Saxophonist Jeff Kashiwa, who celebrated his 44th birthday on Sunday (August 26th), says that passion is the key ingredient to maintaining a solo career in a market that offers little acclaim or monetary rewards for instrumentalists. His passion for his instrument and the music is evident on his new album, Play, which was released on the Native Language label.

Kashiwa keeps his musical energy high both on recordings and in concert, and performs with a range of ensembles. Kashiwa explained: "It does start with passion and, to put it bluntly, if I wanted to get out there and do an activity that would only yield money, put it that way, then I'd probably do something else. 'Cause I've thought about professions that pay a lot more, but of course, that's such a silly term because no one really wants to do that. Especially as an artist you want to do something that will touch people, you want it to do something that moves you, that moves something inside you, that brings and challenges yourself."

Kashiwa's Play is currently at Number 18 on the Billboard Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart.



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