Jim Shearer

Jim Shearer

Musicians | Instrument: Tuba | Location: United States

Tuba player Jim Shearer can sound like he is in a brass band but at other times comes across as a bop-based soloist....this is a consistently fun set of spirited yet relaxed music that, come to think of it, does sound like a late-night hang.

—Scott Yanow, All Music

Updated: January 25, 2024

Born: April 5, 1964

Jim Shearer holds a D. M. A. in Performance and Literature and a Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY. He teaches tuba, euphonium, music history, and music appreciation to graduate, undergraduate, and honors students at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, where he holds the joint titles of Regents Professor of Music and Distinguished Achievement Professor. In addition, he presents concerts, master classes, and lectures as a Yamaha Performing Artist. An active classical soloist, Dr. Shearer has appeared throughout the United States as a guest artist with various wind ensembles and orchestras and in solo and chamber recital performances in The Great American Tuba Show and The Great American Trio. In the early 1990s, he traveled to Switzerland as a participant in the 47th Concours International d'Exécution Musicale, the first time this prestigious competition included the tuba as a solo instrument. He has toured Japan as a member of the Eastman Wind Ensemble, playing concerts and recording a compact disc for the Sony Classical label. In 2006, Shearer toured Colombia with the NMSU Faculty Brass Quintet and Wind Ensemble for the United States Department of State. While in Colombia, he performed for over 25,000 people at the national band festival and gave educational classes in Bogotá and Paipa. He is a former Principal Tubist with the El Paso Symphony Orchestra, the current Principal Tubist for both the Roswell and Las Cruces Symphony Orchestras, and a former member of El Paso Brass, with whom he released three commercial recordings. His playing can also be heard on blues artist Eric Bibb's CD Diamond Days on Telarc Records. During a regional broadcast on NPR, Saint Paul Sunday host Bill McGlaughlin referred to Shearer and his tuba playing as the "lowest of the low brass!" (We think he meant it as a compliment.)

Dr. Shearer is the author of two music appreciation textbooks, Music 101 and Jazz Basics, both published by Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co. These books have been positively received throughout the academic musical community and are currently being used by a number of colleges and universities. He also has six commercial CDs released on the Summit Records label including the jazz titles The Memphis Hang (with Charlie Wood), Secret Frets, and his most recent project, Cloud Bowling with Claude Bolling. This extensive new double-CD set features a complete performance of the seven-movement Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano Trio by Claude Bolling (played on tuba, of course,) along with a new companion suite cleverly titled Cloud Bowling by pianist and composer Chris Reyman. There are also three classical titles including The Haunted America Suite (new music for horn, tuba, and piano, made in collaboration with his wife, Celeste), Music For Tuba and String Quartet (with the La Catrina String Quartet), and Sultry & Eccentric:  The Music of James Grant (a solo project featuring his wife, which he produced and on which he performed the Double Concerto for horn and tuba).

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Take Five With...

Take Five with Tubist Jim Shearer

Read "Take Five with Tubist Jim Shearer" reviewed by AAJ Staff


Meet Jim Shearer Jim Shearer was born in Water Valley, Mississippi, in 1964. His family owned the local newspaper, The North Mississippi Herald, from 1943-2004, and his father was an active musician on the side, playing jazz saxophone and serving as Minister of Music at the family church (but never at the same time!). After spending several years as a flautist at a young age, Jim became a tubist because no one else in the beginning band would play the ...

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For the album The Memphis Hang:  "Tuba player Jim Shearer can sound like he is in a brass band but at other times comes across as a bop-based soloist....this is a consistently fun set of spirited yet relaxed music that, come to think of it, does sound like a late-night hang." - Scott Yanow, All Music

For the album Secret Frets:  "Having a tuba, rather than upright bass, makes for an interesting instrumental mix and they transcend the Gypsy genre to appeal to a wider classic jazz audience....this album is an excellent choice." - Joe Bebco, Syncopated Times

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From: Cloud Bowling With Claude...
By Jim Shearer