Biography
Aaron Kaufman-Levine is a Chicago based saxophonist, composer and improviser. His work ranges from long-form improvised music to intricate through-composed music and often somewhere in between. His personal practice explores a multitude of studied and extended saxophone techniques and ideas, investigating how the saxophone can be an extension of the human voice. Aaron’s music is intricately made through new compositional and improvisational forms: new musical languages stemming from systems of numbers, letters, colors, contours and cycles.
Aaron is an active performer in the Chicago-area, and has led his group at the Chicago Jazz Festival, Constellation, and has played at Chicago Symphony Hall, Pritzker Pavilion, Andy’s Jazz Club, Jazz Showcase, Hungry Brain, Oracle Egg (Los Angeles), The LilyPad(Boston), and Jordan Hall (Boston).
He leads the Aaron Kaufman-Levine Quartet, is ½ of improvising saxophone duo Bearduo, ⅕ of the improvising collective BananaAcid and is an in demand sideman in the Chicago Area.
As a composer, Aaron has written a large catalog of music for Jazz Quartet, Saxophone and Piano Duo, Solo Saxophone, and various chamber ensembles.
Aaron has played with Ken Vandermark, Miguel Zenon, Mehmet Ali Sanlikol, Joe Morris, Michael Formanek and more.
Aaron is passionate about artistic collaboration and bringing new forms of creative expression to the Chicagoland area where he is the co-artistic director of the Music in the Garden Festival, an independent concert series for improvisers, creatives, and experimental artists in Chicago, IL hosted by Elastic Arts Foundation.