wander from chaotic collage-spraying to sleek-blowing fluency.”

The winner of the 2008 Thelonious Monk Saxophone Competition, Irabagon has since topped both the Rising Star Alto Saxophone and the Rising Star Tenor Saxophone categories in the “DownBeat” Magazine Critics’ Poll and been named one of Time Out New York’s 25 New York City Jazz Icons. Jon was also named 2012 Musician of the Year in The New York City Jazz Record. An integral member of such high-profile ensembles as Mostly Other People Do The Killing and the Mary Halvorson Quintet, as well as an established bandleader in his own right, his list of current projects includes the bands Bryan & The Haggards and Mike Pride’s From Bacteria to Boys as well as a longstanding partnership with legendary drummer Barry Altschul and Dave Douglas’ new quintet.

Jon’s own record label, Irabbagast Records, has currently released three of his efforts, including “I Don’t Hear Nothin’ but the Blues Volume 2: Appalachian Haze” (with Mike Pride and Mick Barr), “Outright! Unhinged” (with Ralph Alessi, Jacob Sacks, John Hebert and Tom Rainey) and “It Takes All Kinds” (featuring Mark Helias and Barry Altschul). 2015 will see the dual release of “Behind the Sky” (featuring Tom Harrell, Luis Perdomo, Yasushi Nakamura and Rudy Royston) as well as Jon's first solo saxophone recording.