San Francisco saxophonist, clarinetist, composer, bandleader, educator, and jazz advocate Patrick Wolff leads projects that move between original music, bebop and hard-bop repertoire, and organ-driven small-group jazz.
Home base: San Francisco, California
Styles: Bebop, Hard Bop, Contemporary Jazz, Organ Jazz, Straight-Ahead Jazz
Instruments: Saxophone, Clarinet, Composition, Bandleading, Jazz Education
Band: Leads projects including the Patrick Wolff Quartet, Patrick Wolff Bebop Truth Quartet, and Patrick Wolff’s Swinging Organ Quartet.
Patrick Wolff is a saxophonist, clarinetist, composer, bandleader, and educator with longstanding ties to the jazz communities of New York City and San Francisco. Raised in upstate New York, he studied at New York University with Ralph Lalama, George Garzone, Frank Foster, Ron McClure, and Frank Kimbrough, and toured with the Glenn Miller Orchestra before relocating to San Francisco in 2009. In the Bay Area, Wolff has performed and recorded with musicians including Marcus Shelby, Graham Connah, Andrew Speight, Adam Shulman, and Diana Gameros, while continuing to lead his own small ensembles. His work ranges from original compositions to classic bebop and hard-bop repertoire, including the organ-quartet tradition. Wolff is also an active jazz educator and advocate, with teaching work at the Stanford Jazz Workshop, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and the College of San Mateo.
Patrick Wolff Quartet featuring Matt Wilson at Keys Jazz Bistro brings together San Francisco saxophonist and clarinetist Patrick Wolff, drummer Matt Wilson, pianist Keith Saunders, and bassist Eric Markowitz for a deeply swinging Post-Bop set. Wolff’s lyrical, lineage-spanning approach meets Wilson’s playful, propulsive drumming—shaped by his work with Dewey Redman, Charlie Haden, and Dena DeRose—as...
Patrick Wolff brings a lifetime of deep jazz immersion to The Deluxe, joined by a stellar quartet — Adam Shulman on piano, Eric Markowitz on bass, and Sylvia Cuenca on drums. A saxophone and clarinet player with a distinguished history in the jazz scenes of New York City and San Francisco, Wolff has performed or...
Patrick Wolff at Specs features the saxophonist and clarinetist with Keith Saunders on piano, Eric Markowitz on bass, and Austin Harris on drums for an intimate North Beach quartet set. Wolff is a longtime figure in the New York and San Francisco Jazz scenes who has performed or recorded with Albert “Tootie” Heath, Matt Wilson,...
Patrick Wolff Trio at Stookey’s Blue Room features saxophonist and clarinetist Patrick Wolff with David Ewell on bass and Smith Dobson on drums. Wolff’s lyrical, deep-swinging approach reflects his long history in New York City and San Francisco Jazz, while Ewell’s grounded acoustic bass and Dobson’s responsive, hard-driving drumming give the trio room to explore...