Jim Gailloreto: Jazz String Quintet

Jim Gailloreto - soprano saxophone
Katherine Hughes - violin
Mark Agnor - violin
Ben Wedge - viola
Jill Kaeding - cello
Kurt Elling - vocals (4 & 7)
Rob Amster - bass (4 & 7)

Jim Gailloreto's Jazz String Quintet, featuring Kurt Elling, is a string quartet that swings, a sax that soars, with passionate performances and wild improvisations!

Jazz String Quintet is an original blending of both jazz and classical music, the instrumentation is string quartet and soprano saxophone.

Brainchild of the exceptional Chicagoan saxophonist Jim Gailloreto, Jazz String Quintet is immersed in the traditions and performance practices of classical music whilst simultaneously expanding and exploring all the truest elements of jazz.

The unique programming of this disc highlights traditional jazz standards of composers such as Wayne Shorter and John Coltrane, along with original compositions by Jim.

This debut release of the Jazz String Quintet also has two vocal tracks from the wonderful and critically acclaimed Kurt Elling. This collaboration enhances the music's solid pedigree in both the jazz and classical worlds, and brings to the recording interpretations of two short works by the 13th century Sufi poet, Rumi.

Jim Gailloreto is a graduate from De Paul University, Chicago, and has received a Masters in Music in Composition from Northwestern University. Recently his composition Part of the Human Mind was premiered at the IAJE convention in New Orleans. He is currently a member of the faculty at Chicago College of the Performing Arts where he teaches Techniques of Improvisation, jazz saxophone studies, arranging and music composition.