Sean Jones (trumpeter)
Encyclopedia
Sean Jones is an American trumpeter and composer
featured on the 2007 Grammy Award
-winning Turned to Blue
from Nancy Wilson
. As a bandleader
, Jones has released five albums under the Mack Avenue Records
label. He performs with his own groups both nationally and internationally, in addition to being a lead trumpeter for the Jazz at Lincoln Center
Orchestra (which also features Wynton Marsalis
). Jones often plays at music venues and jazz festivals such as the Monterey Jazz Festival
, Detroit International Jazz Festival and Montreal International Jazz Festival.
he heard while attending Saint James' Church of God in Christ in Warren, Ohio
, where he sang and performed with the choir
. As a beginning musician, Jones started on the drums and switched to trumpet in the fifth grade after his grandmother told him about his grandfather playing that instrument during World War II
. Jones developed an interest in jazz music around the same time, after receiving two Miles Davis
albums from his band instructor, namely Kind of Blue
and Tutu
.
By the time he entered Warren G. Harding High School
, Jones had decided to pursue a career as a professional musician, and studied classical trumpet as well as jazz. In 2000, Jones obtained an undergraduate degree in classical trumpet performance from Youngstown State University
and later a master's degree from Rutgers University
, where he studied under Professor William Fielder, who had also taught Wynton Marsalis
, among others. As a session musician
, Jones has performed with several notable ensembles and musicians, including Tia Fuller
, Gerald Wilson
, Joe Lovano
, Tom Harrell
, Jon Faddis
, Jimmy Heath
and Frank Foster
.
In 2004, Jones had a six-month stint with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, after which Marsalis offered him a position with the ensemble as lead trumpeter. Around the same time, he became a music professor at Duquesne University
. He currently lives in the Pittsburgh area. Jones has recently been selected as the Interim Artistic Director for the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra.
Jones is currently represented by Addeo Music International (AMI)
.
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
featured on the 2007 Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
-winning Turned to Blue
Turned to Blue
Turned to Blue is an album from Jazz singer Nancy Wilson which saw release in 2006. The title track is a poem penned by Maya Angelou. The album won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album in 2007.- Featured performers :...
from Nancy Wilson
Nancy Wilson (singer)
Nancy Wilson is an American singer with more than 70 albums, and three Grammy Awards. She has been labeled a singer of blues, jazz, cabaret and pop; a "consummate actress"; and "the complete entertainer." The title she prefers, however, is song stylist...
. As a bandleader
Bandleader
A bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....
, Jones has released five albums under the Mack Avenue Records
Mack Avenue Records
Mack Avenue Records is an independent record label headquartered in Harper Woods, Michigan. Founded in 1999, the label has several renowned jazz musicians on its roster, including Stanley Jordan, Kenny Garrett, Christian McBride, Danilo Perez, Kevin Eubanks, Yellowjackets, and Gary Burton, among...
label. He performs with his own groups both nationally and internationally, in addition to being a lead trumpeter for the Jazz at Lincoln Center
Jazz at Lincoln Center
Jazz at Lincoln Center is part of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. JALC's performing arts complex, Frederick P. Rose Hall, is located at West 60th Street and Broadway in New York City, slightly south of the main Lincoln Center campus and directly adjacent to Columbus Circle. Frederick P....
Orchestra (which also features Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Learson Marsalis is a trumpeter, composer, bandleader, music educator, and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Marsalis has promoted the appreciation of classical and jazz music often to young audiences...
). Jones often plays at music venues and jazz festivals such as the Monterey Jazz Festival
Monterey Jazz Festival
The Monterey Jazz Festival is one of the longest consecutively running jazz festivals. It debuted on October 3, 1958 and was founded by San Francisco jazz radio broadcaster Jimmy Lyons.-History:...
, Detroit International Jazz Festival and Montreal International Jazz Festival.
Background
Among Jones' first musical experiences were the gospel musicGospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
he heard while attending Saint James' Church of God in Christ in Warren, Ohio
Warren, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 46,832 people, 19,288 households and 12,035 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,912.4 people per square mile . There were 21,279 housing units at an average density of 1,322.9 per square mile...
, where he sang and performed with the choir
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
. As a beginning musician, Jones started on the drums and switched to trumpet in the fifth grade after his grandmother told him about his grandfather playing that instrument during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Jones developed an interest in jazz music around the same time, after receiving two Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
albums from his band instructor, namely Kind of Blue
Kind of Blue
Kind of Blue is a studio album by American jazz musician Miles Davis, released August 17, 1959, on Columbia Records in the United States. Recording sessions for the album took place at Columbia's 30th Street Studio in New York City on March 2 and April 22, 1959...
and Tutu
Tutu
Tutu may refer to:* Ballet tutu, a type of costume for ballet performances* Tutu , poisonous New Zealand plants of the genus Coriaria* Tutu , a 1986 album by Miles Davis* Tūtū, a composition by Liliuokalani of Hawaii...
.
By the time he entered Warren G. Harding High School
Warren G. Harding High School
Warren G. Harding High School is a public high school located in Warren, Ohio. It is the only high school in the Warren City Schools district...
, Jones had decided to pursue a career as a professional musician, and studied classical trumpet as well as jazz. In 2000, Jones obtained an undergraduate degree in classical trumpet performance from Youngstown State University
Youngstown State University
Youngstown State University, founded in 1908, is an urban research university located in Youngstown, Ohio, United States. As of fall 2010, there were 15,194 students and a student-faculty ratio of 19:1. It is recognized as being one of the premier schools in the country, comparable to Ivy League...
and later a master's degree from Rutgers University
Rutgers University
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...
