Jim Snidero

Saxophonist Jim Snidero has built a career as a skilled jazz improviser, composer, and educator whose primary focus remains acoustic post-bop. He first gained notice during the 1980s and went on to record several well-received projects, among them the 1987 release Mixed Bag and the 1996 album Vertigo. Snidero has written multiple instructional texts on jazz improvisation while conducting clinics and holding teaching positions at the New School University’s Jazz and Contemporary Music Program, Indiana University, and Princeton. He continues to perform regularly, issuing expansive recordings such as the 2016 Miles Davis-inspired MD66 and the 2020 South Korean-themed Project K with Dave Douglas, alongside more conventional quartet and trio dates including 2021’s Live at the Deer Head Inn, which showcases pianist Orrin Evans, and the 2024 trio outing For All We Know.

Born in Redwood City, California, in 1958, Snidero spent his formative years in Prince George’s County, Maryland, where he began studying saxophone at age ten. Jazz did not capture his attention until junior high, when he joined school concert and jazz groups and came under the sway of hard bop saxophonist Phil Woods, who became his teacher. After high school he entered the University of North Texas music program. Summers found him in New York working with saxophonist David Liebman; upon graduating in 1981 he relocated to the city permanently. By 1982 he was touring nationally with organist Jack McDuff, appearing on three albums with the bandleader. Subsequent associations included long stints with the Mingus Big Band and the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra, the latter lasting from 1983 to 2003. Additional collaborators have ranged from David Murray and Frank Wess to Mel Lewis, Jim Rotondi, and Maria Schneider.

Snidero’s first album as a leader, On Time, appeared in 1984. Cut at Rudy Van Gelder’s studio, the date featured trumpeter Brian Lynch, pianist Kenny Kirkland, bassist George Mraz, and drummer Billy Hart—all colleagues from the Akiyoshi orchestra. He followed with further releases on the Criss Cross and Red labels, among them 1987’s Mixed Bag and 1989’s Blue Afternoon.

The 1990s proved equally productive. Snidero performed with singer Frank Sinatra between 1990 and 1995 and published several jazz pedagogy volumes. He also maintained a steady flow of hard bop-oriented recordings, including 1990’s Storm Rising, 1991’s Urban Tales with trumpeter Tom Harrell, and 1997’s Standards + Plus, his initial collection devoted largely to standards. The decade closed with 1999’s The Music of Joe Henderson, a tribute issued on Double-Time.

Entering the new millennium, Snidero concentrated more intently on original material, resulting in the 2002 orchestral album Strings, which spotlighted pianist Renee Rosnes, and 2004’s Close Up, featuring saxophonist Eric Alexander. A lasting partnership with Savant Records began with 2007’s Tippin’ and continued through 2009’s Crossfire and 2011’s Interface, both featuring guitarist Paul Bollenback. Later Savant sessions such as 2013’s Stream of Consciousness and 2015’s Main Street paired him with bassist Linda Oh and drummer Rudy Royston on fresh compositions.

MD66, released in 2016, paid homage to Miles Davis’ second great quintet of the 1960s and included Royston, trumpeter Alex Sipiagin, pianist Andy Laverne, and bassist Ugonna Okegwo. Two years later came Jubilation!: Celebrating Cannonball Adderley, which again featured trumpeter Jeremy Pelt. Pelt returned for the 2019 quintet recording Waves of Calm, completed by Orrin Evans on piano and Fender Rhodes, bassist Nat Reeves, and drummer Jonathan Barber. Project K, issued in 2020 and shaped by South Korean culture, history, and philosophy, enlisted trumpeter Dave Douglas and gayageum player Do Yeon Kim. Live at the Deer Head Inn, documenting a 2020 quartet performance at the Pennsylvania venue, appeared in 2021. For All We Know, Snidero’s debut trio album with bassist Peter Washington and drummer Joe Farnsworth, arrived in early 2024.