Jessica Lurie

From the early 1990s until 1997, Jessica Lurie performed on alto and tenor saxophones with the Billy Tipton Memorial Saxophone Quartet, an ensemble that issued three albums during its active years on the Knitting Factory, New World, and Horn imprints. Lurie also writes original material and has obtained commissions and grants for multimedia, dance, and film scores from the NEA, the Saros Foundation, and assorted Northwest arts organizations. The Seattle-based musician collaborated with bassist Arne Livingston and drummer Dale Fanning in Living Daylights, whose Liquid City album 500 Pound Cat appeared in 1998. Additional partnerships have involved inventive figures such as Wayne Horvitz, Eugene Chadbourne, Sleater-Kinney, Frank Pahl, and Eyvind Kang. Lurie further assisted in organizing and presenting Tonehole Festival, Washington’s annual showcase for adventurous music. By the close of the decade she was interpreting Bulgarian repertoire and occasionally joining former Billy Tipton Memorial Saxophone Quartet colleague Amy Denio.