About

“Music has always been my closest ally, partner and accomplice, I’m enthralled by how it makes me feel,” says alto saxophonist Jessy Bender. Growing up in Columbia, Missouri, she listened to all genres of music but was particularly drawn to the sax-heavy songs she heard on the radio as a kid, songs like “Baker Street,” “Year of the Cat” and “Just the Way You Are.” At 10, Jessy picked up her first sax and by 16 was playing in bands and touring regionally with Deke Dickerson, an acclaimed rockabilly guitarist noted for melding garage rock, blues, punk, and country and rock with rockabilly.

She’s played live with various artists – she is known as a musician who has the skills to pull off incendiary performances in any genre of music – and co-founded the Vigils, an LA band one writer described as “Gene Vincent and David Bowie battling for your soul in a sax soaked noir underworld.” “I love to engage with an audience,” she said, explaining her superhuman ability to tear up a stage after working long days on a set. “There’s something magical and transcendent that happens between us.”

A fan of Charlie Parker, Clarence Clemons, and Bobby Keys, Jessy learned the rudimentaries of music and the technicalities of playing the sax while finding the freedom and inspiration of improvisation. “I’ve always thrived on discovering the place where a beautiful, rich, sultry riff can lift the music to a higher place,” she said.

As part of her practice, Jessy experiments with pop music by artists such as The Rolling Stones, Dua Lipa, and Ariana Grande by adding the sax to songs largely dominated by guitar and synthesizers. Throughout the pandemic, she was constantly in the studio, working with a variety of artists on their albums as a sax soloist.

After graduating from Indiana University, where she studied comparative literature, film studies, and music, Jessy moved to LA. She began her career as a sound engineer, working in film, television, and commercials, building an impressive resume even as she continued to focus on music and live performance. Jessy brought her passion for music and film together as the producer of the feature-length documentary, The Gits, a critically acclaimed film released in 2008. All the while, she continued to study the art of the saxophone, attending the Silverlake Conservatory, and soaking in the wisdom and techniques of the musicians she played with in sessions and on stage. “When I put the headphones on in the studio, I’m transported to an inner world. I can hear what an artist is communicating, and my fingers know the notes to play that will enhance the song. I can feel it.”

Throughout the pandemic, Jessy was constantly in the studio, refining her technique and working with a variety of artists on their albums as a sax soloist. “What is most important to me is the immense freedom, from the depths of my being, that comes from expressing myself through the sax.”