Paul Shapiro

A saxophonist, flutist, composer, and bandleader, Paul Shapiro has maintained a presence on the New York City music circuit since the 1980s. Raised on Long Island in Westbury, New York, he completed public schooling before relocating to Montreal, Canada, where he earned a B.F.A. from McGill University. Upon returning to the greater New York metropolitan region, he directed the progressive funk outfit Foreign Legion and later joined the Microscopic Septet, stepping in for John Hagen following the group’s debut album, Take the Z Train.

During the 1990s Shapiro collaborated with various hip-hop producers, contributing flute to Frankie Knuckles’ U.K. hit “The Whistle Song” and soprano saxophone to Nuyorican Soul’s “The Nervous Track,” while also appearing on sessions for Queen Latifah, Naughty by Nature, Marc Anthony, and India. In 1994 he established Brooklyn Funk Essentials, which issued recordings on RCA Victor and Shanachie Records. He supplied the score for Cheryl Dunye’s 1998 film The Watermelon Woman, William “Electric” Black’s musical The Sun Gets Blue, and Joyce Carol Oates’s play Presque Isle, in addition to creating commercial spots for MTV.

From 2003 onward, Shapiro issued his own projects on John Zorn’s Tzadik label within the Radical Jewish Culture series, among them Midnight Minyan, It’s in the Twilight, and Essen. In supporting roles he has performed with Julius Hemphill, David Murray, Aretha Franklin, Lou Reed, Ben Folds Five, Khaled, Brian McKnight, Marshall Crenshaw, Ofra Haza, Wayne Horvitz, Craig Harris, and Elliott Sharp.