With the world-renowned Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and guest artists spanning genres and generations, Jazz at Lincoln Center produces thousands of performances, education, and broadcast events each season in its home in New York City (Frederick P. Rose Hall, “The House of Swing”) and around the world, for people of all ages. Jazz at Lincoln Center is led by Chairman Clarence Otis, Managing and Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis, and Executive Director Greg Scholl. Please visit us at jazz.org.

The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO), comprising 15 of the finest jazz soloists and ensemble players today, has been the Jazz at Lincoln Center resident orchestra since 1988 and spends over a third of the year on tour across the world. Featured in all aspects of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s programming, this remarkably versatile orchestra performs and leads educational events in New York, across the U.S. and around the globe; in concert halls; dance venues; jazz clubs; public parks; and with symphony orchestras; ballet troupes; local students; and an ever-expanding roster of guest artists. Under Music Director Wynton Marsalis, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra performs a vast repertoire, from rare historic compositions to Jazz at Lincoln Center-commissioned works, including compositions and arrangements by Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Fletcher Henderson, Thelonious Monk, Mary Lou Williams, Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Goodman, Charles Mingus, and current and former Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra members Wynton Marsalis, Wycliffe Gordon, Ted Nash, Victor Goines, Sherman Irby, Chris Crenshaw, and Carlos Henriquez.

Throughout the last decade, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra has performed with many of the world’s leading symphony orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic; Cleveland Orchestra; Philadelphia Orchestra; Czech Philharmonic; Berlin Philharmonic; Boston Symphony Orchestra; Chicago Symphony Orchestra; London Symphony Orchestra; Sydney Symphony Orchestra; Melbourne Symphony Orchestra; St. Louis Symphony Orchestra; Los Angeles Philharmonic and many others.  Marsalis’ three major works for full symphony orchestra and jazz orchestra, All Rise - Symphony No. 1 (1999), Swing Symphony – Symphony No. 3 (2010), and The Jungle – Symphony No. 4 (2016), continue to be the focal point of Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra’s symphonic collaborations.  

The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra has also been featured in several education and performance residencies in the last few years, including those in Melbourne, Australia; Sydney, Australia; Chautauqua, New York; Prague, Czech Republic; Vienna, Austria; London, England; São Paulo, Brazil; and many others.

Education is a major part of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s mission; its educational activities are coordinated with concert and Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra tour programming. These programs, many of which feature Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra members, include the celebrated Jazz for Young People™ family concert series; the Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival; the Jazz for Young People™ Curriculum; Let Freedom Swing, educational residencies; workshops; and concerts for students and adults worldwide. Jazz at Lincoln Center educational programs reach over 110,000 students, teachers and general audience members.

Jazz at Lincoln Center, NPR Music and WBGO have partnered to create the next generation of jazz programming in public radio: Jazz Night in America. The series showcases today’s vital jazz scene while also underscoring the genre’s storied history. Hosted by bassist Christian McBride, the program features hand-picked performances from across the country, woven with the colorful stories of the artists behind them. Jazz Night in America and Jazz at Lincoln Center’s radio archive can be found at jazz.org/radio.

In 2015, Jazz at Lincoln Center launched Blue Engine Records (www.jazz.org/blueengine), a new platform to make its vast archive of recorded concerts available to jazz audiences everywhere. The label is dedicated to releasing new studio and live recordings as well as archival recordings from past Jazz at Lincoln Center performances, and its first record— Live in Cuba, recorded on a historic 2010 trip to Havana by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis—was released in October 2015. Big Band Holidays was released in December 2015, The Abyssinian Mass came out in March 2016, The Music of John Lewis was released in March 2017, and the JLCO’s Handful of Keys came out in September 2017. Blue Engine’s United We Swing: Best of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Galas features the Wynton Marsalis Septet and an array of special guests, with all proceeds going toward Jazz at Lincoln Center’s education initiatives. Blue Engine’s most recent album releases include 2020’s A Swingin’ Sesame Street Celebration and 2021’s The Democracy Suite featuring the JLCO Septet with Wynton Marsalis.

For more information on Jazz at Lincoln Center, please visit www.jazz.org.

