Erica Lindsay

Born on 5 June 1955 in San Francisco, California, Lindsay passed her early years in Europe while her parents taught at American schools abroad. During high school she began on clarinet before moving to alto and tenor saxophones, and at that stage she studied privately with Mal Waldron. In 1973 she enrolled for a year at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, after which she returned to Europe to lead her own quartet on tour and to work freelance as a soloist, composer and arranger. She resettled in New York in 1980, where she wrote scores for television, video and ballet while performing alongside Melba Liston, Clifford Jordan, Ted Curson and McCoy Tyner. Her compositions, noted for their craftsmanship and atmospheric character, reflect the influence of Waldron, Gene Ammons, Johnny Griffin, Dexter Gordon, Wayne Shorter, John Coltrane and Miles Davis. In the new millennium she co-led a quartet featuring Sumi Tonooka on piano, Bob Braye on drums and Rufus Reid on bass.