Grady Cartony is an 18 year old tenor saxophonist making his mark on the Twin Cities jazz scene — playing professionally since 14 and picking up the saxophone at age 10.

Though tenor saxophone is his primary voice, Grady is a true multi-instrumentalist, also performing on alto and soprano saxophone, clarinet, flute, and piano. He has played throughout the Twin Cities metro with ensembles including the Minnesota Youth Jazz Band and the Nova Contemporary Jazz Orchestra, among many others, and was selected for the Minnesota All-State Jazz Band. Grady also leads his own quintet, the “Grady Cartony Quintet” and you can see them playing all over the Twin Cities!

His playing draws from the language of Gene Ammons, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Cedar Walton, and Sonny Stitt, among many others. Grady has performed at venues and festivals including the Dakota Jazz Club, Jazz Central, Crooners Supper Club, MetroNome Brewery, the Pablo Center at the Confluence, Minnesota Music Cafe, the Twin Cities Jazz Festival, the Duluth Jazz Festival, the Berlin MPLS and Smalls Jazz Club in New York City — sharing the stage with artists such as Chad LB, Kenni Holmen, Dale Alexander, Tom Lewis, Omar Abdulkarim, Kevin Washington, Jennifer Grimm, Kavyesh Kaviraj, and Phil Hey. He has studied under acclaimed jazz artists Scott Johnson, Mike Tucker, Ryan Devlin, and Eric Alexander.

Grady is currently at the prestigious New England Conservatory in Boston, and is studying under Jerry Bergonzi and Donny McCaslin.

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