Meridian Music: Composers in Performance opens its 2007-2008 season with a solo performance by Phillip Greenlief at Meridian Gallery on September 12, 2007. Along with a few works written for him by Pauline Oliveros and South African composer Shaun Naidoo, the saxophonist will be performing "The Fourth World," a recent work based on Hopi Mythology. Mr. Greenlief has developed this composition on numerous solo tours of native lands. This concert will present the SF Bay Area premiere of the work.

"The Bay Area's do-it-yourself ethos has produced a bevy of dazzlingly creative musicians, but few have put the philosophy to work as effectively as Phillip Greenlief." - Andrew Gilbert, San Francisco Chronicle

Saxophonist/Composer Phillip Greenlief is the founder of Evander Music, an independent record label that presents original composition, improvised music and new jazz. Since 1996, Greenlief's recordings and performances have received critical acclaim in many national jazz publications (Down Beat, Jazz Times, 5/4, Cadence, Modern Saxophone, All About Jazz, The Los Angeles Times, etc.). His duo recordings with bassist Trevor Dunn and drummer Scott Amendola received 5 stars in the 1999 Music Hound Jazz Essential Album Guide. His recordings with the Lost Trio and Phillip Greenlief & Covered Pages were listed on the Critics' Top 10 Recording List of 2000 & 2001 (SF Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News, East Bay Express, Downtown Music Guide/NYC). Over the past decade, Greenlief has produced concerts for local musicians and internationally touring artists under the auspices of Evander Music Presents and he is curator at ImprovGarage, a monthly workshop dedicated to the proliferation of innovative composition and improvisation techniques for large ensemble.

Greenlief began playing guitar and trumpet in elementary school and explored a few different instruments before discovering the saxophone in the late 1970's. His ever-evolving relationship with the instrument continues to unfold with an expansive sound vocabulary, extreme dynamic range, a deep regard for melody and form, and a humor and wit that is not dissimilar to the Native American Coyote tales. Greenlief studied at several music schools on the west coast, and holds a Bachelor's degree in Music Education and a Master's degree in 20th Century Literature from the University of Southern California. He has served as guest lecturer at Mills College, teaches saxophone and improvisation at the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts, and is director of the music department at San Francisco Waldorf High School.