Born and raised in Waco, Texas, Mace Hibbard is one of the most exciting and versatile saxophonists on the scene today.  Coming from a musical family, early music lessons included piano and voice until settling on the saxophone at age ten.  Mace’s firm grasp of the history of jazz and its standard repertoire comes from the gigs he played with his father, Dave Hibbard, throughout his teen years.  From there, he attended the University of Texas where he earned a Bachelors degree in Musical Performance and a Masters degree in Jazz Studies.  The classical saxophone studies with Harvey Pittel created the foundation of Mace’s beautiful sound and technique while his improvisation lessons with Jeff Hellmer helped further shape his melodic and harmonic ideas. While in Austin, Mace developed as a composer and formed Odd Man Out, a group that provided Mace an outlet to focus on his original tunes and develop as a soloist. The quartet released their first, self-titled album in 2001 on Viewpoint Records. Mace Hibbard has performed throughout the United States and Europe citing performances with Wynton Marsalis, Wessell Anderson, Marcus Printup, Michael Brecker, Phil Woods, Bobby Shew, Arturo Sandoval, James Moody, and many others.  As an educator, Mace is a widely sought-after clinician and adjudicator and currently teaches at Jacksonville State University in Alabama, where he teaches saxophone and jazz studies.  Mace currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia with his wife Jennifer where he continues his career as a freelance musician and educator.