Jason Mingledorff

JASON MINGLEDORFF has become one of New Orleans’ most versatile and in-demand saxophonists since moving here in 1995. He’s toured extensively with internationally known acts like St. Paul & the Broken Bones, Clint Black, The New Mastersounds, and Galactic. His critically acclaimed brass band, The New Orleans Nightcrawlers, won a Grammy in 2021 (Best Regional Roots Album), was nominated for another Grammy in 2024, and was featured in a 2018 episode of The Simpsons. His all-star quintet, Papa Grows Funk, is the subject of the award-winning full-length documentary Do U Want It?. Other artists that Jason has performed and/or recorded with include Maceo Parker (Soul Food: Cooking with Maceo), Dr. John (Grammy-winning The City That Care Forgot), Harry Connick, Jr., Aretha Franklin, Tony Bennett, Lady Gaga, The Temptations, and The O’Jays. Jason has also performed many popular orchestral works that feature the saxophone (Pictures at an Exhibition, Bolero, Romeo and Juliet, La Creation du Monde) with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. A D’addario Woodwinds Artist since 2017, Jason has recorded on over 100 albums and has appeared on numerous movies and TV shows, including Green Book, Tremé, and Austin City Limits.

Jason’s debut album as a leader, 2023’s Start It!, was nominated for Best Contemporary Jazz Album in Offbeat Magazine’s Best of the Beat Awards. His latest album, 2025’s The Journal Sessions, pays tribute to the many infectious grooves of his home, New Orleans. His band has performed at numerous venues throughout New Orleans (Snug Harbor, Maple Leaf, The Broadside, New Orleans Jazz Museum), French Quarter Fest, Big Island Jazz and Blues Festival in Hawaii, and recently received a South Arts Jazz Roads Grant for an extensive tour of Alabama in September 2025.

Jason has been teaching Saxophone, Improvisation, and Jazz Ensembles at the University of Loyola in New Orleans since 2006.