Tony Malaby

Tony Malaby is a tenor and soprano saxophonist known for a big, vocalized tone and a restless improvising language rooted in the free and creative wings of jazz. Born in 1964 in Tucson, Arizona, he moved to New York City in 1995 and became a fixture of the city's downtown improvised music scene. He has performed in Charlie Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra, Paul Motian's Electric Bebop Band, Mark Helias's Open Loose, and Fred Hersch's Trio + 2, and counts drummer Tom Rainey, guitarist Ben Monder, bassist Eivind Opsvik, and pianist Angelica Sanchez among his longstanding collaborators. As a leader he has recorded projects spanning the TubaCello ensemble's Scorpion Eater and The Cave of Winds, exploring dense group textures and open-form improvisation. The New York Times has described him as one of the best players of his generation.