OCTOBER/NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2025 | 21 e album’s positivity re ects the changes in Abair’s life over the past decade, as she has gotten married, continued to expand the musical boundaries of her career, and started a wildly successful travel and wine business, WineandJazz.com, with her husband, wine executive Eric Guerra. e couple o er a wine club and Wine and Jazz Adventures that take guests to the nest wine regions around the world. ese evolutions crescendoed into Abair’s dream life. “My life over the past few years has been very much a fairy tale,” she said via phone from her home in Healdsburg, California, a er two months in Europe. “I now am able to travel to make music with my friends, but I am traveling around the world on these Wine and Jazz Adventures, so my world has opened up, and I can immerse myself in di erent cultures, art and music. is has changed me for the better. I write music from experience, and all these experiences have been so transforming. I think it makes for better music. e record is very personal, and I think the title Based on a True Story is very apt for it." She added that she feels the record, like all her music, is aimed at bringing joy and healing to her fans and listeners. “With everything I do in my life now, I want people to walk away hopeful and inspired and wanting to live their best lives because I found a way to do it, and I want that for everyone.” Abair’s happiness and success have come through sacri ce and small victories. She’s one of the most talented instrumentalists of her generation, but talent only gets a musician so far in the music industry. Success requires work and heart. Ever since she le her home in St. Petersburg, Florida, to go the Berklee College of Music in Boston, she tried to stay true to her musical vision and personal integrity. It would have been easy to compromise, but she wanted more for her career. “Very early on in my career in college and a er, I felt like I should try to be one of the guys to t in, and I’d wear men’s suits and be a tomboy. I was trying to conform and get along, but things changed when I decided to let that go and say, ‘I’m just going to be me,’ and if they don’t like it, OK, but it’s so much easier to be me and do and wear what I liked. “You have to embrace who you are, and doors opened when I did. I think people know when you are being authentic and embrace you more.” As doors opened for Abair, she capitalized on every opportunity with her expressive playing and stylish showmanship. She re ected on some of the important collaborations in her career that helped shape her as a human being and a rmed her place as a musician. “Every person I’ve worked for and with has allowed me to nd myself in their music. As a musician and performer, you grow with those opportunities,” she said. “I just went to the Backstreet Boys event concerts at the Sphere in Las Vegas, and they were basically redoing the Millennium tour they did 25 years ago, for which I was the saxophonist, keyboardist, percussionist, so I was like ‘You can’t do this without me—I need to at least be there in the audience.’ “And I realized what a life experience that was. I got to see the world and live like a rock star for two years of my life and be paid well while having four or ve hair colors. And when the guys changed costumes—which was o en—I got to run around onstage and play saxophone solos and be me. What an incredible experience for a young person.” A seminal moment in her career arrived when she received a random phone call to play with Bruce Springsteen at the Stand Up for Heroes concert in 2011. “Being able to stand on the stage with Bruce right a er the Big Man (Clarence Clemons) passed away was something I will never, ever forget,” she said with enthusiasm. “No saxophonist can possibly imagine that because the Big Man was there for Bruce for so many years. I got a call and was there in 24 hours. I was honored because they thought of me, and being able to feel the legacy of such an iconic presence as Bruce is something that you never dream of.” e two-time Grammy-nominated saxophonist is a tireless worker and has a busy fall with tour dates across the country, highlighted by her appearance at the Catalina Island JazzTrax Festival in October. Abair has been a staple at the festival for the past three decades and has fond memories of playing there. continued on page 22 “You have to embrace who you are, and doors opened when I did. I think people know when you are being authentic and embrace you more.” PHOTO: ERIC GUERRA
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