Billy Tipton Memorial Saxophone Quartet

Experimental jazz outfit the Billy Tipton Memorial Saxophone Quartet originally comprised saxophonists Amy Denio, Jessica Lurie, Marjorie DeMuynck, and Barbara J. Marino in collaboration with drummer Will Dowd. Named in honor of musician Tipton -- a longtime veteran of the jazz circuit who only in death was revealed to have been a woman who spent her life passing as a man -- the ensemble issued their debut LP, Saxhouse, in 1992. By the release of Box three years later, DeMuynck and Dowd had been replaced by saxophonist Maya Johnson and drummer Pam Barger. Make It Funky God followed in 1997; Denio left the lineup the next year, and the Billy Tipton Memorial Saxophone Quartet soon dissolved. ~ Jason Ankeny