(B.A. Wesleyan University, 1997; M.A. Columbia University, 2003) is an alto saxophonist who composes his own music and leads the Niko Higgins Ensemble. His first recording is due out on Engine Studios (www.engine-studios.com) in December, 2003. In addition to jazz and free jazz, Higgins has extensively studied South Indian classical music at Wesleyan University and studied studied Karnatic vocal music in Chennai, India on a 1997-98 Fulbright Fellowship. . He is currently doing graduate work in Ethnomusicology at Columbia University. . His MA thesis, "Improvisers Unite: Jump Arts, Free Jazz Improvisation, and Practice Theory," discusses free jazz interaction through his research on a New York City organization, "Jump Arts." He presented a paper based on this research at the 2003 national meeting of the Society for Ethnomusicology. Presently in his third year at Columbia, he is formulating a dissertation project on improvisation.
nah2002@ columbia . edu