Musician Guides/Current Calendar Ranking

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Kasey Knudsen

Kasey Knudsen is an alto saxophonist, composer, bandleader, improviser, and educator whose Bay Area work spans sextet and cooperative ensembles.

Alto saxophoneComposerBandleaderEducator2 current shows
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Photo source · Photo: Gnuish, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Career Overview

About Kasey Knudsen

Knudsen’s official biography identifies a San Francisco-based saxophonist, composer, and educator whose commissioned work and leader projects center original music. It also documents teaching at the California Jazz Conservatory and earlier university work.[1]

The biography separates her sextet from cooperative groups including Schimscheimer Family Trio, The Holly Martins, and Klaxon Mutant Allstars. Its discography documents Knudsen across those groups, other Bay Area ensembles, and recordings led by composers and bandleaders she regularly joins.[1][3]

Ensembles and Career Threads

Bands & Projects

Leader, alto saxophonist, and composer

Kasey Knudsen Sextet

The sextet is Knudsen’s principal large small-group vehicle for commissioned and original writing.[1][3]

Co-leader, alto saxophonist, and composer

Schimscheimer Family Trio

The cooperative trio joins Knudsen with bassist Michael Coleman and drummer Jon Arkin.[1]

Co-leader, alto saxophonist, and composer

The Holly Martins

The trio offers a separate chamber-like setting for Knudsen’s writing and improvisation.[1]

Selected, Not Exhaustive

Recordings to Know

2013

Family Fun Time

Schimscheimer Family Trio co-leader and alto saxophonist

The first trio album documents Knudsen’s cooperative work with Michael Coleman and Jon Arkin.[2]

Release details

2016

Broken Home

Schimscheimer Family Trio co-leader and alto saxophonist

The later trio release continues the group’s composed and improvised exchange.[2]

Release details

2026

Kasey Knudsen Sextet at JazzPOP

Sextet leader, alto saxophonist, and composer

The museum’s complete concert archive documents the sextet as a current performance and composition project.[3]

Release details

Artist-Authorized Destinations

Start Listening

Official audio page

Hear Knudsen’s original pieces and cooperative-group recordings selected by the artist.

JazzPOP sextet concert

Watch the complete Kasey Knudsen Sextet performance from the Hammer Museum series.

Live Calendar

Upcoming Jazz DateBook Shows

Thu, Sep 24, 7:00 PM

Rumi Abe Quartet

Mr. Tipple's Jazz Club · San Francisco

Show details

Thu, Sep 24, 8:45 PM

Rumi Abe Quartet

Mr. Tipple's Jazz Club · San Francisco

Show details

Evidence-Based Connections

Related Musician Guides

Connections below come from shared current Jazz DateBook bills or normalized documented performance roles—not subjective similarity.

Akira TanaDrums · Bandleader2 shared current showsAllison AuAlto saxophone · ComposerShared documented roles: Saxophonist · Composer · BandleaderAngelika NiescierAlto saxophone · ComposerShared documented roles: Saxophonist · Composer · BandleaderBen WendelSaxophone and bassoon · ComposerShared documented roles: Saxophonist · Composer · BandleaderCaroline DavisAlto saxophone · ComposerShared documented roles: Saxophonist · Composer · BandleaderChris ByarsSaxophones · Clarinet and fluteShared documented roles: Saxophonist · Composer · Educator

Sources

Career copy is original synthesis from the artist, label, and project sources below. Current dates come from Jazz DateBook event inventory.

  1. [1] Official biography, groups, teaching, and discography

    Kasey Knudsen

  2. [2] Co-led trio recording catalog

    Schimscheimer Family Trio

  3. [3] Institutional sextet performance archive

    Hammer Museum