WYNTON MARSALIS (Music Director, Trumpet) is the Managing and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center (JALC). Born in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1961, he is the son of renowned jazz pianist and music educator, Ellis Marsalis, Jr. Marsalis was gifted his first trumpet at age six by Al Hirt; soon thereafter, he began playing in New Orleans’ famed Fairview Baptist Church Band led by banjoist Danny Barker. However, it wasn’t until he turned twelve that Marsalis began to formally train on the trumpet and perform in bands throughout the city, from the New Orleans Philharmonic and New Orleans Youth Orchestra to funk bands, concert bands, and small jazz ensembles. As a teenager, his passion for music rapidly escalated. 

In 1979, at the age of seventeen, Marsalis moved to New York City to study classical trumpet at The Juilliard School. Yet he quickly entrenched himself in New York’s effervescent jazz scene, launching his career with the legendary Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers. At just nineteen, Marsalis hit the road with his own band—he has been touring the world ever since. From 1981 to the time of this writing, he has performed 5,328 concerts in 856 distinct cities and 66 countries around the world. 

Marsalis made his recording debut in 1982 and has since recorded over 110 jazz and classical albums, four alternative records, and released five DVDs. Marsalis is the winner of nine GRAMMY Awards, and his jazz oratorio Blood on the Fields was the first jazz composition to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music. He remains the only musician to win a GRAMMY Award in two categories—jazz and classical—during the same year (1983, 1984).

Marsalis has solidified himself as an internationally acclaimed musician, composer, bandleader, and advocate of American culture. As a composer, his body of work includes over 600 original songs, 11 dance scores, 13 suites, 4 symphonies, 2 chamber pieces, 2 string quartets, a jazz oratorio, a fanfare, and concertos for violin, tuba, trumpet, and most recently, for orchestra. Included in this rich body of compositions is a multitude of works written specifically to feature the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO): The Democracy! Suite (2021); The Ever Fonky Lowdown (2020); The Jungle- Symphony No. 4 (2016); Swing Symphony- Symphony No. 3 (2010); The Abyssinian Mass (2008); Congo Square (2006); Suite for Human Nature (2004); All Rise- Symphony No. 1 (1999). To date, Marsalis has released 29 full-length albums and nine singles with the JLCO on Jazz at Lincoln Center’s in-house label, Blue Engine Records. 

Marsalis is also a globally respected teacher and spokesperson for music education. He led the effort to construct Jazz at Lincoln Center’s home–Frederick P. Rose Hall–the first education, performance, and broadcast facility devoted specifically to jazz. At JALC, Marsalis spearheads educational programs for students of all ages, including Jazz for Young People™ concerts and the annual Essentially Ellington jazz band competition, which celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2025. Marsalis is the Founding Director of Jazz Studies at The Juilliard School, and President of the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation. 

Marsalis has produced several educational series for public broadcast. He was the writer and host of the video series Marsalis on Music, the radio series Making the Music, and the weekly conversation series Skain’s Domain. He has written and co-written 10 books, including two children’s books: Squeak, Rumble, Whomp! Whomp! Whomp! and Jazz ABZ: An A to Z Collection of Jazz Portraits. Between 2011 and 2014, he delivered six groundbreaking lectures at Harvard University entitled Hidden in Plain View: Meanings in American Music. And in 2023, he delivered the highly esteemed Nexus Lecture in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

Marsalis was appointed Messenger of Peace by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 2001 and awarded The National Medal of Arts (2005), The National Medal of Humanities (2016), and the Praemium Imperiale for Music from the Japan Art Association (2023)—Japan’s highest honor for the arts. In December 2021, Marsalis and JALC were awarded the Key to New York City by Mayor Bill de Blasio. Marsalis has received honorary doctorates from 44 top universities around the world, including Harvard, Yale, Princeton, the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and Tulane University in his hometown of New Orleans. 

Wynton Marsalis’ core beliefs and foundation for living are based on the principles of jazz. He promotes individual creativity (improvisation), collective cooperation (swing), gratitude and good manners (sophistication), and facing adversity with persistent optimism (the blues).

