The Jon Irabagon Quartet is a new group formed by musicians who have played together for over a decade. This tour is made possible in part by a South Arts Jazz Roads grant, and the music debuted here will form the basis for their upcoming debut album. A boundaryless group looking towards the future of American music.

The members of this ensemble have toured and recorded with Regina Carter, Dave Douglas, Tim Berne, Rudresh Manhanthappa, Craig Taborn, Mary Halvorson, Barry Altschul and many other luminaries of modern jazz and improvisatory music, and the quartet plays with fiery abandon and contemporary melodicism simultaneously.

The winner of the 2008 Thelonious Monk Saxophone Competition, Irabagon has since topped both the Rising Star Alto Saxophone and the Rising Star Tenor Saxophone categories in the DownBeat Magazine Critics’ Poll and been named one of Time Out New York’s 25 New York City Jazz Icons. Jon was also named 2012 Musician of the Year in The New York City Jazz Record and is an integral member of such high-profile ensembles as the Mary Halvorson Quintet, Septet and Octet, the Dave Douglas Quintet, Barry Altschul’s 3Dom Factor and formerly of Mostly Other People do the Killing as well as an established bandleader in his own right.

Jon Irabagon- saxophone
Matt Mitchell- piano
Chris Lightcap- bass
Dan Weiss- drums

“Saxophonist Jon Irabagon is a subverter of the jazz form,” declares Martin Longley in his Irabagon feature in the August issue of The New York City Jazz Record.

This tour is made possible with the support of Jazz Road, a national initiative of South Arts, which is funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation with additional support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

The Jon Irabagon Quartet Live from Alphabet City