A Conversation with Allison Young, Baritone Saxophonist

We recently sat down with Allison Young, our baritone saxophonist and Marketing Coordinator to talk all things saxophone, music, and CJRO! Read more in this interview:

How long have you played with the band?

I’ve been with the band for about two years! My first show was in June 2022.

What’s your favorite concert you’ve played?

I’d have to say last summer’s Arvada Amphitheatre show featuring Tatiana Mayfield. The band was on fire, the arrangements were amazing, and everyone was having a blast on stage and in the audience. Such great energy and music all around, I’ll never forget it. 

Second place I think goes to our recent show ‘Swing, Swing, Swing’ doing the music of Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, etc. I’ve always loved that music and it’s so much fun to play, there’s a neat history behind it, and audiences love it. I have a soft spot for that style too after touring with the Glenn Miller Orchestra in 2022; it was a neat full circle moment to play the baritone solo on ‘Song of the Volga Boatmen’ with the CJRO after playing it so many times with the touring band!

What’s your favorite chart to play with the band?

This is a tough one because we rotate through SO much music. I’d have to say Drew’s arrangement of ‘Don’t Get Around Much Anymore’ or his composition ‘Addition by Subtraction’ are both high on the list (you can listen to both on our most recent album!).

Who are your biggest musical influences - saxophone specific and otherwise?

My biggest inspiration as a baritone player is definitely Gerry Mulligan. His sound, language, and approach are just gorgeous. As a saxophonist I’ve also been influenced a lot by Sonny Stitt, Charlie Parker, Hank Mobley, Cannonball, Johnny Hodges, and Harry Carney. I’m also very influenced by vocalists and probably listen to them as much as saxophonists. Ella Fitzgerald is probably my favorite musician of all time, but I also love Sarah Vaughan, Blossom Dearie, Anita O’Day, and Nancy Wilson.

What are you most looking forward to about the upcoming concert?

Our next show is at Five Points Jazz Festival, which is such a special event. I’m actually a Five Points resident, so I’m maybe most excited to walk to the gig and not have to worry about parking, haha! In all seriousness, it’s going to be so much fun to play a set of some of our favorite tunes as a band, have that big crowd festival energy, and look out beyond the crowd and see the view of this historic neighborhood and the Denver skyline and mountains in the background. I got to play the festival last year with Annie Booth’s Big Band and it was definitely one of those ‘how did I get so lucky?’ moments.

What do you like most about playing with the CJRO?

The people and the variety of music we get to play. Everyone in the band is dedicated to the project and producing the best outcome possible, and it’s an honor to be in such a high-quality, committed group of musicians. It’s also fun to see how we adjust to play different styles of music and the opportunities to explore big band music I might not have otherwise.

What music are you listening to right now? (Can be any genre or artists, just any music you've been enjoying recently)

It’s been a very bizarre, eclectic mix as of late. I’ve been big into the recent cast albums for the revivals of Sweeney Todd and Merrily We Roll Along, Chappell Roan’s ‘The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess,’ and Beyonce’s ‘RENAISSANCE.’ On the jazz side, I’ve been listening to lots of Count Basie/Benny Goodman/Glenn Miller to prep for our recent concert, Paul Desmond’s ‘Two Of A Mind ', Carmen McRae’s ‘Bittersweet,’ Jon Batiste’s ‘Chronology of a Dream: Live At The Village Vanguard’, and säje’s self-titled record.

If you could switch places with one member of the band, who would it be?

This is tough, I’d have to say either drums or one of the section trumpet parts. Drums provide so much energy and can really make or break the band, and it would be fun to experience that role. Trumpet would be fun to play in a different range and play from the back of the horn section as opposed to the front - it’s a whole different listening experience and I’d get to play entirely an entirely different role in the horn section, which would be fun.

If you could do any concert theme with the band, what would it be?

I’d love to do a West Coast cool jazz themed show and do some tunes from ‘Birth of the Cool’ and Gerry Mulligan’s big band. Mulligan has an album with Mel Tormé and George Shearing with his big band that’s so joyful, fun, and creatively written, and I think it would be so fun to play. It’s also pretty baritone saxophone forward, so I’m a little biased :) 

Do you have any upcoming gigs/releases/projects you're particularly excited for?

Definitely, I have a busy summer ahead! I’ll be on all of the CJRO concerts this summer, so come say hi there! The other show I’d really like to plug is my quartet at Dazzle on Monday, July 29 - I’m playing with Gabriel Mervine on trumpet, Domi Edson on bass, and Ian Spillman on drums paying tribute to the chordless quartet of Gerry Mulligan. This will be my last show in Denver before I move to Rochester, NY to attend the Eastman School of Music for grad school, so I hope you’ll grab a ticket! It will be so sad to leave, but Eastman is a dream school of mine and I’m really excited for this next chapter.

My website is allisonyoungmusic.com if you want to check out my full upcoming schedule, watch the recent live set we did on KUVO, and more.