ABDIAS ARMENTEROS (Tenor and Soprano Saxophones, Clarinet, JLCO) is a native of Miami, Florida, where he attended New World School of the Arts High School. He began to play the saxophone at the age of 8 and began to play jazz in the 9th grade. After getting into New World, he was able to travel to places like New York City to compete in events like Essentially Ellington with the jazz band (which the school won in 2016), and Kagoshima, Japan, representing the city of Miami and the United States by being the only non-Asian group to perform in the Kagoshima Asian Arts Youth Festival. He has also done various summer programs such as the Brubeck. Summer Jazz Colony and the Summer Jazz Academy with Jazz at Lincoln Center. Abdias is currently in the first year of his Master’s degree at Juilliard as a Jazz Studies Major after completing his undergraduate degree at the prestigious school. Since being in New York, he has shared the bandstand with world-renowned artists like Wynton Marsalis, Ben Vereen, Aloe Blacc, Victor Lewis, Arlo Parks, and performs regularly at different clubs and venues in the city with other well-known musicians in the city while continuing his studies at school. Abdias is a firm believer that music is healing, and we’re living in a time where we need healing the most.

OBED CALVAIRE (Drums, JLCO), a native of Miami and of Haitian descent, is a graduate with both a
master and bachelor’s degree of music from one of America’s premiere private music conservatories in the nation, Manhattan School of Music. He received his bachelor’s degree in 2003, completing the undergraduate degree requirements in three years and receiving his master’s in 2005. Calvaire has performed and recorded with artists such as
Wynton Marsalis, Seal, Eddie Palmieri, Vanessa Williams, Richard Bona, SFJazz Collective, David Foster, Mary J. Blige, Stefon Harris, The Clayton Brothers Quintet, Mike Stern, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Peter Cincotti, Monty Alexander, Music Soulchild, Nellie McKay, Yellow Jackets, Joshua Redman, Steve Turre, and Lizz Wright. He has also performed with large ensembles such as the Village Vanguard Orchestra, Metropole Orchestra, the Mingus Big Band, Maria Schneider, Roy Hargrove big band, and the Bob Mintzer Big Band. Currently, Obed Calvaire can be found playing with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Dave Holland, Sean Jones, Yosvany Terry, among others.

CHRIS CRENSHAW (Trombone, JLCO) is a Thomson, Georgia native that has had a love for music from birth. At three, his love for piano led to his first gig with Echoes of Joy, his father Casper’s gospel quartet group. He started playing the trombone at 11 eventually studying with Steve Pruitt, Dr. Douglas Farwell, and Wycliffe Gordon. He attended Thomson High School, Valdosta State University, and the Juilliard School earning a Master’s Degree in Jazz Studies in 2007. In 2006 after a year at Juilliard, Crenshaw joined the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and has contributed to the JLCO as a trombonist, composer, arranger, transcriber, and conductor. He has appeared as a sideman on fellow JLCO trumpeter Marcus Printup’s Ballads All Night. In 2012 he composed God’s Trombones, a spiritually focused work which was premiered by the orchestra at Jazz at Lincoln Center. In 2017, Crenshaw was commissioned to write an original suite called The Fifties: A Prism based on jazz in the 1950s. He also has an album with his own group The Georgia Horns entitled Live at Dizzy’s Club.

VINCENT GARDNER (Trombone, JLCO) was born in Chicago in 1972 and was raised in Hampton, Virginia. After singing, playing piano, violin, saxophone, and French horn at an early age, he decided on the trombone at age 12. He attended Florida A&M University and the University of North Florida. He soon caught the ear of Mercer Ellington, who hired Gardner for his first professional job. He moved to Brooklyn, New York after graduating from college, completed a world tour with Lauryn Hill in 2000, and then joined the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. Gardner has served as Instructor at The Juilliard School, as Visiting Instructor at Florida State University and Michigan State University, and as Adjunct Instructor at The New School. He is currently the Director of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Youth Orchestra, and he has contributed many arrangements to the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and other ensembles. In 2009 he was commissioned by Jazz at Lincoln Center to write The Jesse B. Semple Suite, a 60-minute suite inspired by the short stories of Langston Hughes. In addition, Gardner is a popular instructor at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s ongoing jazz education program, Swing University, teaching courses on bebop and more. Gardner is featured on a number of notable recordings and has recorded five CDs as a leader for Steeplechase Records. He has performed with The Duke Ellington Orchestra, Bobby McFerrin, Harry Connick, Jr., The Saturday Night Live Band, Chaka Khan, A Tribe Called Quest, and many others. Gardner was chosen as the #1 Rising Star Trombonist in the 2014 DownBeat Critics Poll.

