Michael Davenport, a vibrant saxophonist from Chicago’s storied South Side, blends the city’s deep jazz roots with a bold, modern sound. A graduate of Whitney M. Young High School and the Manhattan School of Music, he cut his teeth working with Chicago legends Bobby Broom, Mwata Bowden, and Willie Pickens—even sharing the stage with Pickens at the historic Green Mill while Davenport was still in high school. In 2009, he earned a Latin Grammy nomination as a member of Bobby Sanabria’s band for the live album Kenya Revisited Live.

A founding member of the Jazz Institute Student Council, Davenport is also a gifted composer whose original music has been featured on Starz and NPR and in The New York Times. After years performing in New York City and the Bay Area, he’s back in Chicago now, lighting up stages across the city and bringing his soulful energy to the Chicago Jazz Festival and Logan Center for the Arts.