Jason Shapiro is a post-bop tenor saxophonist influenced by
such sax greats as Sonny Rollins, Wayne Shorter and Gary
Thomas. Born June 10, 1971, in Philadelphia, Shapiro was
raised in southern New Jersey and initially played piano.
At the age of 10, he was drawn to the saxophone and never
looked back. He began to play jazz while at Indiana
University and excelled while playing lead alto in Dominic
Spera’s big band. Upon graduation, Shapiro switched
to tenor and began working with various groups in New York
and Philadelphia. In 1999, he met and began studying with
Greg Osby. A few years later, Shapiro decided to more
deeply pursue his interest in composition by working with
twentieth century composer Ron Surak. Osby’s unique
approach to improvisation and Surak’s serial approach
to composition helped forge Shapiro’s style as an
improviser and as a composer.
Jason is currently living in southern New Jersey with his
wife and two children.
Jason can also be found on MySpace and Facebook.