CARLOS HENRIQUEZ (Bass, JLCO) was born in 1979 in the Bronx, New York. He studied music at a young age, played guitar through junior high school and took up the bass while enrolled in The Juilliard School’s Music Advancement Program. He entered LaGuardia High School of Music & Arts and Performing Arts and was involved with the LaGuardia Concert Jazz Ensemble which went on to win first place in Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival in 1996. In 1998, swiftly after high school, Henriquez joined the Wynton Marsalis Septet and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, touring the world and featured on more than 25 albums. Henriquez has performed with artists including Chucho Valdés, Paco De Lucía, Tito Puente, the Marsalis Family, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, Lenny Kravitz, Marc Anthony, and many others. He has been a member of the music faculty at Northwestern University School of Music since 2008 and was music director of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra’s cultural exchange with the Cuban Institute of Music with Chucho Valdés in 2010. His debut album as a bandleader, The Bronx Pyramid, came out in September 2015 on Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Blue Engine Records and his most recent album, The South Bronx Story, was nominated for a Grammy.

SHERMAN IRBY (Alto and Soprano Saxophones, Flute, Clarinet, JLCO) was born and raised in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Sherman began playing music at the age of 12, almost immediately recognizing that it was his life’s calling. Upon graduating high school—during which he had the opportunity to play and record with Gospel immortal James Cleveland—Sherman attended Clark Atlanta University, graduating with a B.A. in Music Education. He joined Atlanta-based piano legend Johnny O’Neal’s quintet in 1991. After moving to New York in 1994, Sherman quickly connected with the fertile and vital scene at Smalls, where he was a regular until 1997. Here Sherman caught the attention of Blue Note Records, for which he recorded his first two albums, Full Circle and Big Mama’s Biscuits, released in 1996 and 1998 respectively. During the Smalls period, Sherman also toured the U.S. and the Caribbean with the Boys Choir of Harlem in 1995; was a member of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra from 1995 to 1997 and then rejoined again; recorded and toured with Marcus Roberts and participated in the incomparable Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead Program during those same years; and began his four-year stint with Roy Hargrove in 1997. After departing Roy Hargrove’s ensemble, Sherman shifted his primary focus to his own group. Although this was his primary commitment, Irby took the opportunity to join the final ensemble of the peerless Elvin Jones in 2004, and after Elvin’s passing, joined Papo Vazquez’s Pirates Troubadours. From 2003-2011, Sherman was the regional director for JazzMasters Workshop, a mentoring program for young children. He has served as Artist-in-Residence for Jazz Camp West, and an instructor for the Monterey Jazz Festival Band Camp. He is also a former board member for CubaNOLA Collective. Recognizing the shift in economics of the record industry, Sherman left Blue Note to form Black Warrior Records, releasing Black Warrior, Faith, Organ Starter, Live at The Otto Club, Cerulean Canvas and Andy Farber’s, This Could Be the Start of Something Big. Sherman, along with most members of the JLCO, has arranged much of the vast library of music that they have performed over the past 16 years. He has also been commissioned to compose new works, including Twilight Sounds, his Dante-inspired ballet, Inferno and Musings of Cosmic Stuff. Even with the orchestra’s busy schedule, Sherman was a regular member of the McCoy Tyner Quartet, and continues to perform with his own group, Momentum.

RYAN KISOR (Trumpet, JLCO) was born on April 12, 1973 in Sioux City, Iowa, and began playing trumpet at age four. In 1990, he won first prize at the Thelonious Monk Institute’s first annual Louis Armstrong Trumpet Competition. Kisor enrolled in Manhattan School of Music in 1991 where he studied with trumpeter Lew Soloff. He has performed and/ or recorded with the Mingus Big Band, the Gil Evans Orchestra, Horace Silver, Gerry Mulligan and Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra, the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, the Philip Morris Jazz All-Stars, and others. In addition to being an active sideman, Kisor has recorded several albums as a leader, including Battle Cry (1997), The Usual Suspects (1998), and Point of Arrival (2000). He has been a member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra since 1994.

CHRIS LEWIS (Tenor and Soprano Saxophone, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, JLCO) has been a member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra since 2025. Lewis has performed with luminaries including Herbie Hancock, Eric Reed, Terell Stafford, Ben Wolfe, Jeff “Tain” Watts, and Michael Bublé, and is regularly called upon by his contemporaries Julius Rodriguez, Aaron Diehl & Sean Mason. He has appeared with many of today’s premiere large ensembles, including the Maria Schneider Orchestra, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, the Mingus Big Band, the Count Basie Orchestra, John Beasley’s MONK’estra, and The Gil Evans Project. Additionally, Lewis is often featured in Broadway productions and televised performances, including Just in Time and the Tony Awards. A dedicated educator, Lewis teaches students of all ages. He is on faculty with Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Summer Jazz Academy and the Litchfield Jazz Camp, offering his expertise in saxophone, improvisation, and ensemble performance. Lewis continues to help shape the next generation of jazz artists as a guest artist, clinician, adjudicator, and private instructor with students worldwide. Chris Lewis holds a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies from Temple University and a Master of Music in Jazz Studies from the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz. He is proud to be a Vandoren Artist.

