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Introducing Saxophonist Jacob Chung
by Sanford Josephson
Growing up in Toronto, Jacob Chung was introduced to jazz by his grandfather. “He had a record player," Chung recalled, “and he had Dave Brubeck's Time Out album. He also liked Duke Ellington and Ben Webster." Chung was playing classical piano when he entered middle school, “and they started giving you wind instruments. I ...
Introducing Saxophonist Jay Thatte
by Sanford Josephson
Jay Thatte has been playing music since he was seven years old, starting out on classical piano. In the sixth grade at Newark Academy, a coeducational private day school in Livingston, NJ, where he lives, he was exposed to jazz by Julius Tolentino, the Director of Bands. “He introduced me to clarinet and saxophone," Thatte recalled. ...
Introducing Vocalist Ava Preston
by Sanford Josephson
On Saturday, October 18, 2025, there was live jazz on 12 corners in Manhattan--from Harlem to the financial district. The musicians were jazz studies majors from several colleges and universities including Juilliard, Manhattan School of Music, William Paterson, Oberlin, SUNY Purchase, and The New School. The event was called Sidewalk Swing, and it was created by ...
Introducing Saxophonist Paloma Ximena
by Sanford Josephson
In May 2022, Rio Americano High School in Sacramento, CA, was a finalist in Jazz at Lincoln Center's Essentially Ellington competition, and sophomore Paloma Ximena won two solo awards: Outstanding Clarinetist and Outstanding Alto Saxophonist. “That was really the start of my career," she said. “That was the moment when I really decided to pursue music." ...
Introducing Saxophonist Kristin Field
by Sanford Josephson
"The first time I saw her play I was sure, at some point, she would be a lead alto saxophonist." That was the initial reaction of North Hunterdon (NJ) High School Jazz Ensemble Director Perry Andrews when he saw Kristin Field's freshman year audition in the fall of 2019. A Jazz Studies major at ...
Introducing Saxophonist Langston Hughes II
by Sanford Josephson
In the April 2024 issue of Jersey Jazz, drummer Ulysses Owens, Jr. told me he had recently taken four young musicians with him for a tour in Tokyo. One of them was saxophonist Langston Hughes II, then studying for his master's degree at Juilliard. Hughes, said Owens, is “burning up the scene." The 24-year-old ...
Introducing Vocalist Kate Kortum
by Sanford Josephson
Growing up in Houston, Texas, Kate Kortum shared a computer with her five siblings. “Somehow, the Ella Fitzgerald recording of 'How High the Moon' from her Live in Berlin album ended up on the computer," she recalled. “I had no idea you could sing like that. I heard that and became obsessed." Despite her ...
Introducing Trombonist/Vocalist Hailey Brinnel
by Sanford Josephson
After being discharged from the Army in 1945, Pete Rugolo became the primary arranger for the Stan Kenton Band and is credited with keeping that band alive in an era when big band music was beginning to fade. In 1955, Rugolo created an album combining the vocal group, The Four Freshmen, with an all-star ...
Introducing the NJ All-State Jazz Ensemble and Choir
by Sanford Josephson
"If they hire me," said Dr. David Demsey, “they know they're getting some Thad Jones." Demsey, who recently retired after 33 years as Coordinator of Jazz Studies at William Paterson University, is directing this year's New Jersey Music Educators Association (NJMEA)/New Jersey Association for Jazz Education (NJAJE) All-State Jazz Ensemble. This is the third ...
Introducing Trumpeter Nathaniel Williford
by Sanford Josephson
Nathaniel Williford's jazz education began when he entered the sixth grade at Osceola County School for the Arts in Kissimmee, FL. “The magic started happening at our instrument trial day," he recalled, “selecting what we'd play in the band program. The trombone was what stood out to me. I could make some basic sounds on the ...
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