Concert View: Alexa Tarantino Quartet

Alexa Tarantino, saxophone | Steven Feifke, piano | Joe Martin, bass | Rudy Royston, drums
Director of the Rockport Jazz Workshop, Alexa Tarantino is an award-winning, vibrant jazz saxophonist, woodwind doubler, composer, and educator. Alexa’s “lovely, ardent way of improvising,” and “sharply plotted but gracefully unencumbered straight-ahead jazz [compositions]” (The New York Times) establish her individual voice which shines through as a dynamic performer and educator. Tarantino performs regularly as a leader and sidewoman in a wide variety of ensembles and genres including Wynton Marsalis & the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Cécile McLorin Salvant’s OGRESSE, Arturo O’Farrill & The Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra (holding a weekly residency at Birdland Jazz Club), Sherrie Maricle & the DIVA Jazz Orchestra, LSAT (her new quintet co-led with baritone saxophonist Lauren Sevian), and the Alexa Tarantino Quartet. In 2019, JazzTimes Magazine named Alexa one of the Top 5 Alto Saxophonists and in 2020, Downbeat Magazine’s 2020 Critics’ Pick named her a Rising Star.