David Bixler

There’s a duality that informs David Bixler’s work as one of the premiere alto saxophonists in contemporary Jazz. A Wisconsin native, Bixler studied Classical piano as a child but was inspired by the legendary Dexter Gordon to take up the saxophone, which led him to the music program at Indiana University. After graduation, he relocated to New York City, where he became an in-demand session player.

Bixler, his wife, violinist Heather Martin Bixler, and their four children called Harlem home for years, but Bixler is equally at home in Bowling Green, Ohio, where he has been an Associate Professor of Jazz Studies at Bowling Green State University since 2008; Bixler and other members of the Jazz faculty have a standing Wednesday night gig at a downtown Bowling Green club. Widely regarded for his estimable improvisational skills, Bixler’s past few recordings have also showcased his equal gift for composition, particularly 2006’s all-original album, Call It a Good Deal.

In addition to Bixler’s amazingly varied solo career, he’s a much sought after band member — he’s played with the orchestras of Duke Ellington, Lionel Hampton and Toshiko Akiyoshi, he was a member of the Chico O’Farrill Afro Cuban Jazz Orchestra and a collaborator with Grammy-winning pianist Arturo O’Farrill. Bixler’s last recorded summit with the latter was 2010’s Auction Project, a bold intersection of Irish, Scottish and Afro-Cuban influences woven into an acoustic post-Bop framework.

Auction Project was almost universally hailed as a nuanced work of incredible depth and originality — All About Jazz’s David Orthmann named Auction Project one of 2010’s best releases and it earned a four-star review from Downbeat — and reviewers praised it for its unique World Jazz direction and its mix of brilliantly conceived and executed originals and wildly unusual and evocative arrangements of traditional odes like “The Chicken Went to Scotland” and “She Moves Through the Fair.” Bixler shines brightest in front of an audience, where his passionate improvisational style finds its fullest expression within the context of his endlessly talented quartet. The professor is ready to go and class is in session; be prepared, this could be an all-nighter.

This article appears in Jun 22-28, 2011.