Wayne Escoffery (born 23 February 1975) is an American jazz saxophonist.

Performing history

Since 2000, he has been working in New York City with Carl Allen, Eric Reed, and the

Mingus Big Band The Mingus Big Band is a 14-piece ensemble, based in New York City, that specializes in the compositions of Charles Mingus. It was managed by his widow, Sue Mingus, along with the Mingus Orchestra and Mingus Dynasty. In addition to its weekly Monda ...

. Other musicians performed with include

Ralph Peterson Ralph Peterson may refer to: * Ralph Peterson Jr. (1962–2021), American jazz drummer and bandleader * Ralph Peterson (writer) Ralph Wilton Peterson (21 February 1921 – 2 November 1996) was an Australian writer (dramatist and playwright ...

, Ben Riley, Ron Carter,

Rufus Reid Rufus Reid (born February 10, 1944, in Atlanta, Georgia) is an American jazz bassist, educator, and composer. Biography Reid was raised in Sacramento, California, where he played the trumpet through junior high and high school. Upon graduation ...

, Bill Charlap,

Bruce Barth Bruce David Barth (born September 7, 1958) is a jazz pianist, composer, and producer. Early life Barth was born in Pasadena, California, on September 7, 1958. He started to play the piano around the age of five. He had private jazz lessons wit ...

Jimmy Cobb Wilbur James "Jimmy" Cobb (January 20, 1929May 24, 2020) was an American jazz drummer. He was part of Miles Davis's First Great Sextet. At the time of his death, he had been the band's last surviving member for nearly thirty years. He was a ...

, and Eddie Henderson. He has worked with vocalists including

Mary Stallings Mary Stallings (born August 16, 1939) is an American jazz vocalist and mother of soul singer Adriana Evans. Biography One of eleven children, Mary Stallings was born in San Francisco, California. She grew up in the neighborhood of Laurel Hei ...

, Cynthia Scott, Nancie Banks, LaVerne Butler, and

Carolyn Leonhart Carolyn Leonhart (born July 10, 1971) is a jazz singer, daughter of jazz bassist Jay Leonhart and sister of the trumpeter Michael Leonhart. She has performed as a back-up vocalist for Steely Dan on several tours and recordings. Childhood and educa ...

. In addition to performing with his own Quartet featuring David Kikoski, Ugonna Okegwo and Ralph Peterson, Escoffery currently performs and tours with

Ben Riley Benjamin Alexander Riley Jr. (July 17, 1933 – November 18, 2017) was an American jazz drummer known for his work with Thelonious Monk, as well as Alice Coltrane, Stan Getz, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Ahmad Jamal, and as a member of the group Sp ...

's Monk Legacy Septet, The Mingus Band, Ron Carter's great Big Band,

Monty Alexander Montgomery Bernard "Monty" Alexander (born 6 June 1944) is a Jamaican jazz pianist. His playing has a Caribbean influence and bright swinging feeling, with a strong vocabulary of bebop jazz and blues rooted melodies. He was influenced by Louis ...

, Amina Figarova and many others. He is currently a member of The

Tom Harrell Tom Harrell (born June 16, 1946) is an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, composer, and arranger. Voted Trumpeter of the Year of 2018 by ''Jazz Journalists Association'', Harrell has won awards and grants throughout his career, including mul ...

Quintet and has been since 2006. He has also co-produced four of Harrell's latest recordings.

Biography

Wayne and his mother, Patricia Escoffery emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and settled in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

in 1986. He attended

ACES Educational Center for the Arts ACES Educational Center for the Arts (ECA), is an American public arts magnet high school, located at 55 Audubon Street in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. The school is primarily located in the former Congregation Mishkan Israel synagog ...

high school. At age eleven, Escoffery joined The New Haven Trinity Boys Choir and began taking saxophone lessons from Malcolm Dickinson. At sixteen, he left the choir and began a more intensive study of the saxophone, attending the

Jazzmobile Jazzmobile, Inc. is based in New York City, and was founded in 1964 by Daphne Arnstein, an arts patron and founder of the Harlem Cultural Council and Dr. William "Billy" Taylor. It is a multifaceted, outreach organization committed to bringing "A ...

in New York City, the Neighborhood Music School in New Haven, and the

in New Haven. During his senior year in high School, he attended the Artists Collective, Inc. in Hartford, Connecticut. He met

Jackie McLean John Lenwood "Jackie" McLean (May 17, 1931 – March 31, 2006) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and educator, and is one of the few musicians to be elected to the ''DownBeat'' Hall of Fame in the year of their deat ...

, a well known alto saxophonist and founder of the jazz program at The

Hartt School The Hartt School is the comprehensive performing arts conservatory of the University of Hartford located in West Hartford, Connecticut, United States, that offers degree programs in music, dance, and theatre. Founded in 1920 by Julius Hartt and ...

. Escoffery was awarded a full scholarship to attend The Hartt School, where he studied with McLean for four years, and earned a bachelor's degree in Jazz Performance ''summa cum laude'' in 1997. He then attended the

Thelonious Monk Thelonious Sphere Monk (, October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including " 'Round Midnight", "B ...

Institute of Jazz Performance at the

New England Conservatory The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest independent music conservatory in the United States and among the most prestigious in the world. The conservatory is located on Hu ...

in Boston, Massachusetts (1997–1999). During this time, he toured with

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he help ...

and performed and studied with several jazz greats. In 1999, he graduated with a master's degree and moved to New York to begin his professional career. Escoffery married vocalist

in 2004. As of 2020, they are no longer married. Together they have one child, and have collaborated on many performances, and appear together on several albums. In 2014, Escoffery won the 62nd Annual Downbeat Critics Poll for rising star on the Tenor Saxophone and in 2010 won a Grammy with The Mingus Big Band. In 2016 he was appointed Lecturer in Jazz Improvisation and Combo Instructor at The Yale School of Music.

