The peculiarity of the name Shawn Loescher (Sha-on Low-sure) is certain. Not a name one would expect to find in the Jazz section. Nevertheless you find it rolling off the tongues of many great musicians. He holds an air of mysticism around him, appropriated from his youth, an ability to produce exceptionally moving music, the gift that crosses time and age boundaries, and a reluctance to be part of the mainstream by preferring to quietly develop his craft.

Alto Saxophonist Shawn Loescher was discovered at the age of 15 by Art Johnson and Gary Scott in San Diego, California. He began working professionally immediately after and soon settled into small group performance. Two years later, he was working for Tom Waits and Francis Thumm as a transcriptionist. In 1992, Loescher packed his horn and bags and headed east - eventually settling in Boston to attend Berklee College of Music. Studying would take up most of his time, but as all great musicians do, he seemed able to make time to work and performed with Louie Bellson and two of his own groups. In 1995 after winning Berklee's prestigious Woodwind Achievement Award for Jazz Saxophone and graduating, Loescher moved to Europe to pursue teaching and performance opportunities.

Loescher worked continuously over the next three years, covering phenomenal musical ground. While teaching at the Conservatory of Bratislava in the Slovak Republic, he managed to perform a steady stream of high profile concerts. Although his primary working group was a trio, he did not limit himself and performed Eddie Suaters “Focus Suite” for saxophone and string orchestra originally written for Stan Getz. In addition, Loescher established himself as a composer of both classical and Jazz music, efforts that did not go unnoticed. He was invited to fuse the two genres with a commission from the European Sacred Music Festival. At the beginning of 1997, the work was performed and toured with incredible success.

After successfully touring Europe with his trio for two consecutive years, Loescher decided to record the group. The tapes of the first live recording were lost in a car accident that left Loescher in recovery for two months. After recording the much anticipated “d I s t a n c e” in early 1998 there was silence. Shortly after, he disbanded the group and went on tour in the US for two weeks. Upon his return, he was found by New York once again - this time in the form of Mark Murphy. They began a new group and writing partnership. Much of 2000 was spent working with Art Johnson and new recordings. Loescher then relocated to Montreal to make himself more accessible to both the US and Europe, simultaneously allowing him to focus on reforming his trio.

In 2001, to coincide with his North America tour, eXponent Records re-released Loescher’s “d I s t a n c e”, as a digitally remastered product. Following this release, the trio recorded “Shadows”, a live audiophile album that went on to win Best Audiophile album of 2002. January 2002 saw the release of “Intuition”, Loescher’s alto-sax and piano duo project. All three albums gained medium to high radio airplay across the United States and Canada, as well as international distribution. After nearly a decade of touring through some of the most prestigious clubs and concert halls in cities such as New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Prague, Vienna, and Montreal, Loescher felt that it was time to take a sabbatical and reflect upon his life experiences, returning to his home town of San Diego.

In an effort to contribute to the community that provided him with the opportunity and support to follow his dreams, he accepted a yearlong position as Music Director for his high school alma mater. Without these efforts, the school that helped launch his career would have lost their music program completely. With the obligations complete, Loescher is currently back touring and preparing to record a new trio album this fall. During the summer concert season he paired up with Trumpeter Gilbert Castellanos to form a quintet that appeared a several festivals. In addition the new trio with Rob Thorsen on bass and Richard Sellers on Drums has proven to be Shawn Loescher’s most dynamic and emotionally charged group to date.

Jazz legend Mark Murphy has said about Loescher, “He takes the pain away.” Further adding to his air of mysticism. Louie Bellson once wrote, “Loescher is a natural talent.” Listening to Loescher perform or on a recording, one immediately understands what drove these men to make such statements in a musical idiom notorious for colleagues not making compliments. As we adjust to the peculiar name Shawn Loescher in the jazz section of our record stores, we are all wondering how many years we will be blessed with his art. If it is true that Loescher is a sort of jazz mystic, and that seems certain, the answer is many. For mystics (unlike peculiar names) are born, not made. Living eternally, if only on recordings and in compositions, touching us all.