Trumpeter/Composer/Arranger/Educator/Actor Jason Palmer is
becoming one of the most in demand musicians of his generation. He
has worked with icons such as Roy Haynes, Herbie Hancock, Jimmy
Smith (the organist), Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz
Orchestra, Kurt Rosenwinkel (first trumpeter to ever be hired by this
highly acclaimed guitarist), Ravi Coltrane, Geri Allen, Patrice Rushen,
Clarence Penn, Jeff Ballard, Kenny Barron, Phil Woods, Common (hip-
hop icon), Roy Hargrove, Lewis Nash, etc. Jason took 1st Place
($10,000 prize) in the 2009 Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet
Solo Competition. The June 2007 issue of Downbeat Magazine cited
Jason as one of the “Top 25 trumpeters of the Future”. In addition to
performing on over a dozen albums as a sideman, Jason has recorded
three albums under his own name and is currently a Steeplechase
Records Recording artist. His debut recording entitled “Songbook”
(Ayva Musica) features guest saxophonists Ravi Coltrane and Greg
Osby. The record garnered rave reviews upon its’ release and
appeared on several “Best of 2008” lists including All Music Guide’s list
for best jazz album. Jason is has toured the world extensively with
Greg Osby, Grace Kelly’s 5tet, Matana Robert’s Mississippi Moonchile,
The Round Trip Trio (France), as well as projects lead by bassist
Michael Janisch, performing at major jazz festivals in the UK, Ireland,
Germany, Finland, Croatia, Serbia, Bratislava, Canada, Spain, Portugal,
Italy, Switzerland, France, Malta, The Netherlands, and numerous clubs
and major jazz festivals in the U.S.
Jason’s quintet has been leading the house band every weekend at
Boston’s historical Wally’s Jazz Café for the past eleven years. His
band was nominated as one of the “Best Jazz Act” by the Boston
Phoenix in 2011. He has presented his band at the Tanglewood Jazz
Fest, Sculler’s Jazz Club, the Stone and the Jazz Gallery in NYC, the
Studio in Hartford Ct, as well as numerous venues throughout New
England. The Massachusetts Cultural Council selected Jason as an
Artist Fellow in Music Composition for 2011. In 2007 Jason Palmer was
commissioned by the Festival of New Trumpet Music in NYC to premier
a new work (based on a Sudoku game) for his quintet at the Jazz
Standard.
In addition to a heavy performing schedule, Jason Palmer continues to
maintain a busy schedule as an educator/actor/board member at
JazzBoston. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Ensembles at the
Berklee College of Music in Boston. The ‘08-‘09 school year also saw
Jason commuting from Boston to New York City to serve on the faculty
at the New School of Jazz and Contemporary Music. Jason has taught
trumpet and directed ensembles in the Preparatory Division and the
School for Continuing Education at the New England Conservatory of
Music in Boston for the past eleven years and is teaching at the Mission
Hill School for the past six years. He is also a faculty member at the
Aquinas College Jazz Camp (Grand Rapids, MI, 2004-present) and has
given master classes in Portugal, France, the UK, and Mexico. Jason
was the leading actor in director Damien Chazelle’s Guy and Madeline
on a Park Bench. The movie received great reviews after premiering at
the Tribeca Film Festival in 2009. Since then the film was screened at
film festivals in Greece, Denmark, Austria, Australia, Bratislava,
Martha’s Vineyard (MA), Houston, Denver, Seattle, Los Angeles,
Calgary (Canada), Minneapolis, Mill Valley (CA), as well as theatrical
distribution in North America and DVD release worldwide.
