Idit Shner

With her recorded projects ranging from post-bop arrangements of Israeli songs from youth to commissioned new works for classical saxophone, Idit Shner has been a tireless advocate for 'making things happen' since receiving her DMA from the University of North Texas 15 years ago. On the faculty of the University of Oregon in Eugene, Idit continues to inspire others while using the city's central jazz gathering spot, The Jazz Station, to workshop ideas and perform regularly with her quartet. Recorded in June, 2019, Live at the Jazz Station captures the joy and exuberance heard each night there, with a high-energy group of friends exploring a favorite standard or their own compositions. From pianist/organist Torrey Newhart's hard-swinging, B-3 led "Shake it 'Til You Hear it Sizzle," to bassist Garrett Baxter's haunting ballad, "Present," or drummer Ken Mastrogiovanni's loose and swinging closer, "Artificial Flavors," Shner lights a fire, making the idea of presenting a live album more than just a good idea. "…confident and assured. (Shner's) bringing a welcome liveliness to post-bop jazz…"

Presented with a University of Oregon Faculty Excellence Award in 2016, saxophonist Idit Shner chose to invest that award in the creation of new compositions for saxophone. Participating in both individual and group commissioning efforts, this recording was programmed from that collection of ten new works by long established composers, such as Chicago's Stacy Garrop, to several more diverse and emerging voices, including Ziv Slama from Israel and the Oregon-based Andrea Reinkemeyer and Evan C. Paul. With pianist EunHye Choi, Shner performed several concerts with each of these pieces to enthusiastic response, forming the belief that while obvious audience favorites, they also represent a substantial contribution to current saxophone literature.