eJazzNews – Tim Mayer

One of the best tenor saxophonists to come along in years. Tim Mayer’s approach to the horn is sophisticated, passionate, and lyrical. His big sound is warm and powerful. Listen for yourself. Tim Mayer is definitely here to stay! “A powerful new voice has arrived on the
jazz scene, and he’s a bad dude.” - Jimmy Heath “It always gives me pleasure to meet younger musicians who have one foot in the past, one foot in the present, and their souls firmly rooted in the future of music. Tim Mayer is one of those musicians! ” - Claudio Roditi.

Tim Mayer’s exposure to music, namely jazz and exotica, began at age 4, when he learned to work his parents’ record player. His favorite records were by Wes Montgomery, Ahmad Jamal, Bill Evans, and Martin Denny. He started playing saxophone when he was ten, and began learning jazz at Florida State University’s Summer Music Camp in 1980, where he found himself studying with many young and talented musicians including Marcus Roberts. In December of 1990, Tim began what was to be a three-year stint working aboard the cruise ships. This provided him with the opportunity to study a variety of styles and play in big bands that accompanied entertainers Al Martino, Vic Damone, Diahann Carrol, Bobby Rydell, Connie Stevens, Jack Jones, and many others.In September of 1993, Tim attended Berklee College of Music in Boston where he studied privately with Andy McGhee, George Garzone, and Bill Pierce. In 1998, Tim opened for Chucho Valdez at the Baranqui Jazz Festival in Baranquilla, Columbia. In February of 2003, he performed and recorded with the RG Jazz Orchestra in Tenerife, in the Canary Islands of Spain. That same year, he partook in the 4th Seminar and Jazz Festival in Jalapa, Mexico as a performer and clinician.
Tim has performed locally with visiting artists John Faddis, Bob Mintzer, Marvin Stamm, Arturo Sandoval, Nick Brignola Bobby Shew, and Ed Calle, percussionists Eguie Castrillo, Horacio “El Negro” Hernandez, and Giovanni Hidalgo; trombone greats Phil Wilson and Slide Hampton, and pianists Kirk Lightsey (in Seville), and Danilo Perez. Tim Mayer and Rusty Scott have collaborated to perform a tribute to the Tough Tenors (Johnny Griffin/Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis) and the Boss Tenors (Sonny Stitt/Gene Ammons), which has featured on different occasions as special guests Bill Pierce or Andy McGhee.In 2007, and 2008, Waitiki won consecutive Hawaii Music Awards for three consecutive releases, Charred Mammal Flesh, Rendezvous In Okonkuluku, and in 2009, Paradise Lost And Found, which was produced by Jim Beloff featuring the arranging and instrumental talents of Waitiki, is nominated for the award.

2009 has also seen a Grammy nomination for another group with which Tim has been affiliated for a long time. La Clave Secreta, the Timba Salsa brainchild of pianist/arranger Gonzalo Grau, was nominated for Best Latin/Caribbean Album. While it didn’t win, losing to Jose Feliciano is hardly a disappointment.
Since 2001, he has been on the Berklee faculty teaching at the Saxophone Weekend, the Five-Week Program, Berklee’s City Music Saturday School and as Outreach faculty at Boston Arts Academy, and filling in for various faculty members during the year.