Andy Middleton Quartet (US, PL ) / presentation of the album Water and Sky

Andy was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA. He holds a bachelor's degree in jazz saxophone and a master's degree in composition from the University of Miami. Middleton moved to New York City in 1987 and has worked with the Bob Mintzer Big Band, the Lionel Hampton Big Band, and the Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra. He formed his own quartet, which included guitarist Ben Monder, drummers John Hollenbeck and Owen Howard, bassists Scott Colley and Peter Herbert, and pianists Henry Hey, Andy Ezrin, and David Berkman. After almost twenty years of active work on the New York jazz scene, he moved to Vienna in 2006, where he teaches jazz composition, jazz arrangement and jazz saxophone at the University of Music and Arts of the City of Vienna.
Andy Middleton is one of the top saxophonists and jazz composers working in Europe today. Randy Brecker describes him as "one of the most powerful tenor and soprano saxophonists on the scene". Andy Middleton is a skilled improviser and composer whose expressive range ranges from forceful power to gentle warmth, and from lyrical beauty to rhythmic energy. His compositions are harmonically sophisticated and melodic, yet rooted in the jazz tradition. His unique musical expression – both as an instrumentalist and as an arranger and composer – has earned him collaborations with jazz icons such as Ralph Towner, Kenny Wheeler and David Holland.