Playing tenor, alto, soprano saxophones; flute, alto flute, and spoken word, Katisse Buckingham endevors to break down barriers between musical genres and has always resonated with Duke Ellington’s famous quote, “There are two kinds of music- good music, and the other kind”. Growing up in Los Angeles, he cites Miles Davis, Run DMC, James Taylor, Malcolm Mclaren, Cachao, AC/DC, and Weather Report as equally important early influences. Katisse attended the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts. College took him to The Grove School of Music where he studied with multi Grammy winner, Rob McConnell. He also studied extensively with woodwind master, Bill Green.
Katisse has performed and/or recorded with Yellowjackets, Prince, Billy Childs, Dr. Dre, Herbie Hancock, Roy Ayers, Andy Summers, Zawinul Legacy Band, Airto & Flora Purim, LA Guitar Quartet, Brian Auger, Amos Lee, Strunz & Farah, Colin Hay, Poncho Sanchez, Don Grusin, Pete Yorn, and Vanessa Paradis, among many others. He has played on numerous films including the “Jazz Flute” scene for the Will Ferrell film, Anchorman- The Legend of Ron Burgundy, the Golden Globe winning score to the Robert Redford film, All Is Lost, and is a featured soloist on the Universal Pictures animated film, Minions.
Aside from his work as a solo artist, Katisse plays regularly with The Zawinul Legacy Band, Billy Childs Quartet, The Left Side Sax Alliance, John Daversa Big Band, Will Brahm’s Homenaje, John Daversa Small Band, Steve Weingart Group, Strunz & Farah, Mongorama, Jazz on the Latin Side All-Stars, Alan Ferber Big Band, Full Time Fools (with Jimmy Haslip, Otmaro Ruiz, Luis Conte, and Jimmy Branly), Paul Pesco, Down to the Bone, Ethan Margolis Quintet, VOCE (Vardan Ovsepian Chamber Ensemble), Scott Kinsey Group, Andy Waddell Group, Loston Harris Trio, Marcel Camargo’s “The Brazil You Never Heard”, Le Quintet, Miguel Atwood Ferguson Ensemble, among others. Katisse is an adjuct facullty member of Cal State University Northridge.
Katisse plays D'Addario Woodwinds products. On tenor sax: Jazz Select Filed #3M reeds, Alto: D'Addario Select Jazz Mouthpiece (6M), Rico H-Ligature (silver), Hemke #2 ½ reeds, and Soprano: Hemke #2 ½ reeds. As well Rico Reeds Cases, D'Addario Cork Grease, and Reserve Mouthpiece Patches.
