STEVE TRESELER
“Common Tone Arts is reimagining education in the arts, generating an abundance of eclectic works and building a multi-disciplinary community of artists. CTA's transform students through project-centered programs, integrating mentorship and peer-to-peer learning.”
PHOTO CREDIT: Ziggy Spiz
Steve Treseler is a Seattle-based saxophonist, composer, teaching artist, and author who performs and leads creative music workshops in the U.S. and Europe. DownBeat calls his music “beautifully crafted ensemble pieces—whether free, through-composed, or somewhere in between.” His music has been featured in the New York Times, DownBeat, and on NPR. Steve is the founder of Infinite Improvisation, offering creative music experiences in a variety of mediums: in-person and virtual workshops, instructional books, and digital media.
Treseler grew up in the midst of Seattleʼs grunge scene before moving to Boston to pursue his studies on scholarship at New England Conservatory, where he studied with jazz legends Jerry Bergonzi, Bob Brookmeyer, George Garzone, and Steve Lacy. He holds a Master of Music degree in Jazz Studies and Improvised Music from the University of Washington where he worked with avant-garde trumpeter Cuong Vu.
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 album Sonic Meditations, a self-produced project, is being released as a series of singles throughout 2023. Steve is deeply embedded into the Northwest jazz and creative music scene as a member of The Jim Knapp Orchestra, Tom Varner’s Nonet, Conner Eisenmenger's Think Tank, Scrambler, Wayne Horvitz’s Washington Composers Orchestra, Jessika Smith’s Big Band, and the Phil Parisot Quartet.
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 Institute in Honolulu. He 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, Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival, and California Jazz Conservatory.
Steve has performed with jazz greats Bill Frisell, Dave Douglas, Bob Brookmeyer, Kenny Wheeler, Steve Swallow, George Garzone, Jamie Cullum, Geoffrey Keezer, and Mike Stern. Steve is a Conn-Selmer endorsing artist.
