Kasey Knudsen
Kasey Knudsen is a San Francisco based saxophonist, composer & educator. She earned her BA in Jazz Composition from Berklee College of Music in 2001. While at Berklee, Knudsen was a featured composer for the Greg Hopkins Jazz Orchestra & the Joanne Langione Dance Company. Since relocating to the San Francisco Bay Area, Knudsen has been commissioned by the Jazzschool's 2005 Emerging Artist Series to write and perform new work; In 2007, she was commissioned by Intersection For The Arts in collaboration with the De Young Museum to write & perform a piece inspired by the work of visual artist Deborah Oropallo. She has played with the Marcus Shelby Jazz Orchestra, Realistic Orchestra, The Slip, Joe Bagale & the Dirty Workshop, Adam Shulman Group, The Industrial Jazz Group, Brass Bows & Beats, her own trio & sextet, Terrence Brewer, Rova Saxophone Quartet's Sax Cloud, Tune-Yards & many others. She has performed at Yoshi's, Pearl's, The Great American Music Hall, Cafe Du Nord, Anna's Jazz Island, The Independent, The Fillmore, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Intersection for the Arts, Kuumbwa, The Jazzschool, SFJazz Fest, San Jose Jazz Fest, North Beach Jazz Fest & more. Knudsen currently teaches for the Young Musicians Program at UC Berkeley and the Jazzschool in Berkeley, CA.
Projects
The Kasey Knudsen Sextet/Septet: KK-Saxophones + Evan Francis-Alto Saxophone & Flute + Rob Ewing-Trombone + Matt Nelson-Tenor Sax + Michael Coleman, Jarrett Cherner-Piano + George Ban-Weiss-Bass + Jon Arkin, Tim Bulkley-Drums
The Holly Martins: KK-Saxophone + Lorin Benedict-Voice + Eric Vogler-Guitar
The Permanent Wave Ensemble: The music of composer Carla Bley! Bassist Lisa Mezzacappa and I co-lead this all star cast of bay area musicians including: Henry Hung-Trumpet + Cory Wright-Clarinets + Rob Ewing-Trombone + Matt Nelson-Tenor Saxophone + Michael Coleman-Piano & Keyboards + Sam Ospovat-Drums + KK-Saxophone + Lisa Mezzacappa-Bass
Teaching -Saxophone Instructor, UC Berkeley Young Musicians Program. www.ymp.berkeley.edu. -Improvisation Instructor, Jazzschool; Berkeley, CA. www.jazzschool.com. -Private instruction available: Emphasis in aquiring fundamental Jazz Vocabulary through listening, transcription & analysis
Other Bands & people I often play with...
Michael Coleman's Schumann's Humann's, Graham Connah (Ted Lachrymose Brinkley's Horn-Blower Cruise!) Evan Francis & Spaceheater, The Bay Area Composer's Big Band, Eric Garland & the Garlando Nonet, Jarrett Cherner, Noam Lemish, Disappear Incompletely (the music of Radiohead), Nathan Clevenger Group, Aaron Novik's Thorny Brocky & many more...