Alexa Tarantino Quartet at Dakota Jazz Club

“[Alexa is] a one-woman wrecking crew… an indomitable force” – Wynton Marsalis

Alexa Tarantino is an award-winning, vibrant young jazz saxophonist, woodwind doubler, composer, and educator. Alexa’s “high-octane [performance]” (Jazziz Magazine) and “sharply plotted but gracefully unencumbered straight-ahead jazz [compositions]” (The New York Times) establish her individual voice which shines through as a dynamic performer and educator. Tarantino was nominated as a “Rising Star Alto Saxophonist” by Downbeat Magazine’s 2022, 2021 and 2020 Critics’ Polls, and named one of the “Top 5 Alto Saxophonists of 2019” by the JazzTimes Critics’ Poll.

She can be seen touring and performing internationally as a saxophonist and flutist with the Alexa Tarantino Quartet, Cecile McLorin Salvant’s Sextet, and is the newest member of ARTEMIS, led by Renee Rosnes. Alexa has appeared with a wide variety of ensembles including the Wynton Marsalis Septet, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Cecile McLorin Salvant’s OGRESSE, Ulysses Owens Jr.’s Generation Y and Big Band, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Arturo O’Farrill & The Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, and the DIVA Jazz Orchestra.

Firefly, Alexa’s 2021 record, hit #6 on the JazzWeek charts. Her previous album, Clarity, peaked at #9 on the JazzWeek charts and landed at #54 for JazzWeek’s Top 100 records of 2020.