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Sue Orfield

Sue Orfield is an award winning tenor saxophonist, composer and educator who tours internationally and has recorded on hundreds of albums. She makes her home in the Chippewa Valley of Wisconsin, where in addition to teaching privately and writing/arranging music, she freelances both as a side person and as a musical director.

From 2014 - 2017, Sue was the host of her own TV Show, The Sue Orfield Show, in which she featured local musicians/bands with interviews and a concert filmed in front of a live audience.

Over the years Sue has shared the stage with many musical greats, among them Bo Diddley, Bobby McFerrin, The Indigo Girls, Ann Wilson (Heart), Dizzy Gillespie, Ivan Neville, and Jo Dee Messina. She currently tours with The Tiptons Sax Quartet & Drums. The Tiptons have just recorded and released (April 2021) their 14th album, Wabi Sabi.

PERTINENT LINKS

website: www.sueorfield.com

facebook: www.facebook.com/sueorfieldmusic

twitter: https://twitter.com/sueorfield

instagram: www.instagram.com/sueorfield

Awards

From Volume One’s Chippewa Valley Reader Poll: 2008, Sue Orfield Band voted #2 Jazz Band 2009, Sue Orfield Band voted #1 Jazz Band 2010, Sue Orfield Band voted #2 Rock Band 2011, Sue Orfield Band voted #2 Jazz Band 2012, Sue Orfield Band voted #3 Jazz Band 2013, Sue Orfield Band voted #2 Blues Band 2014, new category created: Best Sue Orfield 2015, winner of Most Outstanding Sue Orfield category (!) 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, Sue Orfield Band voted #1 Blues Band 2020, Sue Orfield voted #2 Best Individual Musician 2021, Sue Orfield Band voted #1 Blues Band and #1 Jazz Band 2021, Sue Orfield voted #2 Best Individual Musician

Joan Hutton & Sue Orfield: Take That Back

Read "Take That Back" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
January 27, 2022

Joan Hutton and Sue Orfield's Take that Back opens with the smooth dark chocolate crooning of Hutton's bass clarinet. The tune is “Dirty Secret," a Hutton-penned, mid-tempo gem. And initially what comes to mind is (Bennie Maupin and Eric Dolphy aside) how rarely we hear the bass clarinet on a jazz album. Then Orfield's tenor sax enters and interweaves lines with Hutton's, and the pairing of sounds presented with the two reeds and the piano, bass and drums rhythm team ...

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Interview

Jazz Face: Sue Orfield

Source: JazzINK by Andrea Canter
November 16, 2011

She was once known as “Seattle's Best Horn," but tenor saxophonist Sue Orfield, now based in Eau Claire, WI, should have recognition far beyond either locale. Playing this past weekend at the Artists Quarter with an organ trio already known for its playful, zesty firepower—the Tuesday Night Band—Orfield turned up the heat beyond boil. The TNB+1 didn't sizzle, they nearly vaporized. If there was a grin meter to measure artist satisfaction, then B-3 man Bill Brown, guitarist Billy Franze and ...
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“...Sax Goddess Sue Orfield...” Nick Meyer, Volume One (Eau Claire, WI); January 2013

“Sax guest Sue Orfield, a powerhouse jazzwoman from Wisconsin, blew the roof off the sucka with her tenor solos.” Surowicz, Star Tribune (entertainment) (Minneapolis, MN); November 2012

“Orfield turned up the heat beyond boil....Orfield is one of the most powerful, most songful, most spirited tenor players I’ve heard. And her art, and her joy, went viral at the AQ (Artists’ Quarter). Let it spread far and wide.” Andrea Canter, Jazz Ink (Minneapolis, MN); November 2011

“...and the most amazing thing is that Sue Orfield isn’t a national artist with a major record deal.” Malcom Kennedy, The Washington Blues Society Bluesletter (Seattle, Washington); August 2011

“...Sax Goddess Sue Orfield...” Nick Meyer, Volume One (Eau Claire, WI); January 2013

“Sax guest Sue Orfield, a powerhouse jazzwoman from Wisconsin, blew the roof off the sucka with her tenor solos.” Surowicz, Star Tribune (entertainment) (Minneapolis, MN); November 2012

“...and the most amazing thing is that Sue Orfield isn’t a national artist with a major record deal.” Malcom Kennedy, The Washington Blues Society Bluesletter (Seattle, Washington); August 2011

“...her energetic and inspiring stage presence captivates...” Pat Eggert, Wisconsin West magazine (Western Wisconsin); October 2011

“The saxophone, as played by Sue Orfield, was the perfect compliment to the festival atmosphere....Sue’s performance (was) effortless....creating a soulful song.” Mary Dale, Senior Review (Eau Claire, Wisconsin); August 2010

“Sue play(s) tenor saxophone that soars out of this world.” Kathleen Melin, What’s Playing Magazine (Northwestern Wisconsin & East Central Minnesota); July 2009

“Orfield, loved and appreciated for her passionate and soulful performance on tenor sax...has a great connection with the audience and she’s simultaneously in a transcendent creative place that is just amazing. She’s an incredibly talented composer and performer.” Kathleen Melin, Press Release for Cafe Wren (Luck, Wisconsin); February 2009

“Orfield...makes the tenor sax sing...” Kathleen Melin, Inter-County Leader (Frederic, Wisconsin) 2006

“Susan Orfield....a shining star in the Seattle music scene. Definitely one of the finest sax players you’re likely to hear anywhere.” Kas, Snowbird Productions (Seattle, Washington); 2000

“Nowadays, it’s difficult to speak the English language with out being conscious of gender issues, but in the midst of hearing Sue Orfield play tenor saxophone..the trappings of political correctness fade from the mind, and the real issue takes over: The music. Sue is...truly an awesome performer..with depth and character. Sue Orfield is one of these rare players who can deliver technique with charisma.” Dave Desrochers, The Washington Blues Society Bluesletter (Seattle, Washington); 1998

“A fiery tenor sax player (Sue Orfield) with amazing energy and proficiency wailed above and harmonized with the voices...” Jordan Marshall, Blues Pipeline of The Anchorage Press (Anchorage, Alaska); 1998

“..the demonic prowess of...Sue Orfield...delivered merciless assaults on the core senses of a...very appreciative audience.” Maggie Flowers, The Grapevine (Sheridan, Wyoming); 1996

“Orfield..is as comfortable playing Nirvana as Thelonious Monk.” Diane Wright, The Everett Herald (Everett, Washington); 1995

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