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Kevin Woods

About Me

Trumpeter Kevin Woods began his musical interests at an early age. His father, who played trumpet in a local big band, gave Woods a cornet at age five and introduced him to the music of such jazz greats as Louis Armstrong, Harry James and Benny Goodman. Throughout junior high and high school Woods received many honors and awards from several jazz and classical music festivals and competitions and in 1997 was invited to perform in the Spokane All City and the All Northwest Jazz Ensembles.

Woods graduated with a B.A. in Music from Western Washington University in 2005. At Western he studied jazz, composition and arranging with legendary Bill Evans bassist and professor of jazz Chuck Israels. Kevin's compositions and arrangements have been performed by the Western Washington University Twelve, Two and Five o'clock Bands as well as the University of Colorado's Jazz Ensemble I and numerous combos. His award winning big band composition “Levitt Or Leave It” will be featured in an upcoming jazz arranging book by Chuck Israels that will be used as a text in the Juilliard jazz program. Woods' debut album Church Day (self released, 2002) received high praise and airplay on jazz radio stations throughout the Northwest and his latest jazz quartet album, Ballad of the West (SpooM Music, 2007), was released on April 1st.

Woods has performed with such jazz legends as Count Basie tenor saxophonist and arranger Frank Foster, Cuban saxophonist and bandleader Paquito D'Rivera, trombonist Slide Hampton, tenor saxophonist Joe Lovano, trumpeters Randy Brecker, Brian Lynch, Claudio Roditi and many others. Kevin recently had the honor of opening for the blues guitar legend B.B. King. Woods has been a member the Chuck Israels Sextet, La Candela Salsa Band, and numerous other groups as well as leading his own trios, quartets and quintets. In 2006, Woods won a Downbeat award for best college jazz soloist and in 2007 he was selected to participate in the Betty Carter Jazz Ahead performer/composer residency at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.

Currently, Woods lives in Boulder, Colorado where he is pursuing his Masters degree in jazz performance and pedagogy from the University of Colorado and is active as a performer, arranger and educator and leads his own quartet Small Circles. When he is not teaching or performing, Kevin enjoys reading, traveling, and doing Sudoku puzzles.