13 Facts About Rent Romus

Rent Romus was born on 1968 and is an American saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist, bandleader, music and performing arts producer, and community leader living in the San Francisco Bay area.

Rent Romus began playing piano at the age of five until he was thirteen when he decided to play the alto saxophone, which his mother played.

In 1982 and 1984, Romus attended the Stanford Jazz Workshop summer programs where he participated in master classes led by Stan Getz, Bruce Forman, Eddie Moore, and Dizzy Gillespie.

Rent Romus's exposure to Stan Getz was a pivotal moment in his early development where Getz would ask him to find a mirror and work on his tone watching his embouchure as he played.

Between 1989 and 1994 Rent Romus produced three albums with Jazz on the Line including In the Moment with tenor saxophonist Chico Freeman.

In 1995 Rent Romus changed personnel of the group to include his longtime associate Jason Olaine along with drummer Andrew Borger and bassist Vytas Nagisetty.

In 1997 Rent Romus performed and recorded with Jon Birdsong, Dave Mihaly, and guest tenor saxophonist John Tchicai known best for his work with John Coltrane and Albert Ayler in the 1960s.

In 1998 Rent Romus worked with instrument inventor Tom Nunn, cellist Doug Carroll, guitarist Joel Harrison and drummer Dave Mihaly.

In 2001 Rent Romus reinvented the Lords of Outland with bassist Bill Noertker, drummer Dave Mihaly and the late trombonist Toyoji Tomita, and later that year recorded Avatar In the Field a tribute to the late saxophonist Albert Ayler.

In 2006 Rent Romus toured through the midwest of the United States performing in St Louis Missouri, Urbana Illinois, Detroit Michigan, and Columbus Ohio with stops along the east coast to Philadelphia and New York City with composer and pianist Thollem McDonas and drummer Jon Brumit as the Bloom Project.

From his first experience as a young music producer in 1984 with the North Area Youth Jazz Ensemble, Rent Romus continued to produce and curate performances and presentations in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Rent Romus was the executive director of Jazz in Flight from 1996 to 1997 a non-profit jazz presenting organization based in Oakland California until it disbanded in 2001, which booked creative touring and local performing musicians at Yoshi's in Oakland California.

Rent Romus founded Outsound Presents, a non-profit artist-based organization and serves as the executive director while curating The SIMM Music Series at the Musicians Union Hall as well as the Luggage Store Gallery New Music Series in San Francisco.