Steven Lugerner's SLUGish Ensemble

An expert on a daunting menagerie of wind instruments including various clarinets and saxophones, the Burlingame-raised multi-instrumentalist earned international attention with 2011’s These Are the Words and 2013’s Hebrew liturgy-inspired suite For We Have Heard, albums featuring an all-star quartet with pianist Myra Melford, drummer Matt Wilson and trumpeter Darren Johnston. He’s recorded a lapidary duo project with pianist Fred Hersch, 2015’s Gravitations Vol. II, and delved into the post-bop canon on his Jackie McLean project Jacknife with Larry Willis, the pianist from the classic 1965 Blue Note album.

Recently, he’s been focusing on SLUGish Ensemble, a sextet featuring a brilliant cadre of young musicians centering on the Stanford Jazz Workshop, where Lugerner has worked as the faculty and camp director since 2013. A vehicle for his low-end work on bass clarinet and baritone saxophone, SLUGish grew out of Lugerner’s years in New York City soaking up the striking orchestrational concepts of various large ensembles, particularly Maria Schneider, John Hollenbeck, and Nico Muhly.