Alive! was the Saxophone Cartel's second album, following in the footsteps of 2005's Caught in the Act, documenting the third edition of the band. After a stirring live radio appearance on WFHB's Saturday's Child, and with encouragement from our backer/producer Jeffrey Morris, the concept for the next album took shape in the form of a live recording.

We went all out with booking, conception, and arrangements, turning the concert into a party and inviting some of our favorite musician friends to join us, including the fantastic Buffalo-based saxophonist and improviser Steve Baczkowksi, whose artistry lent the proceedings a remarkable energy. The Ryder magazine ended up listing the Alive! concert in their Top 10 music events of the year for 2006.

Unfortunately, as fate would have it, Alive! was lost in the shuffle and never saw the light of day as an official commercial release, either on disc or digitally, but it was released as a free download on the Cartel's website.

Here is the album in its entirety. The Saxophone Cartel was very dear to me, and truly there was never a saxophone ensemble that sounded quite like this.

Recorded May 13, 2006 at Space 101, Bloomington, IN and August 13,
2005 on "Satruday's Child", WFHB, Bloomington, IN.

Engineer: Jeff Morris
Mixing engineer: Jake Belser, Farm Fresh Studios, Bloomington, IN
Cover art and title concept: Morgan Price