We are STOKED to announce our 3rd annual Saxquest Woodwind Instrument Expo.

The Expo will showcase hundreds of custom, professional, and step-up instruments including saxophones, clarinets, flutes, and double reeds for trial as well as instrument accessories. Nearly all of the major brands will be represented. Parents, band directors and students will have the opportunity to play through all of the instruments and experience the difference a professional or step-up instrument can make while talking directly to the manufactures.

When: November 17 from 9am-5pm
Where: St. Charles Community College – Donald D. Shook Fine Arts Building
Cost: FREE

Although the event will be open to walk in traffic all day, for those interested in making a purchase, we strongly recommend booking an appointment. This will guarantee access to all that the Expo has to offer including assignment of a personal sound coach and priority access to private play test rooms. Booking an appointment also places you into a drawing to win free reeds for a year or $500 in store credit (good for merchandise and/or repair work – no purchase necessary)!

Book and appointment here: https://www.tinyurl.com/2018sqExpo

We’ll be taking over the entire Fine Arts building, so it will be AWESOME!! There’s definitely nothing else like this in the St. Louis region!! It’s a special day guaranteed to be musically inspiring. We encourage you to come out and send your students if you teach—it’s FREE and open to everyone!

Both private sound rooms and personal sound coaches will be available all day. We’re also offering a 10% discount on most new instruments and special and/or even 0% financing options. Note that a professional set-up is included for FREE on any instrument purchased ($350 value)!

The goal of every musician is to “elevate your performance”, continue to grow and have fun while playing and performing. As a high-end woodwind specialty shop here in St. Louis, we’re delighted to be able to host this unique event. Please share with anyone who you think may enjoy this experience!

Questions: call 314-664-1234 or email us at info@saxquest.com

Saxquest is excited to host Joel Gordon’s “Happy Habitat”, a Kansas City-based “chordless” jazz quartet this Saturday afternoon, August 25, from 2-4pm at Saxquest on Cherokee. As always, this will be a free concert open to the public. Its informal and will be open to questions with the artists. Come on out and out check out some exciting and inspiring new music!!

Happy Habitat formed in fall 2017 as a new music ensemble creating original and creative music. The absence of a chordal instrument frees up the musicians to explore and lead the group in different harmonic directions while improvising. A perfect blending of traditional jazz with ever evolving harmonies and creative ideas, this will be a Saxquest event not to miss!!

This performance will feature, leader Joel Gordon on alto saxophone, Tim AuBuchon on tenor saxophone, Ben Wheeler on double bass, and Kaleb Kirby on drums and percussion. The group performs almost all original music, composed by the members of the group. The goal of the Happy Habitat is to express the humor, quirks, and joys that music can bring through timing, harmony, and improvisation.

Saxquest is delighted to welcome saxophonist-composer, Adam Larson, to our shop on July 11 at 6 pm for the third installation in our 2018 Concert Artist Series. He’s joined by master bassist Bob DeBoo and and the talented Joe Hibbs on drums.

Adam Larson, who holds BM and MM degrees in Jazz Performance from The Manhattan school, has been described by Nate Chinen of the New York Times as “the sort of jazz musician who gets flagged early on as a promising talent and then hustles to meet every requirement for success.” Larson has released four albums, and his most recent recording “Second City” received a four-star rating from DownBeat Magazine and was listed as one of the best releases of 2017 by Downbeat and Jazziz Magazine. Larson keeps an active schedule, having performed at many prominent venues across the U.S. including The Blue Note, The Village Vanguard, The Jazz Standard, The 55 Bar, Jazz at the Bistro, The Jazz Showcase, and many others.

Larson maintains an impressive portfolio of commissioned ensemble writings from school jazz ensembles, having written more than thirty original works to date. He was recently commissioned by the Illinois Music Educators Association to compose the All-State composition for the 2020 convention, and continues to be a sought after clinician and master class presenter at several high schools and universities across the Midwest and beyond.

This is a very exciting opportunity for Saxquest to continue tracking the career of one of today’s rising jazz stars and and event not to miss! Remember our enthusiasm to continue hosting these events is entirely dependent on your attendance!! I hope to see you out this Wednesday evening. See you there!!

We are very excited to present our last Local Saxophonist Showcase of the year, featuring the incredible Freddie Washington. Freddie is one of the last remaining tenor players from the great Gaslight Square era of Jazz in St. Louis. Born in St. Louis in 1937, Washington began playing tenor saxophone in the eighth grade and was performing professionally by age 16. After enlisting in the Navy, in 1956, he attended the Navy’s music school in Washington, D.C., but in 1959 returned to St. Louis, where he began long associations with John Chapman, the legendary pianist, and John Mixon, a bass player who recorded with Miles Davis. Over the years, Washington has toured with Mongo Santamaria and performed with such notable musicians as Wilbur Ware, Emily Remler and Leon Thomas.

Freddie’s language, sound, and experience on the tenor is surely going to blow everyone away who hasn’t yet heard him play. We are excited to present him in a quartet setting with one of the best rhythm sections St. Louis has to offer. Freddie will be accompanied by Adam Maness on Piano, Bob Deboo on Bass, and Kaleb Kirby on Drums.

Be sure to also check out the Battle Trance Saxophone Quartet down the street at Dead Wax Records. They will be performing from 1:30-2:15 on Saturday, December 2. Freddie Washington will begin shortly after they wrap up down the street.

We are very excited to present Kristian Baarsvik as our Featured Local Saxophonist for the month of November. Kristian quickly rose through the ranks as one of the top saxophonists in St. Louis when he moved here in 2011. He is currently a member of the Air Force Band based out of the Scott Air Force Base. This event is free and open to the public, and is this Saturday, November 18, from 2pm-4pm at Saxquest on Cherokee.

Kristian can be seen playing around St. Louis frequently with Tommy Halloran’s Guerilla Swing, The Dave Dickey Big Band and many other jazz groups. If you aren’t familiar with Kristian’s playing then you’ll definitely want to check him out on Tommy Halloran’s Gueilla Swing records. We are excited to present Kristian in a Jazz Quartet setting. He will be backed by some of the best local rhythm section players St Louis has to offer. Kristian will be joined by Eric Slaughter on guitar, Bob Deboo on Bass, and Kaleb Kirby on drums.

You won’t want to miss this month’s showcase!!!

Upcoming Local Saxophonist Showcases:
Dec 2 – Freddie Washington