“Mr. Sabbagh avoided direct allusions to the saxophone totems. What he is working toward, simply and effectively, is a sincerely personal vocabulary. ”
– New York Times
“The willfully lyrical tenor saxophonist Jerome Sabbagh is the rarest of rare birds: a young tenor saxophonist with a distinctive concept, dependent not so much on his elders for inspiration as his own imagination.”
– JazzTimes
As a saxophonist, Jerome Sabbagh is known for his tone and lyricism.
A prolific forward-thinking composer as well as a musician with a deep connection to the well of the jazz tradition, Jerome Sabbagh has been leading a few bands over the last few years: his longstanding quartet of ten years with Ben Monder, Joe Martin and Ted Poor is releasing their third album, “The Turn”, after the critically acclaimed “North” and “Pogo”.
Jerome Sabbagh has also recorded an album exclusively devoted to standards, “One Two Three”, in a saxophone trio setting with Ben Street and Rodney Green. “I Will Follow You” is a freer project featuring European drum legend Daniel Humair and Ben Monder. “Plugged In”, sparked by a CMA/FACE grant, is an electric project co-led with Belgian keyboardist Jozef Dumoulin, with Patrice Blanchard and Rudy Royston. Jerome Sabbagh also performs duet with Danny Grissett.
Jerome Sabbagh was one of Paul Motian’s last saxophone players. After one gig together, the legendary drummer asked him to play for a week at the Village Vanguard, in his “New Trio” with guitarist Ben Monder, in September 2011.
Jerome Sabbagh has shared the stage with Victor Lewis, Bill Stewart, Greg Hutchinson, Billy Drummond, Eliot Zigmund, Andrew Cyrille, Damion Reid, Reggie Workman, Matt Penman, Joe Sanders, Lage Lund, Guillermo Klein, Mike Moreno, Laurent Coq and Jean-Michel Pilc. He has played in some of the world’s most famous festivals, including Newport, San Francisco, Tokyo and Medellin. In 2011, DownBeat included him in their “Rising Stars” list for tenor saxophone.
US TOUR DATES
3/2 @ The Bell House – Brooklyn, NY
3/7 @ Smalls – New York, NY
3/27 @ BAr Bayeux – Brooklyn, NY
