Keshavan Maslak

An eccentric, avant-gardish saxophonist who undertakes to actually entertain rather than alienate, Keshavan Maslak is a second-generation American of Ukrainian ancestry. Maslak grew up in Detroit. His musically inclined grandfather introduced him to music via Eastern European folk and classical forms. Maslak began studying at age six. His first paying gig at age 12 was playing polkas and mazurkas to members of the immigrant Slavic community in Detroit. As a high-school student, Maslak developed an affinity for jazz and Motown-style R&B. He attended college, first at the Univer...