Steve Treseler

Steve Treseler is an award-winning Seattle-based saxophonist, composer, and innovative leader in teaching improvised music. Hailed by Earshot as a “firebrand of the tenor saxophone,” DownBeat calls his music “beautifully crafted...whether free, through-composed, or somewhere in between.” Steve performs and leads improvisation workshops throughout North America and Europe, performing at Birdland, Blue Note Hawaii, and live on NPR’s Jazz Night in America.

Treseler’s bold and collaborative approach to improvised music began to take shape during his early adolescence in Edmonds, WA immersed in the hypnotic rhythm of Seattle’s grunge scene. He started playing clarinet in a public school band program, adding tenor saxophone in middle school. Throughout his high school years, Steve was obsessed with the spontaneity and virtuosity of classic jazz recordings. He began composing original music and performed at festivals up and down the West Coast with a youth trad jazz band. Treseler’s musical voice crystallized during his studies at New England Conservatory in Boston, where he was exposed to group improvisational techniques and the mentorship of jazz legends Jerry Bergonzi, Bob Brookmeyer, and George Garzone.

Today, Treseler is embedded in the jazz and creative music scene in the Pacific Northwest, performing with the Jim Knapp Orchestra, Johnaye Kendrick, Jay Thomas, and as a leader in his own notable groups. Treseler’s projects as a leader include collaborations with the lauded trumpeter Ingrid Jensen: Center Song, which reached #53 on the JazzWeek Radio Charts, and Invisible Sounds: For Kenny Wheeler on Whirlwind Recordings, which was named one of DownBeat's best albums of 2019 and praised by the New York Times as “lyrical and songlike, whether moving at a quick clip or drifting as slowly as cloud cover. . .a standout album.” His sixth album, The Grind with In Motion Quartet, will be released in early 2025.

Embracing eclectic sounds beyond jazz, Treseler collaborates with songwriters Damien Jurado and Lacey Bown, layering woodwind textures to their poignant storytelling. He explores experimental sonic worlds with Scrambler Soundpainting Ensemble, a multidisciplinary artist collective, and Radiant Fields, a solo project for saxophone and electronic effects.

As a teaching artist, Treseler is the founder of Infinite Improvisation, offering community-centered workshops and retreats that draw from improv theater games, conducted improvisation, and the aural tradition of jazz. Seattle JazzED calls his workshops, “revolutionary. . . Steve is an expert at teaching improvisation in a fun, encouraging way.” Steve has led workshops and artist residencies throughout the U.S. and Europe, including at Berklee College of Music, Hawaii’s Pacific Music Institute, Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival, and in the Austrian Alps with Più Piano. Steve is the author of two instructional books, the #1 Amazon Bestseller Creativity Triggers for Musicians (2017) and The Living Jazz Tradition: A Creative Guide to Improvisation and Harmony (CMA Press, 2014), used in music schools worldwide.

Treseler graduated from New England Conservatory with a distinction in performance and was named “Outstanding Jazz Soloist” in the DownBeat Student Music Awards. He holds a Master of Music in Jazz Studies and Improvised Music from the University of Washington where he was a teaching assistant for groundbreaking trumpeter Cuong Vu.

Treseler is a Conn Selmer performing artist.

Steve at Egan's Ballard Jam House, photo by Ziggy Spiz

Steve leads his own ensembles and is part of several ongoing collaborative projects. He and renowned trumpeter Ingrid Jensen are co-leaders of the album Invisible Sounds: For Kenny Wheeler on Whirlwind Recordings, which was named one of DownBeat's best albums of 2019 and featured in the New York Times and on NPR's Jazz Night in America. Steve's latest EP Snow Line Suite presents a portrait of North America's mountain ranges from the inside out. Paul Rauch of Earshot jazz says, "Imagined in a variety of soundscapes, grooves, and melodies, the music unravels like an epic poem." Steve is deeply embedded into the Northwest jazz and creative music scene where he performs with The Jim Knapp Orchestra, Johnaye Kendrick Quintet, Tom Varner’s Nonet, Scrambler Soundpainting Ensemble, Wayne Horvitz’s Washington Composers Orchestra, Jessika Smith’s Big Band, and Conner Eisenmenger's Think Tank.

Creative music education is an integral part of Steve’s ongoing work. In addition to Infinite Improvisation programs, he is on faculty at Seattle JazzED and the Pacific Music Institue in Honolulu. His is the author of Amazon bestseller Creativity Triggers for Musicians, The Living Jazz Tradition: A Creative Guide to Improvisation and Harmony, and the Creative Music Blog. He has presented clinics at Berklee College of Music, New England Conservatory, JEN, WMEA, Più Piano in Bavaria, Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival, Hawaii Saxophone Foundation, and California Jazz Conservatory.

Gear

Conn 10M tenor saxophone, Selmer S80 G mouthpiece
Conn 6M alto saxophone, Selmer scroll shank E* mouthpiece
Yanagisawa S991 soprano saxophone, Rubber Otto Link 8* mouthpiece

Steve is a Conn-Selmer endorsing artist.