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John Hines/Hines DeVine Jazz
Contemporary Jazz Trombone Performance & Instruction
About Me
John Hines has been playing in and around the Daytona Beach, FL area since 2022, after 26
years of playing in the Denver, CO market.
“Hines plays his ax with prime advanced harmonic ideas, certainly with liquid phrasing, & an
attendant voicelike, yet abstract sound. His robust & bright sonority interacts with ease
with his group as he deftly weaves his wonderful web of solo
artistry.” - George w. Carroll, The Musician's Ombudsman, April 2004
http://www.ejazznews.com/modules.php?
op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=2953&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0
After studying under Ray Smith (Brigham Young University)in Provo, Utah, he played with
the internationally known big band, Synthesis, including opening for Gerry Mulligan's big
band at the 1988 Montreux Jazz Festival, and for Carlos Santana at the 1988 Antibes Jazz
Festival outside Monte Carlo, France. After building a successful career in advertising and
technology marketing (he is currently the Head of Ecommerce & Web Strategy for Rentokil-
Terminix, the world's largest pest control company), he picked up his playing pace when he
moved to Denver in 1993 and migrating to Daytona Beach in 2022. There, he and his wife,
Donna DeVine, have formed a new band, INTRIGUE- The New Sound of Jazz, which plays
monthly at Madeline's Wine Bar in Daytona Beach, as well as numerous performances
around the area.
In Denver, he played regularly in his small group, Hines DeVine Jazz, and was a co-leader of
the acclaimed 19-piece Denver Jazz Orchestra. He also sat in regularly with many of the
local bands, including the John Akal Ultraphonic Jazz Orchestra, the VSO Big Band, the
Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra, and various show bands. He played for the 2003 Colorado
Mormon Chorale performance of 'The Secret Garden,' and enjoys playing and composing for
music theater. He has been an active supporter of the Colorado Jazz Workshop for four
years,primarily under the tutelage of Hugh Ragin, and is involved with several efforts to
bring more jazz to Denver.
His playing has been described as being a mix of Curtis Fuller and Steve Turre, but with an
almost “vocal quality” that makes him easy to listen to. According to Ann Braithwaite:
”Hines's trombone voice
is striking in its tonal clarity, and he never succumbs to mawkishness. Hines has an attractive
musical personality that's shaped by familiarity with his instrument in the jazz past and
present. His articulate lines suggest those of Curtis Fuller, the renowned Jazz Messenger
and Count Basie sideman, in their pleasing melodic disposition. Hines's musical ideas draw
on swing and bebop but also on jazz from present times; contemporary trombonists Steve
Turre and Robin Eubanks would join older players Slide Hampton and Bob Brookmeyer in
approving of what results from his creative thought. The colors and accents Hines tucks into
the flow of each of [his] tracks keep the flow of the music constantly riveting to the ears.
Glad to say, first-rate musicianship goes hand in hand with the carefully managed emotion at
the core of his playing.”
'In The Pocket' is John's debut CD project with the Capri Records label. A follow-up project
with Donna DeVine, 'You & I,' was released in 2014 under the Hines DeVine Jazz label, and
in 2020, he released his award-winning EP, 'Emergence' (best melodic jazz composition,
2023-LIT International Music Awards).
'Pag's Groove' features the big band and original compositions from Michael Pagan, which
features John on solos and in the section, both on Lead and 2nd Trombone.
'Jazz Stew' shows John's section work with the 'What's Cookin'' big band.
