Robin Verheyen

At 41, Robin Verheyen is a major saxophonist and composer of the younger generation. His credits include Marc Copland, Roy Hargrove, Maria Schneider and Toots Thielemans, and his own bands have included the likes of Joey Baron, Drew Gress, Billy Hart, and the late Gary Peacock. He also co-leads the band TaxiWars with rock singer Tom Barman (of dEUS fame). In 2014 he traveled to Senegal to immerse himself in that country’s musical traditions, subsequently using the experience to bring together West African rhythms and modernistic harmonies. This type of cross-genre approach to music has become a feature of the saxophonist’s work. In January 2018, Universal Music released Verheyen’s When The Birds Leave, featuring Marc Copland, Drew Gress and Billy Hart. More recently he completed two new commissioned works, one for string quintet and saxophone, and another for string trio, piano and saxophone, featuring pianist Copland and the Goeyvaerts String trio. The premier performance of the latter work took place at Antwerp’s Museum of Fine Arts, where Verheyen has been Artist in Residence since 2017. Robin’s first Universal release was followed in 2019 by MiXMONK, with veteran Joey Baron and young pianist Bram De Looze. Forthcoming releases for 2021 and 2022 include a new solo soprano saxophone album and a quartet reworking of Bach’s “A Musical Offering”.

(Photo Credit John Rogers)