B: December 5, 1940
D: January 18, 2003
Instruments: Saxophone, clarinet, flute
Saxophonist Sawyer was a student of Milford's Boots Mussulli, and like his mentor, he teaches more than 50 students each week. He is the organizer of The Sawyer Student Saxophone Solo Workshop, a group that rehearses once a month and presents two concerts a year, performing jazz and classical music. The ages of musicians in the group range from third grade to adult. Sawyer writes most of the arrangements and also spotlights music by famous arrangers and composers in the world of jazz. He attended the Northest School of Broadcasting, and he has combined radio work with his own music throughout his career. An active musician on the local scene, he can be heard with the Bluesicians and Sawyer & Company.
Education: Medway High School, Northest School of Broadcasting
Private instruction: Boots Mussulli
Teaching and clinics: Sawyer has taught locally for more than 30 years, teaching jazz improv, classical and rock. He currently teaches at Union Music in Worcester and Gordon Music in Southbridge
Playing experience: Ken Sawyer Quartet, Al Arsenault, Moco-Trio, Reggie Walley, The Sawyer Saxophone Student Solo Workshop, Sawyer & Company (featuring wife Mary Lou and daughter Tisha), the Bluesicians and The Blackstone Valley Swing Band led by Fred Holovnia
Touring and other highlights: Regional gigs throughout New England
Discography: Tisha Sawyer, For Everything I Am.
Notes and tones: "The kids [I teach] know about Boots. They all know who my teacher was and they know the love that I had for my teacher. And so Boots is still standing around here teaching, although you can't see him physically. His influence is still being felt. The thing that Boots did - and the thing that we like to do - is if they see that you love what you do and are having a good time, it kind of rubs off. The rest of it is just the rudiments."