Jason Swagler

Alto Sax | Alton, IL

Jason Swagler serves as an associate professor and Director of Jazz Studies at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, where he has been on faculty since 2000. 

As a saxophonist, Swagler maintains an active career recording and performing under his own name and as a sideman. He has shared the stage with notable artists including Joey DeFrancesco, Byron Stripling, Michael McDonald, Marilyn Maye, Regina Carter, John Clayton, and Gregory Hutchinson, among others. He currently plays lead alto in both the Dave Weckl Big Band and The Jazz St. Louis Big Band directed by Victor Goines. Swagler is also an active arranger, with his work featured in the 2021 PBS Christmas special 'A New Holiday,' which included performances by Wynton Marsalis, BeBe Winans, and David Sanborn. Vocalist Denise Thimes commissioned him to arrange 'I Love Everything About You' for her performances with The Count Basie Orchestra in 2025.