Jon Irabagon, winner of the 2008 Thelonious Monk Saxophone Competition, has been garnering increasing visibility of late through work of his own trio (featuring Barry Altschul on drums), the Mary Halvorson Quintet and the uber-jazz quartet Mostly Other People do the Killing. Jon recently won the 2011 Downbeat International Critics' Poll for "Rising Star Alto Saxophonist", and was also nominated in 2011's Jazz Journalists' Awards for both "Up and Coming Jazz Artist" and "Tenor Saxophonist of the Year" awards. Jon has recently performed and/or recorded with Joey DeFrancesco, Kenny Wheeler, Myra Melford, John Taylor and Jeremy Pelt, amongst others, and performed at the North Sea Jazz Festival, the Ottawa Jazz Festival, Newport Jazz Festival and the Moers Festival in Germany within the last year. His 2009 Concord Records release, The Observer, features Kenny Barron, Rufus Reid, Victor Lewis and Nicholas Payton. His 2010 follow-up, Foxy, features legendary drummer Barry Altschul and combines free improvisation elements with hard-swinging post-bop. Jon also has a duo project and recording with drummer Mike Pride entitled I Don't Hear Nothin' but the Blues (Loyal Label, 2009) that was also critically-acclaimed and landed on many Top CDs of 2009 lists, and has appeared at the Winter and Undead Jazz Festivals in New York City.