Justin Pierce

Orbit | Updated: August 29, 2026

Saxophonist, bandleader, and educator Justin Pierce grew up in Southeast Texas, in the Gulf Coast corridor where Louisiana’s music doesn’t stop at the state line. He and vocalist Ashley Pierce began performing together as students at McNeese State University in Lake Charles, beginning a musical partnership now in its third decade. In 2010, they toured Romania with the McNeese Jazz Band under saxophonist Rick Condit, a veteran of the Stan Kenton Orchestra.

Pierce earned his doctorate in saxophone performance at the University of North Texas, where he performed with the One O’Clock Lab Band and studied with saxophonist Brad Leali, former lead altoist with the Count Basie Orchestra. He has taught jazz at the university level for more than a decade.

His debut album, Sway, was released in August 2026 on Justin Pierce Music. The record takes ten standards from the American Songbook and jazz canon through New Orleans and Latin grooves alongside straight-ahead swing, reflecting the musical geography that shaped Pierce from Southeast Texas to Louisiana and North Texas. It was tracked live in a single session in Dallas in May 2025.

Ashley Pierce is featured on seven of the album’s ten tracks. The rhythm section, all fellow One O’Clock Lab Band alumni, features Sean Michael Giddings on piano, Young Heo on bass, and Matt Young on drums. Rosana Eckert provided vocal production, Kent Stump mixed the album, and James Driscoll mastered it. Grammy-nominated composer Rich DeRosa called Sway “an impressive musical statement” with “great musicianship throughout.”

The album’s version of Horace Silver’s “The Jody Grind” is dedicated to the memory of Beaumont bandleader Ed Dix, an early musical influence on Pierce. Dix came up in Kansas City, where he co-led a band with Bob Brookmeyer, and Pierce first encountered the tune playing it with him on the bandstand.

In its first weeks at jazz radio, Sway appeared on JazzWeek’s Most Added chart and received airplay across fourteen states, including rotation at WWOZ New Orleans and KRVS Lafayette. WWOZ host Maryse Dejean also featured Pierce in an on-air interview. The album has been submitted for consideration for the 2027 Grammy Awards.

With Sway, Pierce brings together the threads that have defined his musical life: the Gulf Coast, the jazz tradition, and a musical partnership with Ashley Pierce spanning more than two decades.

Tags

“Warm swinging grooves, intimate waltzes, New Orleans second-line rhythms, and Latin-infused arrangements… an inviting, danceable atmosphere.” — Bob Osborne, World of Jazz

“Justin Pierce sparkles on his saxophone. Ashley Pierce has a warm, inviting vocal style. Something for everyone on this album.”

Dee Dee McNeil, Making A Scene

Primary Instrument

Saxophone

Location

Dallas

Willing to teach

Advanced only

Credentials/Background

Justin Pierce teaches private lessons in the areas of saxophone and jazz improvisation in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. Justin completed his master's degree in jazz studies at the renowned University of North Texas College of Music and undergraduate degree in saxophone performance at McNeese State University. While at North Texas, Justin performed and/or recorded as a member of the One O’Clock Lab Band (lead alto, “Lab 2012”), Two O’Clock Lab Band (lead alto), and Latin Jazz Band. During his tenure at the University of North Texas, Justin served as a graduate teaching fellow, teaching applied jazz saxophone lessons and directed the Seven O’Clock Lab Band.