, where he studied under Professor William Fielder, who had also taught Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Learson Marsalis is a trumpeter, composer, bandleader, music educator, and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Marsalis has promoted the appreciation of classical and jazz music often to young audiences...
, among others. As a session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
, Jones has performed with several notable ensembles and musicians, including Tia Fuller
Tia Fuller
Tia Fuller is a saxophonist, composer, and educator is a member of the all-female band touring with R & B star, Beyoncé...
, Gerald Wilson
Gerald Wilson
Gerald Stanley Wilson is an American jazz trumpeter, big band bandleader, composer/arranger, 8 time Grammy nominee, and educator. He has been based in Los Angeles since the early 1940s....
, Joe Lovano
Joe Lovano
Joseph Salvatore "Joe" Lovano is a post bop jazz saxophonist, alto clarinetist, flautist, and drummer. Since the late 1980s, Lovano has been one of the world's premiere tenor saxophone players, earning a Grammy award and several nods on Down Beat magazine's critics' and readers' polls...
, Tom Harrell
Tom Harrell
Tom Harrell is a renowned American post-bop jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, composer and arranger.-Biography:Tom Harrell was born in Urbana, Illinois but moved to the San Francisco Bay Area at the age of five. He started playing trumpet at eight and within five years, started playing gigs with...
, Jon Faddis
Jon Faddis
Jon Faddis is an American jazz trumpet player, conductor, composer, and educator renowned for both his highly virtuosic command of the instrument and for his expertise in the field of music education...
, Jimmy Heath
Jimmy Heath
James Edward Heath , nicknamed Little Bird, is an American jazz saxophonist, composer and arranger. He is the brother of bassist Percy Heath and drummer Albert Heath.-Biography:...
and Frank Foster
Frank Foster (musician)
Frank Foster was an American tenor and soprano saxophonist, flautist, arranger, and composer. Foster collaborated frequently with Count Basie and worked as a bandleader from the early 1950s.-Biography:...
.
In 2004, Jones had a six-month stint with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, after which Marsalis offered him a position with the ensemble as lead trumpeter. Around the same time, he became a music professor at Duquesne University
Duquesne University
Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit is a private Catholic university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded by members of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, Duquesne first opened its doors as the Pittsburgh Catholic College of the Holy Ghost in October 1878 with an enrollment of...
. He currently lives in the Pittsburgh area. Jones has recently been selected as the Interim Artistic Director for the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra.
Jones is currently represented by Addeo Music International (AMI)
Addeo Music International (AMI)
Addeo Music International is an international jazz booking agency established in 2008 that works with a number of internationally acclaimed artists. AMI develops its artists through focused touring initiatives and management of international performances through a network of AMI-affiliated...
.
As leader
- 2011 No Need For Words (Mack Avenue)
- 2009: The Search Within (Mack Avenue)
- 2007: Kaleidoscope (Mack Avenue)
- 2006: Roots (Mack Avenue)
- 2005: Gemini (Mack Avenue)
- 2004: Eternal Journey (Mack Avenue)
As sideman/contributor
- 2007: Healing Space, Tia FullerTia FullerTia Fuller is a saxophonist, composer, and educator is a member of the all-female band touring with R & B star, Beyoncé...
(Mack Avenue) - 2006:Turned to BlueTurned to BlueTurned to Blue is an album from Jazz singer Nancy Wilson which saw release in 2006. The title track is a poem penned by Maya Angelou. The album won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album in 2007.- Featured performers :...
, Nancy WilsonNancy Wilson (singer)Nancy Wilson is an American singer with more than 70 albums, and three Grammy Awards. She has been labeled a singer of blues, jazz, cabaret and pop; a "consummate actress"; and "the complete entertainer." The title she prefers, however, is song stylist...
(MCG Jazz) - 2005: Sonic Tonic, Ron Blake (Mack Avenue)
- 2005: In My Time, Gerald WilsonGerald WilsonGerald Stanley Wilson is an American jazz trumpeter, big band bandleader, composer/arranger, 8 time Grammy nominee, and educator. He has been based in Los Angeles since the early 1940s....
Orchestra (Mack Avenue) - 2003: New York, New Sound Gerald WilsonGerald WilsonGerald Stanley Wilson is an American jazz trumpeter, big band bandleader, composer/arranger, 8 time Grammy nominee, and educator. He has been based in Los Angeles since the early 1940s....
Orchestra (Mack Avenue) - 2002: Live @ Zanzibar Blue, Charles Famborough
Compilations
- 2007: Compilations (Tri-Valley YMCA)http://jazztimes.com/columns_and_features/news/detail.cfm?article=11127
- 2006: Legends & Lions:Swingin (Mack Avenue)
- 2006: Legends & Lions: Swoonin (Mack Avenue)
- 2006: Legends & Lions: Blues (Mack Avenue)
Awards and nominations
- 2006: Downbeat Magazine Rising Star
- 2007: Downbeat Magazine Rising Star
- 2007: JazzTimes Magazine Reader's Poll Best New Artist
- 2007: Jazz Journalists AssociationJazz Journalists AssociationThe Jazz Journalists Association is an international organization of all types of media professionals who document, promulgate, or appreciate jazz. As of 2011, it has approximately 500 members, primarily in North America but also on other continents...
Trumpeter of the Year (Nominated)
External links
- Sean Jones Website
- All About Jazz profile
- http://www.mackavenue.com
- http://www.myspace.com/seanjonesjazz
- http://www.jazzatlincolncenter.org
- http://www.vindy.com/content/entertainment/320367325954863.php