John Flanders
Who?
John Flanders has been the preeminent saxophone player in Salt Lake City and the Intermountain West for over a decade. You can hear him on t.v. and radio commercials, as well as television shows and movie soundtracks. In addition to being a renowned bandleader and session player, John's recordings have received critical and popular acclaim, leading to a growing reputation as a composer and arranger.
John has won numerous prestigious City Weekly Best of Utah awards as an instrumentalist as well as with his classic jazz groups. He has performed the National Anthem solo at NBA games, and toured Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland.
His current fusion-swing project, "Double Helix" was named best jazz group shortly after its debut in 2001. They now have their third cd out "Natural Selection", which features they great playing of all the members along with Wayne Christiansen, Wayne Burdick, Ryan Shepherd, and guest bassist Will Lee. (See Recordings page)
"Double Helix" has also performed nationally on the NPR radio show, Marketplace. John wrote additional original music for a performance on NPR's "To The Best Of Our Knowledge".
He continues adding to his session resume with calls for arranging and composing, saxes, flutes, bass clarinet...
He enjoys eating before as well as after gigs. and you should always check the contract for the "midnight snack" clause.
John performs primarily on tenor, alto sax, and flute. He also records and performs on clarinet, bass clarinet, piccolo, baritone and soprano saxes, and keyboards.
Our sax man is originally from Canton Ohio, studied at Ohio State University and at the University of Connecticut. John's studied with players such as Ted Nash and Lou Donaldson, Ernie Krivda, and Eddie Daniels. He's performed in New York and also lived and worked in Los Angeles. The open seas are not safe from this jazz man either, as he spent a number of years playing in cruise ship orchestras when he backed up numerous Vegas acts and entertainers. He has taught professionally for over 15 years and lectured at the college level on jazz music history.
In addition to his work with his various jazz and fusion ensembles John has performed, toured and recorded with an great array of artists throughout the world, including Solomon Burke, Sam Moore, Billy Preston, The Temptations, Don Rickles, Rodney Dangerfield, Alex Acuna, Pat Sheedy, The Drifters, Ike Willis, Patty Andrews, Carla Thomas, and many others.