Jacob Niederman is an up-and-coming saxophonist and producer who has been performing at venues throughout Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Detroit, and Washington DC since 2022.

Born in Wyckoff, New Jersey, Jacob started playing clarinet at the age of 9 and picked up saxophone just a year later. Throughout his early years, he was mentored by numerous local musicians and leaders, including Broadway pit musician Eric Weidman and the late Ilan Mamber, Jewish folk artist and cantor at Temple Beth Rishon. At the age of 14, Jacob started working under the mentorship of Mark Friedman, a prominent session musician who has performed with Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, and Aretha Franklin. Under Friedman’s tutelage, Jacob developed his technical and tonal proficiency on classical clarinet and jazz saxophone.

Jacob continued developing his career in music at American University, where he worked closely with Noah Getz, a talented chamber musician who’s worked with jazz legends Chick Correa and Chris Potter. Getz helped take Jacob’s playing to the next level, helping him realize his abilities as both an improviser and composer. Jacob also worked to hone his abilities on saxophone throughout COVID, working with New York saxophonist Daro Behroozi of Lucky Chops to improve his ear training and tone. In the second half of his college career, Jacob worked with award-winning classical pianist Yuliya Gorenman to develop skills on piano. With Gorenman’s help, Jacob learned the essentials of piano technique and classical performance. Jacob would go on to teach himself skills in jazz keyboard harmony.

In his final year at American, Jacob received a grant from the Marinus & Minna B. Koster Foundation to compose and professionally record a jazz album that represented the culmination of his musical education. This debut album, Through Glass, featured a series of original jazz melodies performed with his university colleagues Noah Deetz, Eli Zarov, Knox Engler, and Eli Pine, as well as classical piano compositions performed by Bailey Hobbs. While Jacob has come a long way as a musician and composer since this album, he remembers the album fondly and takes pride in the work put into the project.

Jacob moved to Chicago in 2024 and hit the ground running upon his arrival. Soon after his move, he took a full dive into the production side of music, teaching himself fundamentals of music production and audio engineering while running recording sessions out of a studio in Chicago’s Fine Arts Building. Jacob quickly learned how to produce and mix his own music, and soon after, he took on the idea of incorporating more electronic elements into his live work.

Spanning his musical career, Jacob’s biggest influences have been UK jazz composers Jordan Rakei and Alfa Mist, and prominent indie artists Dijon and Bon Iver. With the launch of his new project, the 929 Collective, Jacob has successfully combined elements of all of these artists, meshing the metric fluidity and improvisational elements of contemporary jazz with the experimental production approaches of indie-electronica. The 929 Collective has since developed into an immersive and memorable musical experience that has captivated audiences throughout Chicago.

You can follow Jacob on Instagram to get updates on his current projects and click here to listen to his most recent published works.