Northwest saxophone and flute virtuoso Mark Lewis is back from an August tour in New England, New York and Kansas City to perform at the Auburn Wine and Caviar Company on Saturday nights in September, each week with a different master musician from around the region.

Performances are 6-9 p.m. at the venue, 2402 A St. SE.

September’s featured guest musician lineup:

• Sept. 7: Paul Sawyer, guitar

• Sept 14: Ray Ohls, piano

• Sept 21: Milo Petersen, 7-string guitar

About the musicians:

Lewis is master of the alto sax, baritone sax, flute and piano, author of more than 1,600 compositions, and has recorded and produced more than 20 albums on various labels.

Rotterdam, Holland was Lewis’ home base for many years. He toured and played in most of the better clubs throughout Europe, and taught jazz theory and improvised music classes in several music conservatories.

Lewis lived and performed for several years in San Francisco and Victoria, B.C., as well. Lewis’ CD “In The Spirit,” recorded at Music Annex in Menlo Park, Calif., made the Top 40 on Billboard Magazine’s Jazz Albums chart.

Lewis has performed and recorded with pianists Mark Levine, Overton Berry and Ted Gioia; drummers Candy Finch, Eddie Moore and Billy Higgins; bassist David Friesen; saxophonists Johnny Griffin and Art Foxall; trumpet player Randy Brecker; and vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson. Lewis often subbed for Stan Getz and John Handy during his time in San Francisco.

Sawyer, a Seattle guitarist, has played professionally for more than 20 years and is on the adjunct music faculty at North Seattle Community College. He studied at the Berklee College of Music in Boston and privately with master bassist Gary Peacock. His credits include performances with Petula Clark, Lonnie Williams, Sam Andrew (of Big Brother/Janis Joplin) and Steve Smith (Drummer for Journey and Vital Information).

Ohls teaches jazz piano at Olympic College and is retired from the U.S. Navy Band where he was Chief Protocol Piano Player for Navy Band Washington, D.C., and first call pianist for the vice president under two administrations. Jazz artists Ray has performed with include Marcus Belgrave, Wendell Harrison, Bobby Shew and Andy Martin.

Petersen is on the affiliate faculty at Seattle Central Community College and was recently honored by the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts. In 1993 he was awarded a composition grant by the Seattle Arts Commission. Petersen and the Jazz Disciples were featured in the Encyclopedia of Northwest Music by James Bush. Milo has performed with a wide array of artists, including Eartha Kitt, Ernestine Anderson, Julian Priester, Cedar Walton and Mose Allison. He also has played for a variety of shows, including The Fifth Dimension, The Bob Hope Show, The Coasters and The Drifters.

====

For more information, call the Auburn Wine and Caviar Company at 253-887-8530.