Saxophonist and Composer

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Discography

Flux – Select Scores from Debut and Path of Totality

Flux – Select Scores from Debut and Path of Totality

Includes:

From Path of Totality:
Path of Totality
Bounce
Orbital Resonances

From Debut:
Tightrope
Complimentary Opposites
Mind’s Ear II
Tilted

Recorded and released on Path of Totality (Whirlwind Recordings, 2019) with David Binney, alto saxophone, Quinsin Nachoff, tenor saxophone, Matt Mitchell, keyboards, Kenny Wollesen and Nate Wood, drums.
See album for additional personnel.

Recorded and released on Flux (Musictronic Productions, 2016) with David Binney, alto saxophone, Quinsin Nachoff, tenor saxophone, Matt Mitchell, keyboards, Kenny Wollesen and Nate Wood, drums.

Buy the scores on Bandcamp →

Stars and Constellations

Stars and Constellations (2023)

Quinsin Nachoff – Tenor Saxophone
Mark Helias – Acoustic Bass
Dan Weiss – Drums

Bergamot Quartet
Ledah Finck – Violin I
Sarah Thomas – Violin II
Amy Huimei Tan – Viola
Irène Han – Cello

The Rhythm Method, additional contributors on Pendulum
Josh Henderson – Violin I
Erica Dicker – Violin II
Leah Asher – Viola
Meaghan Burke – Cello

Matt Holman – Conductor

Stars and Constellations (Adhyâropa Records, 2023) features Nachoff on tenor saxophone with bassist Mark Helias and drummer Dan Weiss, joined by the Bergamot Quartet throughout and The Rhythm Method string quartet on “Pendulum.”

Three extended works draw on mythology and scientific models of motion. “Scorpio,” commissioned by the Penderecki String Quartet, unfolds from pointillist strings into dense ensemble interplay. “Pendulum” places two string quartets in opposition, stretching time between broad gestures and near-stasis. “Sagittarius” traces arcing trajectories mapped from the constellation itself.

Physicist Stephen Morris translated the constellations into 3D models that informed harmonic and melodic material, extending a collaboration that also underpins Winding Tessellations and Patterns from Nature.

“A concentration of written, organized music, with a well-defined structure but which sounds free like few others.”
—Vincenzo Roggero, All About Jazz ★★★★½

“Finding an exceptional connection between improvisation and notated music, Nachoff continues to forge a path of his own, moving in a revelatory line of action that separates him from other creatives.”
—Filipe Freitas, JazzTrail ★★★★

“The sounds evoke flashes of light, shades of darkness… this is contemporary music not bound by genre, and Quinsin Nachoff displays a true PUNK ETHOS.”
—OUTSIDELEFT

Buy it on Bandcamp →

Liner Notes by Michael Ullman

Magic Numbers (2006)

Magic Numbers (2006)

Quinsin Nachoff – tenor and soprano sax
Mark Helias – bass
Jim Black – drums

Nathalie Bonin – violin I
Noémi Racine Gaudreault – violin II
Jean René – viola
Julie Trudeau – cello

Magic Numbers (Songlines, 2006) brings together Quinsin Nachoff on tenor and soprano saxophone with bassist Mark Helias and drummer Jim Black, joined by a string quartet led by violinist Nathalie Bonin.

The string quartet functions as an equal voice rather than accompaniment, weaving counterpoint and texture into the trio’s momentum. Across the album, the foreground shifts constantly: at times the quartet carries the form while the trio lays out, and elsewhere the rhythm section drives the music forward while strings re-enter as a second engine. Black’s drumming ranges from rock-leaning pulse to colouristic shading, and the music can pivot quickly from hushed passages to hard-edged intensity.

“Magic Numbers delivers lush but labyrinthine writing where interwoven strings commingle with a rhythm section of astonishing dexterity.”
—Troy Collins, All About Jazz ★★★★

“But at all points on the album, Nachoff’s ability to write engagingly and insightfully for strings is jaw-droppingly impressive, and his overall achievement on this album is equally so.”
—Rick Anderson, All Music Guide

Buy it on Songlines →

To Solar Piazza (excerpt)

How Post-Modern Of Me (excerpt)

October (excerpt)

Horizons Ensemble (2006)

Horizons Ensemble (2006)

Quinsin Nachoff – soprano and tenor sax
Nathalie Bonin – violin I
Parmela Attariwala – violin II
Ernst Reijseger – cello
John Taylor – piano

Horizons Ensemble (Musictronic, 2006) brings together Quinsin Nachoff on tenor and soprano saxophone with pianist John Taylor, cellist Ernst Reijseger, and violinists Nathalie Bonin and Parmela Attariwala.

