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Amy Denio / Tiptons Sax Quartet & Correo Aereo

Jazz Road Creative Residencies Grant Recipient

Amy Denio / Tiptons Sax Quartet & Correo Aereo

Recipient Information

Location

Seattle, Washington

Year of Award

2021

Grant or Fellowship

Jazz Road Creative Residencies Grant

Grant Amount

$40,000

About the Project

The Tiptons Sax Quartet with duo Correo Aereo and virtual reality artist/technologist, queer Asian-American Jude Dai will collaborate on new work performance and recording in partnership with Earshot Jazz Festival, Chief Sealth High School, and the Seattle Composer Alliance.

Residency Location

Seattle, WA

About the Artist

THE TIPTONS SAXOPHONE QUARTET is celebrating over 30 years as a band. This internationally renowned all-female saxophone quartet with drums has played concerts, recorded, and created larger projects in collaboration with a wide assortment of musicians, choreographers, theaters, circuses, film makers, and other artists worldwide. 

Co-founder Amy Denio (alto sax, clarinet, voice) is joined by co-leader Jessica Lurie (soprano/alto/ tenor sax,voice), Sue Orfield (tenor sax, voice) and Tina Richerson (baritone sax, voice). Internationally acclaimed drummer/percussionists joining the band include Robert Kainar (Austria), Chris Stromquist (US), Tarik Abouzied (US) and Elizabeth Pupo-Walker (US) .

The Tiptons' material ranges from micro-Big Band to Gospel, Bluegrass to Balkan, whimsical Chamber Jazz, and nocturnal Funk to Free Jazz Improvisation using saxophones, clarinet, their voices, drums, and inventive percussion to create a genre-busting ‘world soul’ sound. The band takes its name in honor of Billy Tipton, a female-born saxophonist who lived their life as a man in the 20th century to realize their dreams as a professional musician.

All members of the band are composers, bandleaders and experienced improvisers.
The ensemble has received commissions and grants to collaborate with musicians, artists, choreographers, film makers, and theater directors in North America and Europe.

They created and produced the multimedia performances SHOP OF WILD DREAMS, MYTHUNDERSTANDINGS, PEZZATONE and HOMO VOLANS. 

They have produced 14 albums and many singles for labels such as The Knitting Factory, New World Records, NoMansLand (Germany), Sowiesound (Austria), and their own label Zipa! / Spoot. In late 2019 they were commissioned to score an episode of THE OIL FUND (Norwegian TV)

PROJECT & FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS: Goodwill Arts Festival (NEA) Bus Horn Concerto (METRO ARTP), Women in Jazz (name that grant!), Saxhouse (Pat Graney Dance Company), Man With A Movie Camera (Bumbershoot Festival), Pezzatone IItaly), Homo Volans (Italy), Shop of Wild Dreams (USA), MYTHUNDERSTANDINGS (USA),  New Music America (USA), Hammer Museum Jazz Series (USA); TAKTLOS Fest (CH); North Sea Jazz Fest (NL); Clifford Brown Jazz Fest (USA); du Maurier Jazz Fest (CAN); MIMI Fest (FR); Earshot Jazz Fest (USA); Coleman Hawkins Jazz Fest (USA); NYC Gay Games (USA); Michigan Women's Music Fest (USA).