Mindi Abair
| Mindi Abair | |
|---|---|
Mindi Abair performing at Jazz Alley in Seattle, Washington on January 10, 2011
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Mindi Abair |
| Born |
May 23, 1969 St. Petersburg, Florida, United States |
| Genres | Contemporary jazz, rock, pop, soul, smooth jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, composer, radio host, band leader, author, public speaker |
| Instruments | Vocals, saxophone, keyboard, flute |
| Years active | 1991-present |
| Labels | Heads Up, Concord Music Group, Verve |
| Associated acts | Backstreet Boys, Aerosmith, Duran Duran, Adam Sandler, Mandy Moore, Gregg Allman, Dave Koz |
| Website | mindiabair |
| Notable instruments | |
| Yamaha Custom 82Z Silver Alto Saxophone, Yamaha Custom 82Z Silver Tenor Saxophone, Yamaha YSS-82ZR Curved Neck Silver Soprano Saxophone, | |
Mindi Abair (born May 23, 1969) is an American two time Grammy Award nominated saxophonist, vocalist, author, and National Trustee for the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the organization that puts on Grammy Awards show.
Her solo career has produced ten #1 radio singles, two #1 Billboard Jazz CDs, and four more solo CDs that have landed #5 and above on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Charts. She was the featured saxophonist for the 2011 and 2012 seasons of American Idol, performed with the rock band Aerosmith, for their 2012 Summer Tour, joined Bruce Springsteen and Max Weinberg for a night at the Beacon Theater and has played with Paul Shaffer and the CBS Orchestra three times on Late Show with David Letterman.
Mindi Abair was born in St. Petersburg, Florida. Her father Lance Abair played saxophone and keyboards, and her grandmother Virginia Rice was an opera singer, and piano and vocal instructor. Mindi started playing the piano at age five, and started playing alto saxophone at age eight, when her elementary school band instructor laid out instruments on the first day of band class and instructed each student to pick the instrument they most wanted to play. Mindi spent much of her early life on the road with her father's band, The Entertainers.
She acted as drum major of her high school marching band in her junior and senior years at Northside Christian School in St. Petersburg. As a senior in high school, she won the first chair alto saxophone for the Florida All-State Jazz Band. Abair spent her first year of college on a full scholarship at the University of North Florida, a jazz program started by Rich Matteson. She transferred to Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, attending on a scholarship and studying saxophone with Joe Viola and George Garzone. Abair graduated magna cum laude in 1991 with a degree in Woodwind Performance. She formed her first band in college.
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