Steve Slagle

Born on 18 September 1951 in Los Angeles, California, USA, Steve Slagle took up the saxophone while still a child. He later crossed the continent to enroll at Berklee College Of Music. Throughout the 1970s his sideman work encompassed Stevie Wonder, John Scofield and Machito. Early in the following decade he played tenor saxophone in Woody Herman’s band, alto with Lionel Hampton, and appeared alongside Charlie Haden, Carla Bley, Steve Kuhn and Mingus Dynasty. Toward the close of the 1980s he became musical director of the Ray Barretto Band. His debut recording as a leader arrived in 1983; during that same decade he frequently led a quartet that included Jaco Pastorius on bass, Mike Stern on guitar and Adam Nussbaum on drums. In the 1990s he cut several dates for SteepleChase Records with Tim Hagans and Ryan Kisor on trumpets, Kenny Drew Jnr. on piano, Cameron Brown on bass and Gene Jackson on drums. He co-leads a group with guitarist Dave Stryker and serves as lead altoist and chief arranger for the Mingus Big Band. Equally at home on soprano saxophone and clarinet, Slagle’s playing reveals a sustained fascination with the music that bridged hard bop and free jazz, although his strongest statements arise when he anchors those explorations in the blues. His formidable command of the instruments never draws attention to itself. On alto, however, his sinuous lines produce an atmosphere that is at once rigorous and powerfully intense.