Without drums or bass, the music foregrounds counterpoint and timbral detail. Taylor’s pianism and Reijseger’s cello anchor a broad, elastic sound, lyrical in places and densely layered in others. The writing moves between composed structures and open interaction, with the ensemble shifting fluidly through contrasting moods without a traditional rhythm section to mark time.

“An enticing combination of plangent romanticism and dark percussive drama.”
— Troy Collins, All About Jazz ★★★★

“Horizons Ensemble is one of the more serious sounding and successful units to emerge from the underground fully (in)formed.”
— Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery

Buy it on Bandcamp →

Forward Motion (2011)

Forward Motion (2011)

Russ Johnson – trumpet
Quinsin Nachoff – tenor sax
Adrean Farrugia – fender rhodes
Mark Kelso – drums

Forward Motion (Mythology Records, 2011) features trumpeter Russ Johnson, keyboardist Adrean Farrugia on Fender Rhodes, and drummer Mark Kelso.

With no bass, the Fender Rhodes anchors the harmony, providing both weight and propulsion beneath the interplay of trumpet and tenor saxophone. The eight compositions move between funk-inflected grooves and tightly woven counterpoint, with rhythmic breaks opening into less predictable harmonic territory. Influences from jazz, classical, rock, and fusion are absorbed into a language that remains cohesive across shifting textures and forms.


“Funky, passionate and intellectually probing, Nachoff is the total package.”
—Glen Hall, Exclaim!

“Splendid examples of imagination, wit and daring, yet showing keen understanding of jazz traditions.”
—Geoff Chapman, The WholeNote

“A world that spans jazz and pop inflection to create something at once familiar and ‘wondrous strange.’”
—David Olds, The WholeNote

Buy it on Bandcamp →

Flux (2016)

Flux (2016)

David Binney – alto sax
Quinsin Nachoff – tenor sax, compositions
Matt Mitchell – piano, fender rhodes, organ, wurlitzer, moog synth
Kenny Wollesen – drums, percussion

Flux (Mythology Records, 2016) is the debut album by Quinsin Nachoff’s quartet featuring alto saxophonist David Binney, pianist and keyboardist Matt Mitchell, and drummer Kenny Wollesen.

The unusual instrumentation—two saxophones, keyboards, and drums, with no bass—creates a frontline that shifts between tightly constructed, chamber-like writing and open improvisation. Mitchell’s keyboards shape the harmonic field beneath the saxophone interplay, while Wollesen’s drumming provides both pulse and textural color.

JUNO Award nomination – Jazz Album of the Year: Group

“Tight, complex chamber pieces… the band navigates those structures while allowing improvisers to mutate the material.”

—Mark Corroto, All About Jazz ★★★★

“Brilliantly structured, with confident pulse and creative counterpoint between the saxes.”

—Filipe Freitas, JazzTrail


Buy the album on Bandcamp →
Buy select scores on Bandcamp →

Ethereal Trio (2017)

Ethereal Trio (2017)







Quinsin Nachoff – tenor sax
Mark Helias – bass
Dan Weiss – drums

Ethereal Trio features Nachoff on tenor saxophone with bassist Mark Helias and drummer Dan Weiss. Recorded in a single session, the album moves between through-composed structures and open improvisation, with each piece following its own internal logic.

The trio format offered a different kind of writing, contrapuntal, harmonically open, and shaped around the interplay of three distinct voices. Helias’s bass often carries harmonic weight that would otherwise require a chordal instrument, while Weiss navigates complex rhythmic frameworks with flexibility and precision.

Released 2017 on Whirlwind Recordings

“The trio is loose without being casual, at once taut and free, and the consistent quality of detailed interplay and invention brings Nachoff’s forceful, inventive tenor playing to the fore. It may be his most satisfying recording to date.”
—David Reed, The WholeNote

“Improvisational masterworks… Highly recommended.”
—John Kelman, All About Jazz ★★★★

Buy it on Bandcamp →

Buy the scores on Bandcamp →

 

Flux, Path of Totality (2019)

Flux, Path of Totality (2019)

Quinsin Nachoff – tenor, soprano sax, compositions
David Binney – alto and C-melody sax
Matt Mitchell – piano, keyboards, Esty pump harmonium, synthesizer
Kenny Wollesen – drums, percussion
Nate Wood – drums







Special Guests:
Orlando Hernández – tap dance 

David Travers-Smith – synthesizer

Mark Duggan – percussion

Carl Maraghi – baritone saxophone, bass clarinet
Dan Urness, Matt Holman – trumpet 
Ryan Keberle – trombone 
Alan Ferber – trombone, bass trombone

Jason Barnsley – Kimball Theatre Organ


Path of Totality is a double album by Quinsin Nachoff’s group Flux, featuring alto saxophonist David Binney, pianist Matt Mitchell, and drummers Kenny Wollesen and Nate Wood. Initially inspired by the total solar eclipse of 2017, the music unfolds across six extended works that balance composed material with improvisation.

