Jon Irabagon Interview

From All About Jazz:

Saxophonist Jon Irabagon likes challenges in music; likes attempting different things. He’s not opposed to things traditional, but would prefer to come at music and sounds from different angles. He enjoys the journey; enjoys experiencing the results. At 35, he’s on the go all the time, ubiquitous on the New York City music scene. In the next minute, he’s often off to Europe on tour with one of his own groups or playing as a sideman. Not long after he came to New York from Chicago in 2001, he was there for the birth of Mostly Other People Do the Killing, the brazen, experimental, sometimes chaotic group that combines different styles and genres in its improvisational mix. He’s played with daring trumpeter Dave Douglas, is part of guitarist Mary Halvorson‘s group and is putting together an album of more mainstream jazz. In August, Irabagon did a three-day residency at the Cornelia Street Cafe in New York, playing with different musicians each night including Michael Formanek, Tom Rainey, Luis Perdomo, Yasushi Nakamura and Rudy Royston and others.