ELLIOT MASON (Trombone, JLCO) was born in England into a family of jazz musicians. Mason began studying trumpet at age four with his father, who was a trumpet and trombone player/educator. At age seven, struck with an overwhelming curiosity in his father’s trombone, young Mason soon switched his focus from the trumpet. Mason received a full tuition scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music at age sixteen. After graduating from Berklee at nineteen, he moved to New York City where he distinguished himself as a respected and highly in demand trombone/bass trumpet player. In 2007, Mason was invited to become a member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, directed by Wynton Marsalis. While continuing to perform with the JLCO, Mason co-leads the Mason Brothers Quintet with his brother Brad, and leads his own band, Cre8tion. Since 2016, Mason has been a faculty member at the Juilliard School of Music and also runs his own private music studio in NYC. He is endorsed by B.A.C. musical instruments, and currently plays on his own signature series line of custom trombones that he co-designed.

PAUL NEDZELA (Baritone and Soprano Saxophones, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, JLCO) was born and raised in New York City. He joined the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra in 2014 and has also played with many renowned artists and ensembles, including (in alphabetical order) Ruben Blades, Bill Charlap, Chick Corea, Paquito D'Rivera, Kenny Garrett, Benny Golson, Branford Marsalis, Christian McBride, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Wayne Shorter, Frank Sinatra Jr., and The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. Nedzela released his debut album, Introducing Paul Nedzela, in 2019.  He has performed in Twyla Tharp's Broadway show, Come Fly Away, as well as in major festivals around the world, including but not limited to, The Monterey Jazz Festival, The Newport Jazz Festival, The Detroit Jazz Festival, The Banff Music Festival, The International Montreal Jazz Festival, The iLove Jazz Festival in Brazil, The Valencia Jazz Festival in Spain, The Umbria Jazz Festival in Italy, and The American Festival of the Arts in Doha, Qatar. While still pursuing music, Nedzela graduated with honors in 2006 from McGill University in Montreal with a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics. A recipient of the Samuel L. Jackson scholarship award, he continued his musical education at The Juilliard School and graduated with a Master of Music degree in 2008.

DAN NIMMER (Piano, JLCO) was born in 1982 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. As a young man, Nimmer’s family inherited a piano and he started playing by ear. He studied classical piano and eventually became interested in jazz. At the same time, he began playing gigs around Milwaukee. Upon graduation from high school, Nimmer left Milwaukee to study music at Northern Illinois University. It didn’t take him long to become one of Chicago’s busiest piano players. Working a lot in the Chicago scene, Nimmer decided to leave school and make the big move to New York City where he immediately emerged in the New York scene. In 2005, a year after moving to New York City, he became a member of both the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and the Wynton Marsalis Quintet. Nimmer has performed and recorded with Jimmy Cobb, Norah Jones, Willie Nelson, Renée Fleming, Houston Person, Fareed Haque, George Benson, Lewis Nash, and many more. He has released six of his own trio albums on the Venus label (Japan).

MARCUS PRINTUP (Trumpet, JLCO) was born and raised in Conyers, Georgia. His first musical experiences were hearing the sanctified and soulful Gospel music his parents (Ann and Bobby), grandparents (J.C.) and older sister (Angela) sang in church. While attending the University of North Florida on a music scholarship, he won the International Trumpet Guild Jazz Trumpet competition. In 1991, Printup’s life changed when he met his mentor, the great pianist Marcus Roberts, who introduced him to Wynton Marsalis. He subsequently joined Roberts as his road manager/understudy for 2 years. 1993 was a banner year for Printup. He performed for the first time with Marsalis in the latter’s collaboration with the New York City Ballet, Jazz in Six Syncopated Movements, which led to Printup’s induction into the then Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. Also, during this time, Printup was noticed by jazz legend Betty Carter who invited him to be in her inaugural and prestigious “Betty Carter Jazz Ahead” group, performing in a series of concerts at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Printup has performed and or recorded with Marcus Roberts, Betty Carter, Dianne Reeves, Guru, Madeline Peyroux, Ted Nash, Dianne Schuur, Cyrus Chestnut, and Wycliffe Gordon, among many others. He has recorded over 15 records as a leader, including his most recent Gentle Rain (2020), featuring his wife, Riza Printup, on the Harp. He made a big screen appearance in the 1999 movie Playing by Heart and recorded on the film’s soundtrack. Education is extremely important to Printup, as he is an in-demand clinician teaching middle schools, high schools, and colleges across the U.S. and abroad. He also holds the position of Adjunct Professor of Music at Montclair State University. August 22nd has been declared “Marcus Printup Day” in his hometown of Conyers, Georgia.

