October 19, 2020 at 8pm CT
Option presents Steve Baczkowski
Improviser, saxophonist, and multi-wind instrumentalist Steve Baczkowski presents a selection of solo music for his debut on the Option series. A discussion with Tim Daisy tops off the evening.
“Hearing saxophonist Steve Baczkowski perform at the Exposure Series at Elastic Arts in 2018 was a highlight of the year for me. A powerful performer with a broad range of ideas, I’m very much looking forward to witnessing what he brings into the solo context on the Option series.’ Tim Daisy – Option Programmer
Buffalo-based saxophonist Steve Baczkowski performs solo, in trio with drummer Ravi Padmanabha & bassist Brian DeJesus, and in frequent collaborations with guitarist Bill Nace, drummer Chris Corsano & bassist Brandon Lopez. A trio LP Mystic Beings with Corsano & Nace was recently released by Open Mouth Records and Old Smoke, a live trio recording with Corsano and Lopez was released on CD by Relative Pitch Records in April 2019. A new LP Open Door highlighting Baczkowski's 20-year duo collaboration with Ravi Padmanabha has just been released on Padmanabha’s Good Karma / Bad Karma Records and a live recording of the Lopez Trio with drummer Gerald Cleaver will be released by Relative Pitch in 2021.
Baczkowski began playing alto saxophone at age eight and switched to baritone by the time he was twelve. He studied music in high school at Buffalo Academy for Visual and Performing Arts and went on to studies in music, saxophone performance, literature and ethnomusicology at the State University of New York at Buffalo ‘94-99. In 1999, Baczkowski became the Music Director of Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center in Buffalo, N.Y. (a 45-year old, multi-disciplinary, non-profit, artist-run cultural organization – www.hallwalls.org) where he has since produced and presented hundreds of concerts of contemporary music as well as numerous community-based artist residencies.
Baczkowski has organized multiple ensembles over the years including the Buffalo Improvisers Orchestra, Buffalo Suicide Prevention Unit, Organ Donor and many others and he regularly performs with the 12/8 Path Band, Buffalo Afrobeat Orchestra & Buffalo Jazz Octet. He frequently collaborates with musicians from all over the globe and has appeared at festivals in the US, Canada, Mexico & the UK.
Photo by Jack Zuff