Jon Faddis (born July 24, 1953) 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. Upon his first appearance on the scene, he became known for his ability to closely mirror the sound of trumpet icon Dizzy Gillespie, who was his mentor along with Stan Kenton trumpeter Bill Catalano. His nephew is Madlib, acclaimed hip hop and jazz producer.[1]
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Jon Faddis was born in Oakland, California in 1953. At 18, he joined Lionel Hampton's big band before joining the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra as lead trumpet. After playing with Charles Mingus in his early 20s, Faddis became a noted studio musician in New York, appearing on many pop recordings in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In the mid-eighties, he left the studios to continue to pursue his solo career, which resulted in albums like Legacy, Into The Faddisphere and Hornucopia. As a result of his growth as a musician and individual artist, he became the director and main trumpet soloist of the Dizzy Gillespie 70th Birthday Big Band and Dizzy's United Nation Orchestra; from 1992 to 2002, Faddis led the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band at Carnegie Hall, conducting over 40 concerts in ten years, during which time the CHJB presented over 135 musicians, featured over 70 guest artists, and premiered works by over 35 composers and arrangers at Carnegie Hall.
Faddis also led the Dizzy Gillespie Alumni All-Stars and the Dizzy Gillespie Alumni All-Stars Big Band from their inception through 2004, when he was appointed artistic director of the Chicago Jazz Ensemble, based at Columbia College Chicago in Illinois. Faddis led The CJE from autumn 2004 though spring 2010, premiering significant new works, pioneering educational initiatives in Chicago public schools focusing on Louis Armstrong's music, and bringing The CJE into new venues (including presenting the first of the "Made in Chicago" Jazz series at the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park), while concurrently leading the Jon Faddis Jazz Orchestra of New York (the successor to the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band).
As of May 2010, Faddis leads the JFJONY, while continuing also to lead the Jon Faddis Quartet and the JFQ+2. The JFJONY headlined The Kennedy Center's New Year's Eve performance in December 2010 (available as a podcast on NPR's JazzSet); the JFJONY has also performed at at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, the Performing Arts Center in Westchester, New York, the Newport Jazz Festival and other venues.
In 2006, the Jon Faddis Quartet released the CD Teranga (Koch Records, now E1), featuring guests including Clark Terry, Russell Malone, Gary Smulyan, and Frank Wess.
In 1999, Faddis released the Grammy-nominated Remembrances (Chesky Records) which was composed almost entirely of ballads and featured work from Argentinian composer/arranger Carlos Franzetti.
In 1997, Faddis composed the Jazz opera Lulu Noire, which was presented at Spoleto USA in Charleston, SC as well as the American Music Theater Festival in Philadelphia.
Faddis appeared in the 1998 movie, Blues Brothers 2000. In the film, he plays trumpet with The Louisiana Gator Boys. Faddis is a first call lead player in New York City and has an international reputation for his playing ability in the full range, particularly the highest registers, of the trumpet. His distinctive trumpet playing can be heard on themes including "Lil' Bill," "The Wiz," and "Bird," among others.
Alongside his playing career, Faddis is a noted educator for jazz and the trumpet as well as a performing artist/clinican for Schilke Trumpets, manufactured in Melrose Park, Illinois. Faddis performs on a Schilke S-42L trumpet in gold-plate with slight modifications of his own design; prior to that he played a gold-plated B6L with the beryllium bell. His mouthpieces are custom made by Scott Laskey, of Lombard, Illinois.
For over a decade, Jon Faddis has taught – and continues to teach – at The Conservatory of Music at Purchase College-SUNY, in Westchester, New York, where he teaches trumpet, classes, and an ensemble. Remaining true to the tradition of honoring mentors, he also leads master classes, clinics and workshops around the world; he often will bring promising students along to his gigs and allow the students to sit in, and also has produced a number of CDs for up-and-coming musicians.
With Charles Mingus
With Charles Tolliver
With Anthony Braxton
With Grant Green
With Paul Simon
With Michel Camilo
With Lalo Schifrin
With Steve Turre
With Tatsuro Yamashita
With Jerry Fielding