JUSTIN YOUNG

Biography

 
Justin Young sounds utterly natural when he plays, as if his extraordinary saxophone talent never needed formal training. But those mellifluous lines of soulful notes come through
years of study, training and commitment to his love of music, as well as a constant desire to move forward.

 
Born in 1980 in Warren, MI, just a few minutes outside Detroit, Young grew up in a musical household. His father, Jim
Young, led a band called Kaleidoscope and would often rehearse the group in the family room.

 
“I was seeing and hearing drummers and keyboardists and vocalists, and hearing how all the sounds meshed together. It
was always in the back of my mind,” Young said in an interview at his home in Edmond, Okla. “It was in the blood, and plus Detroit was so eclectic at the time, you know, everything
from R&B to pop and Top 40 and Motown – just a melting pot of different sounds, and I was absorbing it all.”

 
That fertile environment, both at home and all around him in Detroit, gave Young a world-class musical education. He
picked up drums in elementary school and started hearing the music that would inform his life and work: saxophonists Maceo Parker, Lenny Pickett and Gerald Albright, along with
superstar pop, funk and jazz acts like Earth, Wind and Fire, Boney James, The Gap Band, Herbie Hancock, the Commodores and Michael Jackson. Then his father suggested that he try the
saxophone, and a few months later, Young was playing Stevie Wonder’s “I Just Called to Say I Love You” in a 4th grade talent show.

 
Having found his true musical love, Young practiced three to five hours a day and began playing in his father’s bands
as a teenager, performing his first professional gig at a wedding when he was 16. As Young prepared for college, his father encouraged Young to pursue his dreams of becoming a
premier saxophonist, but with one caveat: have a backup plan. So, Young enrolled in the mechanical engineering program at Michigan State University and used his talents to make
payments at the bursar’s office.

 
“I put myself through college by playing regular gigs,” he said. “I was playing 20, 30 gigs a month and that’s really
where I honed my skills as a player and a performer and was really making it a show.”

 
Young became a major draw at Detroit area venues such as Signature Grill, Greektown Casino, MGM Grand Casino and Motor
City Casino, and he developed the keen business sense that is needed to run a successful band.

 
“A band is a start-up business,” Young said. “Anyone who wants to obtain a qualified work force may want to check out
the local music scene. When you’re in a band, you have to know how to budget, how to get to shows, how to be on time, what the crowd wants, how to look, how to dress and how to
market yourself.

 
“I had to learn how to make money, and I couldn’t do it Monday through Thursday, because mechanical engineering was
insanely tough for me. I was working harder than I’d ever worked in my life: I remember being in Calculus and wondering how am I going to afford tuition? I figured I could play
Friday nights, Saturday nights and Sunday mornings with a band, so I played gigs with my father’s band and picked up college gigs at hotels and clubs.”

 
Once he finished his bachelor’s degree and began pursuing his MBA, Young became a music machine, calling hundreds of
clubs to pull in a handful of shows, but his determination and talent paid off when he won the Capital Jazz Fest in 2007. This major success, coupled with valuable mentorship from
Spyro Gyra keyboardist Tom Schuman, gave Young the courage and experience to move forward with his first official album, 2007’s On the Way.

 
What followed was a period of great transition. Justin married high school friend and local TV reporter Rachel Calderon
in August 2007. The couple moved to Los Angeles shortly afterward when Justin received a job offer from Boeing. His jazz career moved just as quickly with his On The Way release in
2007: Young soon began a year-long residency at Spaghettini, a well-known jazz venue in nearby Seal Beach. In addition, he built a significant following in the West Coast’s smooth
jazz community by playing major festivals and events in the area and building relationships with major players such as Gerald Albright, Dave Koz, Darren Rahn, Euge Groove and Jackiem
Joyner.

 
Having established himself in the Southern California scene, Young recorded two more albums, Nothin’ But Love and Home for the Holidays, and he and Rachel started a family with the
birth of their son, Tyson. Then Boeing offered Young a transfer to Oklahoma City, an emerging urban center undergoing a cultural and industrial renaissance. Young saw Oklahoma City
as a perfect home base to build his music audience.

 
“The best reason to live here is the people,” Young said. “It’s a great place to raise kids and people are willing to help you at every level, especially when it comes time to shape
the next phase of your career.”

 
Young is currently completing his new album, Blue Soul, the long-awaited collection that will take his smooth jazz into deeper sounds and new textures. He said his expectations and
standards are much higher for Blue Soul than for any of his previous work, but Young’s determination is paying off.

 
“I started on this album three and a half years ago,” he said. “There’s probably been about 40 different songs written for this album. In the past, I would write 12 songs and then
enter the studio quickly and put out an album, but for Blue Soul, I wanted to take a different approach and put the absolute best songs out. It’s taught me a lot of great lessons
about studios, and how certain songs will sound extraordinary on the saxophone.”

 
Blue Soul reflects Young’s roots in Detroit more than any of his previous music. He is reaching deep into the styles and genres that inspired him to pursue life as a musician, and
the result is a personal, deeply felt collection of songs. Recorded live in the studio and surrounded by some of his favorite players, Blue Soul is prime Justin Young.

 
“This goes back to my love of Jazz and Soul music,” he said. “It’s organic, it’s played by consummate musicians, and it truly is soul music with saxophone at its beating heart.”

 
Justin now lives in Seattle, Washington with his family. He is available
for
speaking opportunities on Science, Technology,
Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) combined with Arts education (STEAM).
Justin holds a
Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan State University and
Master of Business Administration (MBA) from The University of Oklahoma.

Written by: George Lang, Lang•uage PR, [email protected].

Website: www.justinyoungsax.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/officialjustinyoung/

Twitter: @justinyoungsax