Always searching new and innovative ideas, one of the great saxophonists of our day has been quoted as saying,

I'm listening to other instruments, playing other instruments, paying attention to other things, especially the human voice. I can play notes within certain ranges on my horns, but within those notes, there are so many things to do -- things with shading and coloring, the notes in between the notes. There's a lot of vocabulary to deal with and process.

Like many of us, he began playing sax at age 11. However, unlike most of us, before graduating high school in 1986 he had already gigged with Wynton Marsalis. In 1988 he played with Lester Bowie in New York and recorded on two Bowie DIW recordings with the New York Organ Ensemble. Since then, he has worked with the Charles Mingus Big Band, the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Julius Hemphill, recorded with the Tough Young Tenors and also leads his own highly versatile and inovative group.

Who is he?