The album draws on distinctive instrumentation including a 1924 Kimball Theatre Organ, tuned percussion, tap dancer Orlando Hernández, and expanded brass and winds. Each piece is shaped around the specific players who perform it.

JUNO Award nomination – Jazz Album of the Year: Group

“Path of Totality is a stunning, deep dive of an album, the sort of music in which one could spend hours submersed.”
—J.D. Considine, DownBeat ★★★★½

“An imaginative and ground-breaking suite of compositions… Complex music that requires and demands multiple replays.”
—S.G. Provizer, All About Jazz ★★★★½


Buy the album on Bandcamp →
Buy select scores on Bandcamp →


Six commissioned films →

Liner Notes by Shaun Brady

Pivotal Arc (2020)

Pivotal Arc (2020)

Nathalie Bonin – violin soloist / violoniste soliste

Molinari String Quartet / Quatuor Molinari
Olga Ranzenhofer – violin I / 1er violon
Antoine Bareil – violin II / 2e violon
Frédéric Lambert – viola / alto
Pierre-Alain Bouvrette – cello / violoncelle

JC Sanford – conductor / chef d’orchestre
Michael Davidson – vibraphone / vibraphone
Mark Helias – bass / basse
Satoshi Takeishi – drums, percussion / batterie, percussions
Quinsin Nachoff – tenor saxophone / saxophone ténor

 

Jean-Pierre Zanella – piccolo, flute, clarinet, soprano sax / piccolo, flûte, clarinette, saxophone soprano
Yvan Belleau – clarinet, tenor sax / clarinette, saxophone ténor
Brent Besner – bass clarinet / clarinette basse

Jocelyn Couture – trumpet 1 / 1ère trompette
Bill Mahar – trumpet 2 / 2e trompette
David Grott – trombone / trombone
Bob Ellis – bass trombone / trombone basse

Pivotal Arc (Whirlwind Recordings, 2020) comprises three long-form works: a Violin Concerto, a String Quartet, and the large ensemble piece Pivotal Arc.

The Violin Concerto was written for Grammy-winning violinist Nathalie Bonin, a long-standing collaborator, and draws on tango, Balkan, folk, and jazz within a contemporary compositional framework across its three movements. The String Quartet, performed by the Molinari String Quartet, treats each movement as a miniature concerto for one member of the ensemble, exploring quarter tones and pitch-axis techniques alongside jazz-influenced phrasing. The title piece is an extended reflection on climate change, featuring bassist Mark Helias, percussionist Satoshi Takeishi, vibraphonist Michael Davidson, and Nachoff on tenor saxophone, with a wind and string ensemble conducted by JC Sanford.

“This melding of classical influences and jazz verities is unexpectedly accessible, consistently lively, fiercely intelligent and often flat-out exhilarating.”
—Michael Roberts, JAZZIZ

“It’s demanding contemporary music that succeeds at the trick of pulling you in — and makes you glad to be there.”
—Michael Ullman, The Arts Fuse

“There’s something strikingly inventive and vivid about Nachoff’s music.”
—Friedrich Kunzmann, All About Jazz ★★★★


Buy the album on Bandcamp →
Buy the String Quartet score on Bandcamp →

 

Liner Notes by Peter Hum

This project was made possible through the generous support of The Canada Council for the Arts


The photograph used in this video is part of ‘Touch Base, arctic solargraphy’ a global collaboration between visual artist Udo Prinsen and approximately 25 scientists working at field research locations on, around and above the Arctic Circle. They helped capture the mystique of the environment with pinhole cameras on long-exposures.
Qikiqtaruk (Herschel Island, Yukon, Canada)
In collaboration with Dr. George Tanski

Le photographe utilise dans ce video font partie de ‘Touch Base, arctic solargraphy’ une collaboration mondiale entre l’artiste visuel Udo Prinsen et environ 25 scientifiques travaillant sur le terrain, sur le cercle arctique et autour et au-dessus de cercle arctique. Ils ont aidé à capturer la mystique de l’environnement avec des appareils photo à sténopé lors de longues expositions.
Qikiqtaruk (île Herschel, Yukon, Canada)
En collaboration avec le Dr George Tanski

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