A recent dynamic force on the Toronto jazz scene, young saxophone sensation Alison Young is from Ottawa where she honed her craft playing with local blues and R&B bands. After studying at the University of Toronto with Phil Nimmons, Mike Murley, and Kirk MacDonald, she has, in recent years, emerged as one of the Toronto jazz scene's hottest and most sought-after reed players. When her stratospheric trajectory first began to attract important notice at the Ottawa Jazz Festival a few years ago, one reviewer wrote, "The stun is witnessing phrasing and technique indicating decades of practice and study, coming from a girl too young to have done any of that. She plays alto with an authority and command beyond her short years, performing with the facility and inventiveness of a much more mature musician."