Amy Denio first made a name for herself as a "serious" composer of contemporary classical music. Then, for almost a decade, she was a member of the Seattle-based Billy Tipton Memorial Saxophone Quartet, an all-female ensemble named after a woman who posed as a man to be able to work in the male-dominated jazz world of the 1930's and '40's. But just as the quartet was gaining a national reputation, Denio quit to pursue a solo career playing her own odd style of folk-rock, in which she plays saxophone, accordion, bass, and a bunch of other instruments. - From the NPR commentary aired January 11th, 1999

Of course, she doesn't just perform solo, Amy is and has been a member of such groups as The Tone Dogs, The Pale Nudes, and FoMoFlo. Her most recent major work is for the Austrian chamber ensemble, Die Knödel. It's an oratorio inspired by Italo Calvino's book Invisible Cities.

"Denio has established herself at the crossroads of jazz, experimentation, white funk, and rock. Not many musicians can even envision the kind of musical gamut Denio so offhandedly enjoys exploring, and even few do it with such gusto, humor, and wit." - (Rock's 10 Smartest, strongest women) Elizabeth Vincentelli, Request Magazine

"Once your have heard her perform, adoration could turn to something stronger. On stage (she) doesn't sing, she emotes. She has a remarkable stillness, an otherworldliness from which emanates melodies quite unlike what you may have heard before." - Vinod Advani, Sunday Times of India (Bombay)

" Denio is the Peppermint Patty we all knew as kids: smart, funny, able to make music from paper clips, rubber bands, and blades of grass." - Andew Jones, Option Magazine

Amy Denio Website