The Tiptons at Axe & Fiddle

The Tiptons Sax Quartet brings together four enormously talented artists – Amy Denio (Kultur Shock, OU, Ama Trio), Jessica Lurie (Living Daylights, Zion 80, Jessica Lurie Ensemble), Tobi Stone (Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra, Jefferson Rose Band), and Sue Orfield (Sue Orfield Band, Ellen Whyte) with guest drummer Tarik Abouzied (McTuff)– who use their saxophones and their voices to boldly go where their musical muses lead them, from bluegrass to Balkan, gospel to funk, and the whole wide realm of jazz, with particular emphasis on the quirky and whimsical. Author Rick Moody calls their music “moving, strange, beautiful, and new,” and says “no one else surprises me as much and with such stunning musicality.”...

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The Tiptons Sax Quartet brings together four enormously talented artists – Amy Denio (Kultur Shock, OU, Ama Trio), Jessica Lurie (Living Daylights, Zion 80, Jessica Lurie Ensemble), Tobi Stone (Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra, Jefferson Rose Band), and Sue Orfield (Sue Orfield Band, Ellen Whyte) with guest drummer Tarik Abouzied (McTuff)– who use their saxophones and their voices to boldly go where their musical muses lead them, from bluegrass to Balkan, gospel to funk, and the whole wide realm of jazz, with particular emphasis on the quirky and whimsical. Author Rick Moody calls their music “moving, strange, beautiful, and new,” and says “no one else surprises me as much and with such stunning musicality.”

The band was once called the Billy Tipton Memorial Sax Quartet, in honor of big band saxophonist and pianist Billy Tipton, a woman who lived as a man for more than 50 years to pursue a career in the male-dominated world of jazz. Why be bound by convention? The band has composed music for four saxophones and three city busses, as well as collaborating with graphic artist and painter Danijel Zezelj and choreographer Pat Graney. Their work has been featured on NPR, as well as on national radio stations in Austria, Italy, Croatia, Germany, and France. They’ve released 13 albums since their founding in 1988, including their latest, tiny lower case, which features more of the group’s provocative vocal work as well as their amazing sax playing.

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