Jan Kus – tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, composer, arranger

 Born in 1987, Jan Kus started his musical journey at age 5 in his native country of Slovenia. After completing the National Conservatory for Music in Ljubljana in 2006, the young recipient of the scholarship, granted to him by the Slovenian Ministry of culture,  continued his musical studies at the prestigious Royal Conservatory of The Hague, Netherlands, where he studied with the internationally acclaimed saxophonist and clarinetist, Mr. John Ruocco.

During his time in The Hague he performed with a who’s who on the scene of up and coming young European jazz musicians, playing extensively in The Netherlands, as well as touring internationally  throughout Europe (Slovenia, Belgium, Italy, Hungary, Greece, Cyprus, and Slovakia).

In 2012, he arrived to New York to pursue his Masters degree at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College under the tutelage of the great Antonio Hart.

Upon his arrival in New York City, he participated in the all star – lineup recording sessions of the Ziga Murko 13 brass band, which included Mark Turner, David Binney, Alex Sipiagin, Josh Roseman, Dave Taylor, and Jason Palmer among others.

During his time at Queens College, Jan collaborated extensively as a sideman with many of his fellow students in many various formats and musical environments, from piano-less saxophone trio, to large ensembles and big bands, including performances, recording sessions, and also special feature solos written for him to perform in the context of a larger ensemble. At the time of his studies at Queens College, he was awarded with the prestigious Jimmy Heath Award for his work.

Jan currently performs as a sideman in various different musical projects in NYC, and leads his own exciting new band, the Jan Kus Quartet.

PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS:

Performed and recorded with:

Alex Sipiagin, Mark Turner, David Binney, Jason Palmer, Andy Hunter, Jonathan Powell, Chris Potter, Marko Djordjevic, Rafael Statin, Sean Fitzpatrick, Bryan Campbell, Dan Martinez, Rafael Rosa, Joel Mateo, Carlos Homs, Miles Griffith, Jure Pukl, Lenart Krecic, Igor Lumpert, Igor Bezget, Robert Jukic, Sri Hanuraga, Kristijan Krajncan, Dre Hocevar, Ziga Murko, Marko Churnchetz, Kaja Draksler, Miguel Rodriguez 

Performed at:

Blue Note Jazz Festival, DROM, Silvana, NuBlu NYC - New York City; Jazz Festival Ljubljana, Festival Lent, Jazzinty Abonma, Linhart's hall - Cankar house, Jazz Club Gajo - Slovenia; Mediawave festival, Romer house – Hungary; BP Club - Croatia; JazzOra Leuwen - Belgium; DIZZY Jazz Cafe – The Netherlands; Ladonas Jazz Festival - Greece; Paradise Jazz Festival – Cyprus 

Recording credits:

-Gal in galeristi – Fetis

-Robert Jukic – Jazz for Masses

-Robert Jukic – Operation Charlie

-Ziga Murko 13 – 13 EP (featuring David Binney, Mark Turner, Jason Palmer, Alex Sipiagin, Dave Taylor)

-Seoyoun Yang – debut album You are there, released March 2014 in South Korea

-Ziga Murko - The Green Room EP

-Yongwon Cho – YWQ, South Korea, 2015

-Sooyoung Chin Jazz Orchestra  - The Fables (featured soloist)

-Jan Kus Quartet - Faith (album waiting for release by the end of 2015)