Shawn Maxwell

A spirited free-thinker and committed non-conformist, saxophonist-composer Shawn Maxwell is clearly courting another kind of muse.

Shawn Maxwell’s New Tomorrow is a quintet made up of five of Chicago’s finest musicians. Performing all original material, they specialize in a style of jazz that is heavily influenced and blended with several other modern genres. Focusing on composition just as much as improvisation, they reveal stunning melodies hidden within complex time signatures. This new approach in Maxwell’s writing brings a perfect blend of composition and improvisation for a new direction in jazz.

One of the preeminent performers in Chicago jazz, saxophonist Shawn Maxwell has released several recordings featuring his quartet or his sonically expanded dectet, 'Alliance. ' With his New Tomorrow group, he augments his working quartet with the singular trumpet voices of three of Chicago's finest'- Victor Garcia, Chad McCullough and Corey Wilkes - and the inspired and often dazzling vocalist, Dee Alexander, for a set of ten modern, electric originals. Focusing on composition as much as improvisation, the quintets reveal stunning melodies hidden within complex time signatures, textures and grooves.

As a composer, recording artist and performer, saxophonist Shawn Maxwell has endeavored to express his own unique voice. From his latest album Millstream (Jazzline, 2020) to his debut Originals (self-released, 2005), he has released nine albums of original compositions. The traditions of jazz form the foundation for Shawn’s music; he builds on that with material from the music he grew up with – rock, funk, hip hop, R&B, classical. The result, as Hrayr Attarian wrote in Chicago Jazz Magazine, “is refreshingly distinct yet recognizably Maxwellian”. He’s not intent on following any rules – or on breaking them – but on continually expanding what his music encompasses.

Seventeen compositions written during a global pandemic. Recorded remotely – thirty musicians, individually, most in their own homes. A lot happened during this year, personally, professionally, nationally, globally. This music represents my thoughts on and reactions to these events: 2020 in hindsight.

2003 live release for the southern rock institution, recorded in Hamburg, Bremen, & the Wacken Festival. 22 tracks of hits including "Dreams I'll Never See" (Gregg Allman) and "Tumbling Dice" (Rolling Stones)…