Jaleel Shaw, alto saxophonist grew up in Philadelphia, PA, where he studied with saxophone instructors Rayburn Wright and Robert Landham. He also studied with jazz instructor Lovette Hines, whose students have included Bassist Christian McBride, Organist Joey Defrancesco, Drummers Johnathan Blake & Ari Hoenig, Vocalist Bilal, Trumpeter Daud El-Bakara, and keyboardist Kamal of The Roots.
As a teen, Jaleel performed, jammed and sat in at the many clubs in Philadelphia, honing his chops and developing strong relationships with the many great musicians that Philadelphia had to offer as well as the musicians that came to Philadelphia from New York City. Jaleel also had many mentors in Philadelphia, including Violinist John Blake, saxophonists Bootsie Barnes, Odean Pope and Grover Washington Jr., and Byard Lancaster, and pianist Alfie Pollit.
Upon graduating from high school, Jaleel received a full tuition scholarship to Berklee College of Music in Boston, Mass. He attended Berklee for four years and earned a dual degree in Music Education and Performance in 2000. While attending Berklee, studied privately with Saxophonist Andy Mcghee, Billy Pierce, George Garzone, and Shanon LeClaire. During his time in Boston Jaleel received the Billboard Endowed Scholarship for Outstanding Academic and Musical achievement (1998), two Woodwind Dept. Chair Awards, The Outstanding Student Teacher Award, and The Boston Jazz Society Award (1999).
After graduating from Berklee, Jaleel received a scholarship to attend the Manhattan School of Music in New York City, where he received his Masters in Jazz Performance in May, 2002. During his time at the Manhattan School of Music, Jaleel was recruited by both the Mingus Big Band and Count Basie Orchestra. Jaleel appears on two Grammy Nominated CD’s by the Mingus Big Band – “Tonight at Noon” and “I Am Three”.
A year after finishing his graduate studies, Jaleel joined Temple University as a part-time private lesson and ensemble instructor.. From Temple Jaleel joinedthe New School University in NY, teaching private saxophone lessons. Today Jaleel still takes part in many jazz education programs in the US and abroad.
After being in New York for 5 yrs, Jaleel’s debut CD “Perspective” was release in June 2005 to raved reviews from Jazzwise Magazine, The New York Times. It was named one of the top 5 debut CD’s of 2005 by All About Jazz Magazine, Jazzwise Magazine, and the Jazz Journalist Association. In the Fall of 2005, Jaleel joined world renown drummer Roy Haynes’ Quartet and recorded the Grammy Nominated CD “Whereas” with the group for the Dreyfus Label.
In the beginning of 2008, Jaleel launched his on record label – Changu Records, on which he released his second CD – Optimism. In the Summer of 2008, Jaleel was nominated as one of the Up and Coming Jazz Musicians of the year by the Jazz Journalist Association. Today Jaleel continues to perform primarily in 3 groups – The Roy Haynes Quartet, the Mingus Big Band, and his own Quartet and Quintet.
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