Eli Maliwan is a transgender Asian-American performing musician, composer, educator, and activist, born and raised in the Bay Area, CA. He performs, records, and tours with multiple local projects including his own: Saxreligious. He studied music full time in lieu of traditional high school and received a Bachelor’s of Music from Portland State University, where he was deeply influenced by the mentorship of Darrell Grant. Eli continued study with a Master’s of Fine Arts from the California Institute of the Arts. Although his obsession with saxophone is 28 years strong, Eli is a multi-instrumentalist that also performs on flute, clarinet, EWI (Electronic Wind Instrument), piano, electric bass, and voice. Eli has had the honor of performing with Jimmy Heath, Steve Turre, James Moody, Slide Hampton, and Alphonso Johnson, and played at prestigious festivals such as Uberjazz in Hamburg Germany, opening for the Sun Ra Arkestra, SFJAZZ, San Jose Jazz Fest, Noise Pop Festival, Bric Jazz Festival, Winter Jazzfest, Portland Jazz Festival, and The Waterfront Blues Festival, as well as several dates with the Salami Rose Joe Louis Quartet, opening for Flying Lotus on his national 2019 tour.