Erica Lindsay

Erica Lindsay, composer and tenor saxophonist, spent her early years in Europe where she studied with pianist Mal Waldron. She returned to the US to study at Berklee College of Music and then headed back to Europe where she performed with her own quintet and had guest performances with Frank Zappa and Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. She composed and performed with such ensembles as the Unique Munich Saxophone Choir and the NDR Radio Big Band.

Lindsay moved to New York City and began touring internationally with Melba Liston & Co. During this time she performed with jazz legends such as Dizzy Gillespie, Joe Williams, Al Grey, Britt Woodman and Mary Lou Williams. Lindsay went on to perform with ensembles lead by McCoy Tyner, Clifford Jordon, Sumi Tonooka, Ted Curson, George Gruntz, Amira Baraka, Oliver Lake, Baikida Carroll, Howard Johnson and Jeff Siegel. She composed the musical score for two off-Broadway plays and has also written for television (“Tales from the Darkside”) and modern dance. She is a featured artist in Sally Placksin’s book American Women in Jazz and Burrill Crohn’s PBS documentary Women in Jazz. Some notable recordings from that time include her first recording, Dreamer, on Candid Records, Door of the Cage and Marionettes on a Highwire with Baikida Carroll, Live in Europe with Jeff Siegel and Cloth with Oliver Lake.

More recently, Erica has been exploring orchestral writing, inspired by her experience as a jazz improviser. After participating in the first ever Jazz Composers Orchestra Institute she was selected to compose a piece for the American Composers Orchestra (Inner Dialogue) and then the Detroit Symphony (Mantra). Recent chamber pieces include Dance #1 for Solo Bass Clarinet and Further Explorations, performed by the Da Capo Chamber Players. She is a co-founder and artist on the Artist Recording Collective label. Her more recent recordings include, Initiation, a collaboration with Sumi Tonooka, featuring Rufus Reid and Bob Braye and Further Explorations, from The Alchemy Sound Project.