Hometown: Brampton, Ontario
Tara Davidson is a JUNO Award nominated alto and soprano saxophonist who has performed around the world at such prestigious venues as New York City’s Carnegie Hall; the acclaimed North Sea Jazz Festival in the Netherlands; the International Jazz Festival in Lima, Peru; and The Kennedy Center, in Washington, D.C.
Davidson has produced four recordings as a leader since 2003 and performed on over 20 recordings as a side person. Davidson’s sophomore CD, Code Breaking, was nominated for a JUNO Award in 2008 for Traditional Jazz Album of the Year. Her co-led project, the Carn Davidson 9, received a JUNO Award nomination in 2014 for Traditional Jazz Album of the Year for their debut recording, Nine. In the fall of 2014, Davidson released her fourth recording as a leader, Tara Davidson: Duets, featuring Mike Murley, David Braid, Trevor Hogg, Andrew Downing, David Occhipinti, and Laila Biali (Addo Records).
Davidson received her Bachelor of Music in Jazz Performance from the University of Toronto where she studied with her most significant musical influence, saxophonist, Mike Murley. In 2013, Davidson was awarded the Ontario Arts Council’s Chalmers Professional Development Grant, to study with saxophone legend, Dick Oatts, in New York City.