First Friday: Julianne Colwell

Julianne Colwell-baritone sax/vocals, Carly Bates-piano/keyboards, Joe Allie-guitar, Ben Hedquist-bass, Matt McClintock-drums

Julianne has assembled some of the most creative musicians in the Valley to perform a variety of her favorite jazz standards, as well as originals and some of her favorite music from genres spanning Neo-soul and R&B. Expect to hear some of her greatest influences, such as Billie Holiday, Chris Cheek, and Jordan Rakei to name a few.

Julianne Colwell is a jazz saxophonist and vocalist from Tucson, Arizona. Her love for jazz began when she entered middle school. She started out on alto saxophone but switched to baritone sax when she was asked to join the Ellington Big Band at the Tucson Jazz Institute. It won first place in its division at the Essentially Ellington and Next Generation Jazz Festivals in 2012, performed at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York, and its album recorded that same year earned honors from Downbeat Magazine. Julianne studied with Grammy award winning saxophonist Brice Winston during high school, then was accepted into Berklee College of Music in Boston and the New School of Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York before choosing to attend Arizona State University to study under Bryon Ruth, Michael Kocour, and Jeff Libman. Julianne graduated from ASU in December 2018 with a BA in Jazz Studies and Saxophone Performance. In January of 2019, she joined the Phoenix Afrobeat Orchestra, taking over their Bari chair. She has performed with them at the M3F Festival in Phoenix as well as Crescent Ballroom in downtown Phoenix and Hotel Congress in Tucson, AZ. Julianne is also an educator in the Phoenix area, working with the Nash education outreach program, as well as working at the Phoenix Conservatory of Music, teaching a variety of music classes as well as teaching her own private students on saxophone, piano, and voice. When she isn’t working on music she is usually working on her poetry, which she plans to publish in the next few years.

Free Admission