Biography
Jeremy Sandfelder is a French/American saxophonist, clarinetist, composer and educator based in Montreal, Canada. Inspired by the music of Stan Getz and Lester Young, Sandfelder is making a name for himself as an exceptional straight-ahead jazz saxophonist steeped in the language of swing, bebop and Cool Jazz. As a clarinetist, his classical technique and improvisational prowess are heavily influenced by Buddy DeFranco and Grammy award winning artist Eddie Daniels, with whom he had the privilege to study in 2021.
Graduating from McGill University with a Masters in Jazz Saxophone Performance in 2024, and a Bachelor’s in Jazz Saxophone Performance (minor in Music Theory) in 2019, Sandfelder has studied under the tutelage of esteemed mentors such as Rémi Bolduc, Ira Coleman, Masashi Usui, Al McLean, Andre White and Donny Kennedy. His efforts have seen him share the stage with Canadian jazz luminaries like Kevin Dean, Christine Jensen, Marianne Trudel, Al McLean and Alec Walkington.
In 2024, he recorded his debut album as a leader set to release in the fall featuring the talents of distinguished Canadian musicians Dave Watts and Andre White, alongside top caliber emerging artists Gabriel Audet-Bourgault and Jihye Im.
Hailing from an international background, Jeremy Sandfelder grew up in Shanghai, China, where he started learning saxophone at age 10. He quickly excelled under the guidance of Argentinian saxophonist Andres Boiarsky and New York saxophonist Alec Haavik.
Sandfelder picked up clarinet upon relocating to Montreal in 2014, where he honed his classical technique with mentors such as Louise Campbell and Simon Aldrich, before venturing into the realm of jazz. He has since performed as a featured clarinet soloist with the Incarnadine Big Band and the McGill Jazz Orchestras. Sandfelder's dedication to his craft was further affirmed through private studies with Grammy Award-winning clarinetist, saxophonist, and flutist Eddie Daniels in 2021.
In 2021, he joined the jazz quintet, Backwater Township, with whom he recorded two albums, and did a concert tour of Eastern Quebec and New Brunswick. Formed by indigenous jazz bassist Corey Thomas, this ensemble performs Thomas’ original music lovingly inspired by his upbringing in Gesgapegiag, a Mi’gmaq community in Eastern Quebec.
In 2022, he participated in forming the jazz collective, Reach Quartet. Created alongside fellow Masters students Khalil Bouaziz, Loïc Du Sablon, and undergraduate student Juno Hamilton, this band performs original music and original arrangements of jazz standards written by its constituent band members. This band performs at various venues in Montreal and will be participating in the T.U. Jazz Festival in Toronto this summer. More information pertaining to the Reach Quartet can be found here.
Owing to his passion for the jazz tradition, Sandfelder also frequently performs for swing dancers in the swing and early jazz communities of Montreal, as a band member of Andy Mac’s Hot 6 and recurring member of Michaël Srey’s Swing Legacy Band.
As a woodwind multi-instrumentalist, Sandfelder has worked with several musical theater productions as a pit orchestra musician. In 2022, he was hired by the National Theater of Canada to play in “Cabaret” under the direction of Floydd Ricketts, and in 2023 and 2024 he played in the Cote St. Luc Dramatic Society productions of “Something Rotten” and “Into The Woods” under the direction of Nick Burgess.
Photography by Conor Nickerson