Steve Slagle

Steve Slagle (born September 18, 1952) is an American jazz saxophonist and composer.

Slagle was born in Los Angeles and grew up in suburban Philadelphia. He received a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music and received a Masters degree in Music From Manhattan School of Music.. He came to New York in 1976, first working with Machito and his Afro-Cuban orchestra, and then toured and recorded  with Ray Barretto, Steve Kuhn, Lionel Hampton, Brother Jack McDuff, and Carla Bley. He also performed and traveled with Woody Herman and Cab Calloway. In the mid-1980s, he began leading his own combos, first with Mike Stern and then with Dave Stryker; the combo is currently the main focus of Slagle's music. He has also played frequently with Joe Lovano and has featured on several of Lovano's albums, including the Grammy-winning 52nd Street Themes''.

In the mid-1980s, global and especially Latin influences began to inflect Slagle's work, and he appeared on albums by Milton Nascimento and Olivier Hutman. He toured frequently worldwide during the 1990s and 2000s. especially in Western Europe, Japan, and, latterly, Russia and Bulgaria. During the 1990s, he was a leading figure in the Charles Mingus Big Band. Ever since the late 1990s, Slagle has co-led a band with guitarist Dave Stryker. New New York, his 2000 release, has been seen as an evocation of the city's mood on the verge of 9/11 and an expression of Slagle's love for the city he has made his home. He has played with such diverse artists as Milton Nascimento, Elvis Costello, the Beastie Boys, and Mac Rebennack(aka Dr. John).

Slagle has taught at the Manhattan School of Music, Rutgers, The New School, NYU, and clinics through the Thelonious Monk Institute as well as the Mingus Jazz Workshop and other workshops and educational initiatives.

Slagle plays and endorsesYanagisawa saxophones i.e. the A9937 alto saxophone and S9930 soprano saxophone.

In 2011, Slagle published a composition and improvisation workbook for the creative musician, and stories about his life in "Scenes, Songs and Solos" (Schaffner Press)((

Albums

 * 1986 Rio Highlife Atlantic Records
 * 1989 Smoke Signals Panorama
 * 1993 The Steve Slagle Quartet SteepleChase
 * 1995 Reincarnations SteepleChase
 * 1995 Our Sound SteepleChase
 * 1997 Alto Blue SteepleChase
 * 1998 Steve Slagle plays Monk SteepleChase
 * 2000 New New York Omnitone
 * 2012 "Evensong" Panorama


 * 2001 The Stryker/Slagle Band
 * 2005 The Stryker/Slagle Band Live at the Jazz Standard Zoho
 * 2007 Latest Outlook Zoho
 * 2008 The Scene Zoho
 * 2010 Keeper Panorama

As sideman
With Steve Kuhn
 * Motility (ECM, 1977)
 * Non-Fiction (ECM, 1978)

WIth Joe Lovano Nonet


 * 52 St Themes (Blue Note 96667)( Grammy award winning)
 * On This Day (Blue Note, live recording from Village Vanguard)
 * Streams of Expression ( Blue Note 41092)

With Charles Mingus Big Band


 * Nostalgia In Times Square (Dreyfus 36575-2)
 * Gunslinging Birds (Dreyfus 36559-2)( Grammy Nominated)
 * Live In Time (Dreyfus 36583-2)( Grammy nominated)
 * Que Viva Mingus (Dreyfus 36593-2)

With Dave Stryker


 * Trio Mundo: Rides Again (ZOHO #200410)
 * Trio Mundo Carnaval (Khaeon 200204)
 * Shades Beyond (New Release Steeplechase)
 * Blue To The Bone 111 (Steeplechase 31524)
 * Changing Times (Steeplechase 31510)
 * 2013--Blue To The Bone IV (Steeplechase)

With Milton Nascimento


 * Encontros e Despedidas (polygram brazil)

With the Beastie Boys


 * Hello Nasty (Capitol, CDP7243)

With Ray Barretto


 * Handprints (concord-cjp473)