Sharel Cassity Quartet

Saxophonist, Composer and Educator Sharel Cassity is a nationally acclaimed saxophonist prominent on New York and Chicago jazz scenes. Named “Rising Star Alto Saxophone” of 2023 in Downbeat Magazine with a cover story,, Sharel has appeared on the Today Show, Good Morning America, The Colbert Show, is in the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame, and is a recipient of the ASCAP Young Jazz Composers Award.  Sharel has worked with Multi-Grammy Award-winning artists Jennifer Hudson, Natalie Merchant, Aretha Franklin, Vanessa Williams, & Trisha Yearwood among others. She has also performed alongside NEA Jazz Masters, also Grammy Award wining artists Herbie Hancock, Wynton Marsalis, Roy Hargrove, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Jimmy Heath, and Christian McBride, and has been a featured guest soloist with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra. As a bandleader, Sharel’s five albums have received top-rated reviews in publications like the The Chicago Tribune, The New York Times, JazzTimes, Jazziz, Downbeat, American Indian News, with a cover feature on Saxophone Journal. Cassity earned a Masters Degree under full scholarship at Juilliard in NYC, and gives back to the next generation teaching at DePaul University and Elgin Community College. Sharel is a current member of the Dizzy Gillespie Afro Latin Experience, Nicholas Payton’s TSO, and the Dizzy Gillespie All Star Big Band, runs her record label “Relsha Music.” Sharel is the director of her non-profit educational program “Jazz Up,” and is a proud Yamaha and Vandoren Performing Artist.