Duke Jazz Ensemble with Tim Warfield, saxophone

Tim Warfield, Jr., a native of York, Pennsylvania, began studying the saxophone at age nine. In 1990, he was chosen to be a member of Marlon Jordan's Quintet, of which he remained a member for three years. He has performed with with such artists as Donald Byrd, Michelle Rosewoman, Christian McBride, Dizzy Gillespie, Jimmy Smith, Nicholas Payton, The Newport Millennium All Stars, Joey DeFrancesco, Claudio Raggazzi, and Derrick Gardner and the Jazz Prophets, among others. In 1994, he joined Christian McBride's group, where he remained a member until 1999. Warfield's first recording, "A Cool Blue," was selected as one of the top ten recordings of the year in a 1995 New York Times critic's poll, as was his 1998 recording "Gentle Warrior." In 2013, Warfield released "Eye of the Beholder" on the Criss Cross Jazz label and "Inspire Me," on the Herb Harris label. His newest recording on Criss Cross Jazz, "Spherical," dedicated to piano genius and jazz icon Thelonious Sphere Monk, was released in 2015. Warfield serves as artist-in-residence at Messiah College in Grantham, Pa, and an adjunct music faculty member at Temple University, in Philadelphia. He recently joined the Jazz Orchestra of Philadelphia, under the direction of Terell Stafford. "He is perhaps the most powerful tenor saxophonist of his generation." - Peter Watrous, New York Times. The Duke Jazz Ensemble is directed by John Brown.