John David Simon has performed extensively on the national and international jazz scene with Ella Fitzgerald, Chaka Khan, Clark Terry, Pat Martino, Buddy DeFranco, Ray Charles, Dizzy Gillespie, J.J. Johnson, Shirley Scott, The New Jersey Pops Orchestra, T.S. Monk and Charles Earland. John’s big band credits include The Lionel Hampton, Illinois Jacquet, Artie Shaw, Jimmy Dorsey, Harlem Renaissance and Cotton Club Orchestras. He has toured Japan, Europe, Scandinavia, Canada and the United States performing at major festivals including the Playboy, Monterey, Montreal, North Sea, JVC, Pori, Grande Parade du Jazz (Nice, France), and Newport jazz festivals. Some of the venues John has played include Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Radio City Music Hall, The Kennedy Center, Brooklyn Academy of Music, The Village Vanguard, The Blue Note, The Hollwood Bowl and Ravinia. Currently Simon appears on over ten CD albums, including three as a leader, Legacy: The John Simon Trio Featuring Don Patterson, his critically acclaimed debut CD on Muse Records, his second CD, John David Simon And Friends With Clark Terry & Etta Jones, on WarmGroove Records and his latest CD album, Phantasm on WarmGroove Records. As a sideman, Simon can be heard on Introducing The CJ Heptet with Cleave Guyton Jr. on Consolidated Artists Productions, The Joe Sudler Swing Machine & Clark Terry on TJA Records, Born to Swing with Buddy DeFranco on Satellite Records and The Ponderer with the Odean Pope Saxophone Choir on Soul Note Records. John also appears in the documentary film Texas Tenor: the Illinois Jacquet Story, shown on the Bravo TV network.
In 1999, Simon entered into the prestigious Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz, by Leonard Feather and Ira Gitler, as one of 3300 biographies spanning the entire history of jazz. A recipient of two NEA Jazz Performance Fellowships and a Master of Music Degree from Manhattan School of Music, John has taught jazz performance, ensemble and musicianship at many conservatories and schools.
Simon currently resides in New York City where he works as a free-lance saxophonist, woodwind doubler and bandleader, and is a faculty member of Stevens Institute of Technology.
Awards
National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Study Fellowship/
National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Performance Fellowship/
Manhattan School of Music Performance Scholarship/
Eubie Blake Scholarship/
Philadelphia College of Performing Arts Performance Scholarship
“ I just love his playing... he doesn’t become obsessed with all these clichés
and so-called modern things... he knows how to swing .... like a lot of those
cats that’s been around - Don Byas... Ben Webster... Hawkins." —Clark Terry
“[On] ‘Rain Check’...the band really hit its stride as John Simon fired up a big-
toned, booting solo on tenor sax.” —Ira Gitler, JazzTimes
“...his full warm sound combined with soulful expression make him a very
individual voice on his instrument...He can surely compete with the stars of
this new streamlined generation of jazz musicians like Joshua Redman.”
—Ulrich Vanek, Jazz Podium (Germany)
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“ I just love his playing... he doesn’t become obsessed with all these clichés
and so-called modern things... he knows how to swing .... like a lot of those
cats that’s been around - Don Byas... Ben Webster... Hawkins." —Clark Terry
“[On] ‘Rain Check’...the band really hit its stride as John Simon fired up a big-
toned, booting solo on tenor sax.” —Ira Gitler, JazzTimes
“...his full warm sound combined with soulful expression make him a very
individual voice on his instrument...He can surely compete with the stars of
this new streamlined generation of jazz musicians like Joshua Redman.”
—Ulrich Vanek, Jazz Podium (Germany)
“... full-bodied sound and hard-bop leanings...shows command of his
instrument...” —Al Hunter Jr., Philadelphia Daily News
"John David Simon’s “And Friends” .... a recording that will likely be played
well into the future as good music never goes out of style."
—KUVO, 89 FM Jazz Radio (Denver, CO)
“...his big, breathy tone and muscular drive recall Gene Ammons and Dexter —
David Leonard, Philadelphia Weekly
“...and tenor saxophonist John Simon were the freshest and most masterful
talents to be heard...”
—Tony Gleske, The Hollywood Reporter (Playboy Jazz Festival)
“...a steaming debut for Simon...exhibits plenty of technique and a funky
feeling...” —Owen Cordle, JazzTimes
"....a fluid and fluent player deep in Mainstream, owing allegiance not to one
special player but to a way of playing: a large-toned, emotive approach to the
tenor saxophone... he sounds like a world-class player, compatible with this
impressive rhythm section." —Michael Steinman, Cadence Magazine
“...it is worth the wait...Simon shines on such hard-bop tunes...”
—Kirby Kean, Philadelphia Weekly
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