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Reginald Lewis
Born and raised in Camden, New Jersey, Dr. Reginald Lewis was given an alto saxophone, from his grandfather, Philadelphia Jazz Legend, Robert “Bootsie” Barnes when he was in the 10th grade at the age of sixteen.
Dr. Reginald Lewis is a Cannonball Musical Instruments Artist and Educator. Dr. Lewis is the current Director of Jazz at Illinois Wesleyan University. Dr. Lewis also teaches Jazz Improvisation at Chicago State University. Dr. Lewis graduated from Jackson State University with his Bachelor of Music Degree, Master of Music Degree from the University of Manitoba in Canada, and his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Illinois Urbana - Champaign. Dr. Lewis is also the current president of AAJC (African American Jazz Caucus).
Dr. Lewis was named the Jazz Director for the Senior Level Jazz band for District 5 in Illinois in November 2025. Dr. Lewis was also named the Director of the All State Jazz Band at the Illinois Music Educator Conference in Peoria in January 2026. Dr. Lewis is a co-author with research published in “Teaching Music Through Performance in Jazz, Volume 3”.
Dr. Lewis has been featured in the Universal Studios biopic of James Brown “Get on Up” as a saxophonist in Little Richard's band. He has also performed at the TD Bank Winnipeg Jazz Festival in 2015 with Q5, led by Quincy Davis. He also performed with Super Duty Tough Work and The Thelonious Monk Tribute Band led by Jared Beckstead. Dr. Lewis also held a weekly gig at “The Yellow Scarf”, hosted by Cassandra Wilson in Jackson, Mississippi. Dr. Lewis can be heard on Jon Gordons’ album “Stranger Than Fiction” as well as Nasir Dickersons’ “Let It Shine” and Mir Fontanes’ debut album “Camden”.
Dr. Lewis is also a member of “Simply This”, who released an album entitled "Stepping Up” in 2021. Dr. Lewis has also given masterclasses at Ohio State University, Anderson University and Furman University with “Simply This”. Dr. Lewis recently performed at the 2024 Chicago Jazz Festival with the Clif Wallace Big Band, the 2024 Hyde Park Jazz Festival with Derrick Gardner and the Jazz Prophets, as well as the Further Jazz Festival in Normal, IL. Dr. Lewis has also guest conducted the HBCU All Star Jazz Band at the Midwest Clinic held in Chicago, IL in December of 2022.
Gear
Tenor Saxophone: Mark VI
Alto Saxophone: Cannonball Dragons Pearl
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Jon Gordon: Stranger Than Fiction
by Angelo Leonardi
Più noto come eccellente sax contralto e leader di un apprezzato quartetto, Jon Gordon torna a incidere un disco orchestrale per la ArtistShare, dopo l'album Evolution del lontano 2009. Registrato nel mezzo della pandemia, con tutte le difficoltà e restrizioni che sappiamo, il nuovo lavoro rinnova la collaborazione col trombonista e arrangiatore Alan Ferber che partecipa al progetto nel triplice ruolo di co-produttore, arrangiatore di un brano ("Havens") e solista di trombone. Il medio organico include anche il clarinetto basso ...
Continue ReadingSimply This Quintet: Stepping Up
by Jack Bowers
On its first full-length album, the modestly named Simply This Quintet boasts a sturdy two-tenor front line (Reginald Lewis, Matthew Storie) and an able rhythm section (Jesus Fuentes, piano; Emma Taylor, bass; Frank Kurtz, drums) performing eight original compositions by members of the group. The quintet was formed in 2018 by friends at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. Its goal, according to the album's liner notes, is “reinterpreting the classic two- tenor saxophone jazz ensembles of the 1950s and ...
Continue ReadingJon Gordon: Stranger Than Fiction
by Hrayr Attarian
Saxophonist Jon Gordon's superb 13th release as a leader, Stranger Than Fiction, consists of 10 cinematic and captivating originals. Gordon leads a large ensemble of mostly Canadian musicians through his vibrantly textured compositions. The focus is more on dynamic interplay of different band members and orchestral segments than on individual expressions. There are, however, brilliantly virtuosic soloists who seamlessly emerge out of these vividly ebullient works making them even more electrifyingly alive. Opening with delightfully dissonant staccato woodwinds ...
Continue ReadingJon Gordon: Stranger Than Fiction
by Jack Bowers
New York-bred alto saxophonist Jon Gordon has come a long way since he was hailed as something of a prodigy in the mid-1980s and earned first place in the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition in 1996. The music performed by Gordon's nonet on Stranger Than Fiction, we are told, “reflects [his] realization that reality takes twists and turns [that are] far more unpredictable than any author would dare write." There are indeed many twists and turns—most ...
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Dexter Gordon
saxophone, tenor
Hank Mobley
saxophone, tenor
Derrick Gardner
trumpet
Jon Gordon
saxophone, alto
Bootsie Barnes
saxophone, tenor
Quincy Davis
drums
