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Sara Jacovino

NYC based trombonist Sara Jacovino is an ambitious young composer and arranger who cut her teeth in the renowned One O'Clock Lab Band at the University of North Texas. Hailed by the likes of David Baker as having a completely unique compositional and performing voice, Sara has already drawn the attention of many seasoned professionals. In the fall of 2008, Sara made the move to NYC where she joined the BMI jazz composer's workshop led by Jim McNeely. In June of 2009, Sara was awarded the BMI Foundation's Charlie Parker Composition Award/Manny Album Commission after just her first season in the workshop. Earlier in 2009, Sara received the Airmen of Note's Sammy Nestico Award in jazz composition and was awarded Downbeat Magazine's Student Music Award in the category of jazz arranging. Similarly in 2008, Sara’s received two Downbeat Awards, including best Original Song and best Extended Composition. She also earned invitations to the prestigious Better Carter Jazz Ahead residency and Ravinia Steans Institute residency, while being awarded the Kai Winding jazz ensemble prize and selected as one of three finalists in the International Trombone Association’s J.J. Johnson solo jazz trombone competition. Sara can be seen leading her original quintet and big band as well as her recently co-founded jazz philharmonic, The Orchestral Reeducation Commission. Sara earned both a BMus and MMus degree from UNT while studying composition with Neil Slater and Paris Rutherford and trombone with Steve Wiest and Tony Baker.

Sara has shared the stage with jazz greats such as: Steve Davis, Slide Hampton, Rufus Reid, Wayne Bergeron, John Abercrombie, Pete Christlieb, Bill Holman, Rich Perry, Lou Marini, Steve Wiest, Adonis Rose, Jim Pugh, Ejiro Nakagawa, Phil Woods, Carmen Bradford, Bernard Wright, Robert "Sput" Searight, Lynn Seaton, Stefan Karlsson, Marlena Shaw, and Sherrie Maricle and the Diva Jazz Orchestra to name a few.

She can be heard on the albums "Lab 2008," "Lab 2007," "Lab 2006" and "Live at Blues Alley" by the University of North Texas One O'Clock Lab Band; "The Best of the Big O" by the University of North Texas Two O'Clock Lab Band; and "Bring Us the Bright," "The Only Constant," "The World is Getting Smaller" and "Real to Reel" by the Jazz/World/Fusion Ensemble Snarky Puppy.

Gear

Edwards Jazz horn


Tags

34
Album Review

Mike Holober & The Gotham Jazz Orchestra: This Rock We're On: Imaginary Letters

Read "This Rock We're On: Imaginary Letters" reviewed by Jack Bowers


This Rock We're On, acclaimed composer and pianist Mike Holober's 2024 recording as leader of the Gotham Jazz Orchestra, is challenging to summarize in mere words, as it consists of a multi-part suite (on two CDs) which blends jazz, classical and art songs in a thematic environment that uses a series of “imaginary letters" from a half dozen writers, artists and activists. Holober's orchestral response to them is the premise for “a meditation on the beauty of nature and the ...

30
Album Review

Wayne Alpern: Gotham

Read "Gotham" reviewed by Jack Bowers


There are a number of bright and interesting moments on New York-based arranger Wayne Alpern's album, Gotham, wherein he makes good use of a well-polished tentet on several generally handsome and engaging charts. Alpern's choice of music is eclectic, ranging from Tchaikovsky to Jobim, Rodgers and Hart to Stephen Sondheim, Hoagy Carmichael to Horace Silver, Alex North to John Lennon and Paul McCartney. All of which should be anticipated from a music-lover whose training and background ranges from classical to ...

3
Album Review

Mike Holober & the Gotham City Orchestra: This Rock We're On: Imaginary Letters

Read "This Rock We're On: Imaginary Letters" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi


Dopo gli ultimi superlativi album orchestrali (Balancing Act, Palmetto 2015 e Hiding Out, Zoho 2019) la nuova incisione di Mike Holober con la Gotham Jazz Orchestra non dovrebbe stupirci, eppure questo doppio album ci ha nuovamente colpito. L'aggiunta di Chris Potter, John Patitucci, Nir Felder e della cantante brasiliana Jamile Staevie Ayres all'orchestra rende infatti il progetto quanto mai esaltante. Questi nomi completano un organico già nutrito di solisti ragguardevoli come Marvin Stamm e Scott Wendholt alle trombe, ...

33
Album Review

Danny Jonokuchi Big Band: A Decade

Read "A Decade" reviewed by Jack Bowers


For trumpeter, vocalist and bandleader Danny Jonokuchi, the path to success--in music and in life--has never been smooth or trouble-free. Born with a congenital lung disease, Jonokuchi needed life-saving surgery while in high school to treat a collapsed lung, which caused him to put his trumpet playing aside, at least temporarily. Years later, and almost a continent away from his native Los Angeles, Jonokuchi was viciously attacked in south Philadelphia, resulting in traumatic injuries to his mouth and embouchure. This ...

12
Album Review

Mike Holober: This Rock We're On: Imaginary Letters

Read "This Rock We're On: Imaginary Letters" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan


We live on a rock. A few billion years of the workings of the complexities of carbon chemistry put us here. The systems and intricacies of every element that has unfolded to maintain us should be respected and preserved. Mike Holober's This Rock We're On: Imaginary Letters, featuring Holober and his Gotham Jazz Orchestra, digs into this theme in a sprawling, two-disc big band jazz outing. Like life itself, and the resulting ecosystems, this multi-movement suite--an effort that is the ...

5
Album Review

Danny Jonokuchi: A Decade

Read "A Decade" reviewed by Pierre Giroux


A Decade is arranger-composer, trumpeter and vocalist Danny Jonokuchi's celebration of personal and musical evolution, encapsulating his growth over the last ten years as a musician and leader of his big band. The album draws on jazz's rich traditions while also serving as a reflection of the enduring spirit of the genre. The release features compositions that outline the signature flourish of Jonokuchi's writing, standing as a testament to his ability to overcome personal obstacles. The ...

35
Album Review

Diva Jazz Orchestra: "30": Live at Dizzy's Club

Read ""30": Live at Dizzy's Club" reviewed by Jack Bowers


The “30" in the title of the superlative all-woman Diva Jazz Orchestra's latest album stands for 30 years, which, believe it or not, is how long the orchestra and its remarkable drummer and leader, Sherrie Maricle, have been up and running and making beautiful music at home and abroad. Among U.S.-based big bands, it would seem that only Count Basie, Duke Ellington and Woody Herman have had longer runs than that. Fast company indeed. So is Diva ready for comparisons? ...

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Primary Instrument

Trombone

Willing to teach

Advanced only

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

A Decade

Bandstand Presents
2024

buy

This Rock We're On:...

Palmetto Records
2024

buy

Gotham

Turtle Bay Records
2024

buy

Grooveyard

Origin Records
2023

buy

Swings Broadway

Diva Records
2022

buy

Lay of the Land

From: This Rock We're On: Imaginary...
By Sara Jacovino

Grooveyard

From: Grooveyard
By Sara Jacovino

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