A native of rural Central New York, Saxophonist and composer Paul Carlon has been active on the New York City jazz and latin jazz scenes for seventeen years, having performed with and/or composed for Harvie S, Phil Bowler & Pocket Jungle, the Jason Lindner Big Band, the late Afro-Cuban star Juan Pablo Torres, Grupo los Santos, James Hurt, Rumbatap Dance Company, Sonido Isleño, Swingadelic, Gary Morgan’s Panamericana, Clave y Guaguancó, and Phil Woods, as well as leading his own groups. Paul recorded with JP Torres on his all-star CD Together Again in 2000, alongside such stars of Latin jazz as Giovanni Hidalgo, Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez, Brian Lynch, and Steve Turre.
Paul has performed at regional, national and international music festivals. He has toured, recorded, and performed all over the U.S., the Caribbean (including Cuba), and South America, and has appeared in film, radio and on TV. Paul’s appearances on film include the documentaries Latido Latino, made for Spanish public television, and Cómo se forma una rumba/How to Create a Rumba, by Iván Acosta (shown at Lincoln Center as part of Latin Beat 2001!). One of Paul’s original songs, ‘Soul Soliloquy’, found a home in filmmaker Kern Konwiser’s street basketball documentary On Hallowed Ground, originally aired on the TNT Television Network in May of 2000. Paul also recently completed a Master’s Degree in Music Composition at The City College of New York, where he studied with Mike Holober, John Patitucci and American master David Del Tredici.
Paul’s main passions are the history and tradition of innovation and of swing in jazz, and the music of the Afro-Latin diaspora. Navigating where these diverse styles intersect, where the rhythms cross over and begin to speak to each other, has been Paul’s fascination for the last ten years, both improvisationally and compositionally. An avowed Ellington/Strayhorn fanatic, Paul is equally captivated by Los Van Van, Pixinguinha, Charles Mingus, Stravinsky, Gene Ammons, Lenine, Eva Ayllón, Muddy Waters, and Gil Evans, among many others. A fluent speaker of Portuguese and conversational in Spanish, Paul has spent time in Brazil and also in Cuba and Colombia, immersing himself culturally and artistically in the search for understanding. His compositions express this wide range of interests, diffracted through the lens of the jazz stylists and composers that have been an obsession from an early age.

Festival Highlights
Greater Hartford Festival of Jazz in 1995, 1998, 2000 and 2001, w/Phil Bowler & Pocket Jungle
1997 JVC Jazz Festival NYC, w/Max Pollak
1999 Town Hall Concert: "Cuba Without Frontiers", New York, NY, with Juan Pablo Torres, Horacio “El Negro” Hernandez, Andy Gonzalez, etc.
Cuba Tambor! 2001, Havana, Cuba, w/Grupo los Santos, Clave y Guaguancó, and Yoruba Andabo
2003 Jazz in the Square Festival, Syracuse, NY, w/Paul Carlon Trio
2004 BarranquiJazz Festival, Baranquilla, Colombia, w/Sonido Isleño
2005 Jazz in the Square Festival, w/Ileana Santamaría Orchestra
2005 Bar Harbor, Maine Jazz Festival, w/Grupo Los Santos
2006 West Oak Lane Jazz & Arts Festival, Philadelphia, PA., w/Ileana Santamaría Orchestra
2006 Park City Jazz Festival, Park City, Utah, w/Ileana Santamaría Orchestra
2007 Red Bank Jazz & Blues Festival, NJ, w/Doug Clarke; also w/Swingadelic
2008 Sanofis-Aventis Jazz Festival, Drew U., NJ; w/Swingadelic

NYC Venues Played

Central Park SummerStage (w/Rumbatap & Paul Carlon Octet, August 2008)
Cachaça Jazz 'n' Samba Club (w/Paul Carlon Octet, March-May 2008)
The Jazz Standard (w/Grupo los Santos, January 2008)
Night & Day (w/Paul Carlon Octet, May 2007)
Dekk Lounge (w/Paul Carlon Octet, March 2007)
Fat Cat (w/Paul Carlon Octet, December 2006)
Birdland (w/Gary Morgan & Panamericana, October 2006)
The Jazz Standard (w/Sonido Isleño, August 2006)
Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola (w/Ileana Santamaría Orchestra, July 2006)
Iridium (w/Harvie S, May 2006)
Cornelia Street Café (w/Harvie S, May 2006)
Makor Café (w/Paul Carlon Octet, August 2006)
Satalla (w/Paul Carlon Octet, June-November 2005)
Soul Café (w/Paul Carlon Octet, August 2003)
El Taller Latino Americano (w/Paul Carlon Octet, May 2003)
Small’s (w/Paul Carlon Octet, September 2002)

Discography

"Roots Propaganda", w/The Paul Carlon Octet (2008; Deep Tone Records 004)
"Diana", w/Diana McCorry (2008; Independent)
"Lo Que Somos Lo Que Sea", w/Grupo Los Santos (2008; Deep Tone Records DT 002)
"Another Monday Night", w/Swingadelic (2007; Media Mix Entertainment 005)
"Other Tongues", w/The Paul Carlon Octet (2006; Deep Tone Records DT 001)
"What I Want", w/Ileana Santamaría Orchestra (2006; Independent)
"Vive Jazz!", w/ Sonido Isleño (2005; Tresero Productions TP1105)
"Blue Tres", w/ Sonido Isleño (2004; Tresero Productions TP1104)
"Beware of Doug", w/Doug Clarke (2002; Ratamacue Records 00152)
"El Tululu", w/Maxo Severin and Juan Pablo Torres (2001; Tululu Records RS 2001)
"Together Again!", w/Juan Pablo Torres, Steve Turre, Chucho Valdés, Arturo Sandoval (2000; Connector Music 15857-2)
"Noches en el Taller", w/Grupo los Santos (2000; Santos Music SMCD 001)
"Looking Up", Paul Carlon (1999; Mr. PC Music MRPC 001)
"A Close Call With Love", w/Hollie Baines (1999; Independent)