KENNY RAMPTON (Trumpet, JLCO) is a New York City-based trumpet player, arranger, and composer, a full-time member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis and is the man behind the sound of the trumpet on the iconic television show Sesame Street. With over three decades of experience as a successful recording and performing artist, Rampton is deeply committed to sharing his passion and knowledge of music with students from around the world. In addition to his role as an education instructor for Jazz at Lincoln Center, Rampton is the founder and artistic director of his own nonprofit educational organization Jazz Outreach Initiative, based in his hometown of Las Vegas, NV. Throughout his long and illustrious career, his signature style and versatility have led to many prestigious engagements, including touring as a member of the Ray Charles Orchestra, performing with notable jazz artists and ensembles such as Illinois Jacquet, Lionel Hampton, Gunther Schuller, The Christian McBride Big Band, The Chico O’Farrill Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra, Bebo Valdes’ Afro-Cuban All-Stars, and The Mingus Big Band, and playing in a multitude of Broadway shows, including Anything Goes, Finian’s Rainbow, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, The Wiz, Young Frankenstein, The Color Purple, Spamalot, The Producers, In the Heights, and Chicago. Rampton has also worked with several pop artists and groups, including Katy Perry, Matchbox Twenty, and Chaka Khan. In addition to his trumpet playing, Rampton is an accomplished composer and bandleader in his own right. “Until Next Time,” an original composition from his first solo album, Moon Over Babylon, was featured in the 2017 Broadway revival of Six Degrees of Separation. In 2015, Rampton collaborated with NYC Blues Hall of Fame artist Bill Sims, Jr. on the music for Paradise Blue, a play written by award-winning playwright Dominique Morisseau and directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson. In 2018, Rampton expanded his music for the play into “The Paradise Blue Suite,” which he premiered with the Kenny Rampton Octet at Dizzy’s Club at JALC. He enjoys teaching private students from all over the world and has taught trumpet as an adjunct faculty member at The New School in New York City. 

ALEXA TARANTINO (Alto and Soprano Saxophones, Flute, Clarinet, JLCO), in the words of Wynton Marsalis, is a “one-woman wrecking crew, […] an indomitable force for expression, education, and absolute excellence.” The vibrant and versatile jazz saxophone & woodwind artist has been triple-nominated as a Rising Star Alto Saxophonist by DownBeat Magazine’s Critics’ Poll from 2020-2022, was named one of the Top 5 Alto Saxophonists of 2019 by the JazzTimes Critics’ Poll, and was one of 100 alumni to receive The Centennial Award from the Eastman School of Music (2022). Alexa “lights up rooms when she [plays]” (JazzTimes). Her radiant spirit and artistry uplift and inspire her audiences one performance at a time. Alexa tours worldwide with Cécile McLorin Salvant, Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, and the Alexa Tarantino Quartet. Her records (Firefly, Clarity, Winds of Change) and compositions have consistently topped jazz radio charts, and her discography includes 25+ released recordings as a leader and sidewoman. Tarantino is in-demand internationally as an energetic and impactful clinician, mentor, and coach and also represents Jazz at Lincoln Center as a visiting educator for various programs with students of all ages and levels. She holds a master’s degree in Jazz Studies from The Juilliard School and bachelor’s degrees in Jazz Saxophone Performance and Music Education with a certificate in Arts Leadership from the Eastman School of Music. Tarantino is Founder and Artistic Director of the Cape Ann Jazz Workshop in Rockport, Massachusetts (est. 2014). She is a Vandoren Artist, a Yamaha Performing Artist, and endorses BAM Instrument Cases.