Amy Denio

Amy Denio, a Seattle composer, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist fluent on accordion, saxophone, clarinet, bass and guitar, has put out numerous recordings both under her own name and with assorted ensembles. Born on June 9, 1961, she attended Hampshire College in Amherst, Mass, and Colorado College for music studies in the early ’80s, launched her own imprint Spoot Music in 1986, and followed with the cassette-only debut No Bones. Denio has since joined forces on stage and in the studio with an array of artists that includes the Billy Tipton Memorial Saxophone Quartet, the Tone Dogs (which counted Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron among its members), (EC) Nudes, the Danubians and Curlew. Alongside those partnerships she has kept up a steady if intermittent solo discography, issuing Birthing Chair Blues in 1991, Greatest Hits in 1999 and Tattoo (Pat Graney Dance Company, Soundtrack Series No. 1) in 2000. Her touring résumé spans North America, Europe, South America, Japan and Bombay, while commissions have come from Italian National Radio, David Dorfman Dance Company, Relache Ensemble, Berkeley Symphony, The New York Festival of Song, Die Knodel and UMO Ensemble. Recognition for her forward-thinking work includes being named one of “Rock’s 10 Smartest, strongest women” by Elizabeth Vincentelli in Request Magazine.