JACOB YOFFEE
"BARI reeds have the best response from the bottom of the horn to the altissimo range of any other reed I've played. The tone is rich at full volume as well as soft/sub-tone which allows for easy musical expression in any performance setting. Perhaps most notably though, is that, from reed to reed, the playability and durability is completely consistent - you'll never get a bad one. With his thoughtful, passionate improvisations and innovative approach to composition, Jacob Yoffee is an exciting new voice on the tenor saxophone. Signed to Inner Circle Music Records in 2007, a company committed to documenting original composition, Yoffee released his debut album, "Dead Reckoning", to high acclaim. The album's release concert garnered the attention of the New York Times. Also active in the compositional realm, Yoffee has a Master's degree in Film Scoring from New York University. He has scored several films, including "The Ghost & Us" which was featured at the 2009 CineVegas Film Festival. He is also the resident composer for the American Studio Orchestra at the Maryland Institute of Collegiate Arts. He writes in both classical and jazz genres and has won awards for his compositions, including the Randolph S. Rothschild award and a Peabody award. He has produces several records for big bands, neo-soul groups, jazz and contemporary pop groups. One of his concert works for trombone quartet earned him a trip to London for performances at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, The Royal Academy of Music and on BBC radio. Born in North Carolina into a military family, Jacob Yoffee moved often growing up and spent his high school years in Okinawa, Japan. He began studying piano at eight and saxophone at thirteen, although he didn't come to study classical or improvised music until he arrived at the Peabody Conservatory in 1997. There, he majored in classical composition and jazz performance studying with Morris Mosche Cotel, Christopher Theofanidis, and the saxophone legend Gary Thomas. He is a performing member of Darin Atwater's Soulful Symphony and the Pittsburgh Jazz Orchestra; a resident ensemble of the August Wilson Center. Jacob has had the opportunity to work professionally with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Michele Rosewoman, Greg Osby, Sean Jones, EJ Strickland, Rusted Root, Poogie Bell, roger Humphries, Dwayne Dolphin, Gary Thomas, George Colligan, and many others. He leads his own quintet (featured on "Dead Reckoning"), M.A.J.I. (the Murray Avenue Jazz Initiative), a nine-piece jazz orchestra, and Metaphor, a four-piece electric group.