"Twenty-six year-old, Russia-born/New York-based clarinetist/saxophonist Alex Kontorovich is a phenomenon," according to AllAboutJazz-NY. His debut release as a leader, "Deep Minor" (Chamsa Records, 2007) featured all of his original compositions and received a four-star review in Downbeat magazine. TimeOut-NY hailed the release "an exuberant if not groundbreaking slice of downtown klez-jazz." As a sideman, Kontorovich has shared the stage with the Klezmatics, Steve Bernstein, Paul Shapiro, Peter Apfelbaum, Paul Brody, David Krakauer, Michael Alpert, Alan Bern, Jamie Begian's Big Band, Frank London's Klezmer Brass All-Stars, the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the Toronto Philharmonia, the Waterloo Symphony, Aaron Alexander's Midrash Mish Mosh, King Django's Roots and Culture Band, and the Brellochs Saxophone Quartet, just to name a few. Kontorovich is a founding member of the Klez Dispensers, winners of the 2006 Just Plain Folks Music Award for Best Klezmer Album, and serves on the faculty at music festivals from Canada to Germany, Poland and the Ukraine. In his spare time, Kontorovich is a math professor at Brown University.weblinks:www.alexkontorovich.comwww.myspace.com/deepminorwww.cdbaby.com/kontorovich