Antonio Hart

Antonio Hart is an excellent alto saxophone player who is most influenced by Cannonball Adderley and Gary Bartz. He studied classical saxophone at the Baltimore School for the Arts, then switched to Jazz at the Berklee School of Music in Boston. He made many friends at Berklee, but the most important was Roy Hargrove. They spent three years touring the world and recording Hargrove’s first three records. Hart considers Hargrove to be his brother in life and music.

He even used Hargrove on his first recording For the First Time. While earning as Masters Degree at Queens College he studied with the great Jimmy Heath and Donald Byrd. Hart felt blessed and honored when

Mr. Heath produced his second recording Don’t You Know I Care. Antonio Hart also played in Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, before forming his own group in the mid-’90s. His 1997 release Here I Stand, on Impulse records, earned Hart a Grammy nomination for ‘Best Jazz Instrumental Solo.’ In his 20 years as a professional musician he has performed and recorded with many jazz greats, from Dizzy Gillespie, Roy Hargrove, Nancy Wilson, Nat Adderley, and McCoy Tyner to Dave Holland, and has appeared as a guest on over 100 recordings plus seven CDs as a leader. In recent years he has also been recognized as an important Jazz educator and now serves as a Full Professor at Queens College. PJS is excited to welcome Antonio Hart back to our stage!