Alison Shearer Quartet

Sat, Jan 31

Tickets: $20 , $40 , $50 , $60 (price includes $5.50 processing and ticketing fee) 7:00 show: Doors @ 6:00 9:30 show: Bar @ 6:00, Doors @ 8:45 Called “a force on the rise” by JazzTimes magazine, Alison Shearer’s explosive career hits refresh on what it means to be a jazz saxophonist today. Shearer is the kind of artist who is always asking “why.” She wants to find the similarities between seemingly disparate things, and in doing so hopefully find something human in everything. Shearer has performed across the United States, Europe, Canada, and South Asia, both with her quartet and as a member of Red Baraat and Sunny Jain’s Wild Wild East. She has performed with notable artists such as Kurt Elling, Nate Smith, Charlie Hunter, Ben Platt, Billy Porter, Kelly O’Hara, Jason Robert Brown, Josh Groban, and the wonderful Orchestra of St. Luke’s. She has appeared on both NPR’s Tiny Desk and KEXP with Sunny Jain’s Wild Wild East. Alison gathered her eponymous Quartet in 2015. She writes the group’s music, and their soulful, melodic take on fusion found immediate acclaim in New York City, where the group got its start. Their first record, View From Above, was named one of NPR’s Top Ten Albums of the Year and was an Editor’s Choice in Jazz Times. Her most recent release In The Garden (Pinch Records) came out on October 10, 2025 and was named a best October release by NPR, which led to an interview with Alison Stewart on WNYC. Alison premiered her first ever chamber work for the classical stage in April 2024 to a sold-out audience at USCB Center for the Arts in Beaufort, South Carolina. The piece, “Apollosis”, commissioned by USCB Chamber Music and written for alto saxophone and piano sextet, got rave reviews and kicked off a flurry of engagements and additional commissions. In 2025 Alison got a record deal with Pinch Records and a second commission from USCB Chamber Music - this time for alto saxophone, marimba, piano, and voice. ROCO Symphony in Houston Texas commissioned Shearer’s first orchestral work, which will be a saxophone concert based on the abstract artwork of her late father, acclaimed LIFE photojournalist, John Shearer. The piece will be premiered at the opening of their 2026 - 2027 season. Alison is a passionate teacher and has maintained a private studio for 18 years. She is on faculty at the Jazz at Lincoln Center High School Jazz Academy and at Jazz House Kids, where her work with young students fosters community building through jazz education. Alison is an endorsing artist with D’Addario Reeds. Band lineup: Alison Shearer, saxes and flute Kevin Bernstein, keys Marty Kenney, bass Diego Ramirez, drums