Discography

As leader

* ''Times Change'' (Nagel Heyer, 2001) * ''Intuition'' (Nagel Heyer, 2004) * ''Veneration'' (Savant, 2007) * ''Hopes and Dreams'' (Savant, 2008) * ''Uptown'' (Posi-Tone, 2009) * ''The Only Son of One'' (Sunnyside, 2012) * ''Live at Firehouse 12'' (Sunnyside, 2014) * ''Live at Smalls'' (SmallsLIVE, 2015) * ''Vortex'' (Sunnyside, 2018) * ''The Humble Warrior'' (Smoke Sessions, 2020)

As sideman

With

* ''Light On'' (HighNote, 2007) * ''Prana Dance'' (HighNote, 2009) * ''Roman Nights'' (HighNote, 2010) * ''The Time of the Sun'' (HighNote, 2011) * ''Number Five'' (HighNote, 2012) * ''Colors of a Dream'' (HighNote, 2013) * ''First Impressions'' (HighNote, 2015) With Black Art Jazz Collective * ''Presented By The Side Door Jazz Club'' (Sunnyside, 2016) * ''Armor of Pride'' (HighNote, 2018) * ''Ascension'' (HighNote, 2020) With others *

, ''Wareika Hill: Rasta-Monk Vibrations'' (MACD, 2019) *

Nancie Banks Nancie Banks (born Nancie Manzuk, July 29, 1951 – November 2002) was an American jazz singer. Born in Morgantown, West Virginia, Banks sang in a church choir with her father as a child and learned piano from her mother at age four.

, ''Out of It'' (GFI, 2001) *

Noah Baerman Noah Baerman (born March 6, 1975) is an American jazz pianist and educator best known in Connecticut's jazz circles. Early life and education Baerman was born in New Haven, Connecticut. He earned a Bachelor of Music and Master of Music in jazz ...

, ''Playdate'' (Posi-Tone, 2009) * Pat Bianchi, ''Back Home'' (Doodlin, 2010) * Pat Bianchi, ''Something To Say: The Music of Steve Wonder'' (Savant, 2021) *

Steve Davis Steve Davis (born 22 August 1957) is an English retired professional snooker player who is currently a Sports commentator, commentator, musician, DJ, and author. He is best known for dominating professional snooker during the 1980s, when he rea ...

, ''Correlations'' (Smoke Sessions, 2019) * Amina Figarova, ''Blue Whisper'' (In+Out, 2015) * Amina Figarova, ''Road to the Sun'' (AmFi, 2018) * John Hasselback III, ''Entrance'' (Hasselcastle, 2021) *

Frank Lacy Frank Lacy (born August 9, 1958, Houston, Texas) is an American jazz trombonist who has spent many years as a member of the Mingus Big Band. Career Lacy's father was a teacher who played guitar with Arnett Cobb, Illinois Jacquet, and Eddie Clea ...

, ''Mingus Sings'' (Sunnyside, 2015) *

, ''New 8th Day'' (Sunnyside, 2004) * Carolyn Leonhart, ''If Dreams Come True'' (Nagel Heyer, 2007) * Carolyn Leonhart, ''Tides of Yesterday'' (Savant, 2010) * Joe Locke, ''Force of Four'' (Origin, 2008) *

, ''Tonight at Noon...Three or Four Shades of Love'' (Dreyfus, 2002) * Mingus Big Band, ''I Am Three'' (Sue Mingus Music, 2005) * Mingus Big Band, ''Live at Jazz Standard'' (Sue Mingus Music, 2010) *

Lonnie Plaxico Lonnie Plaxico (born September 4, 1960) is an American jazz double bassist. Biography Plaxico was born in Chicago, Illinois, into a musical family, and started playing the bass at the age of twelve, turning professional at fourteen (playing bot ...

, ''Rhythm & Soul'' (Sirocco Music, 2003) * Eric Reed, ''Happiness'' (Nagel Heyer, 2001) *

, ''Memories of T'' (Concord Jazz, 2006) * Ben Riley, ''Grown Folks Music'' (Sunnyside, 2012) * Avi Rothbard, ''Twin Song'' (MidLantic, 2005) * Avi Rothbard, ''Standard Solo And Duet Sketches'' (Rothbard Music/RM Records, 2016) *

Randy Sandke Jay Randall Sandke (born May 5, 1949 in Chicago, Illinois) is a jazz trumpeter and guitarist. While a student at Indiana University in 1968, he and Michael Brecker started a jazz-rock band (Mrs. Seamon's Sound Band) that performed at the Notre ...

, ''Jazz for Juniors'' (Arbors, 2009) *

Joris Teepe Joris Teepe is a Dutch jazz bassist, composer, arranger, and big-band leader. He plays contemporary jazz, bebop, and free jazz. Biography Teepe studied at the Conservatory of Amsterdam. In 1992 the left-handed bassist moved to New York City, wh ...

, ''In the Spirit of Rashied Ali'' (Jazz Tribes, 2018) *

Akiko Tsuruga is a jazz composer, Hammond B-3 organist and pianist from Osaka, Japan. She was born in Osaka. Her parents bought her a small organ when she was three and she started learning to play standards. At high school, she listened to Hammond B3 players ...

, ''NYC Serenade'' (Mojo p 2008)

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Escoffery, Wayne 1975 births Living people English emigrants to the United States American male saxophonists Jazz tenor saxophonists University of Hartford Hartt School alumni 21st-century American saxophonists 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Mingus Big Band members Posi-Tone Records artists Sunnyside Records artists Nagel-Heyer Records artists