Dave Eshelman

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Dave Eshelman (born 1948), a jazz trombonist, composer, arranger, band-leader and music-educator based in the San Francisco Bay Area. From 1984 to 2007, he served as Director of Jazz Studies at California State University, East Bay (formerly Cal State Hayward). He currently resides in Fremont, California with his wife of over 35 years, Robbie.

Eshelman has performed extensively with many jazz groups in the Bay Area and has worked as a featured soloist in the big bands of Ray Brown, Joe Henderson, Tito Puente and Gerald Wilson. Various artists across the United States and Europe — such as Joe Henderson, Don Ellis, Bill Watrous, and Stan Kenton, the Swedish Radio Orchestra and the Airmen of Note — have performed fis compositions and arrangements.

Many band festivals and honor bands in Northern California frequently invite him to act as a guest conductor or as an adjudicator. During his tenure at CSU East Bay, Professor Eshelman strengthened the jazz program into one of national renown. In collegiate jazz festivals the CSUEB Jazz Ensemble has won first place honors in about seventy-five percent of the competitions it has entered for over the last ten years. In 2003 the university named him Outstanding Professor of the Year, and in 2006 the California Music Educator's Association named him top collegiate music educator in the state for 2007. He was presented with the CMEA/John Swain College/University Educator Award March 15, 2007 at the CMEA State Conference Gala Awards Banquet in Ontario, CA.

Dave leads the Jazz Garden Big Band, an 18-piece jazz band that specializes in contemporary and classic big band repertoire.