Vincent Gardner

Vincent Gardner (born October 31, 1972 in Chicago , Illinois ) is an American jazz trombonist , composer and music teacher.

biography

Gardner comes from a musical family; his father Burgess Gardner was a trumpeter with Ray Charles , Count Basie and Horace Silver , his mother a pianist and choir director. He grew up in East Lansing ( Michigan ), Virginia Beach and Hampton (Virginia) , first learning the violin, then saxophone and French horn . When he was 13 he decided to play the trumpet. While still at school he became interested in jazz and played in the Hampton All-City Jazz Ensemble , where he was introduced to JJ Johnson . He later studied classical trombone playing and music education at Florida A&M University . In 1995 he moved to the University of North Florida , where he graduated in 1996. He then moved to Brooklyn to work as a professional musician, initially in groups such as the Count Basie Orchestra , Duke Ellington Orchestra , as well as with Illinois Jacquet , Clark Terry , Jimmy Heath and Frank Foster . In 2003/04 he was teaching at Michigan State University ; thereafter he taught at Florida State University , the New School and the Juilliard School of Music in New York City.

Gardner recorded four albums under his own name for SteepleChase Records . He also accompanied Lauryn Hill on tours from 1998 to 2000 . In late 2000, Gardner became a member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra under the direction of Wynton Marsalis . He also wrote numerous arrangements for the ensemble. In 2009 he had a commission from Jazz at Lincoln Center ("The Jesse B. Semple Suite"), based on short stories by Langston Hughes about the literary character Jesse B. Semple .

In addition to these activities, he regularly performs with his brother, the trumpeter Derrick Gardner and his formation The Jazz Prophets . In the course of his career so far, he has also participated in recordings with Marcus Roberts , Nicholas Payton , the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra ( The Music Of Charles Mingus , 2004), Lizz Wright and Steve Allee .

Discography

• Elbow Room (SteepleChase, 2006)
• The Good Book, Ch. 1 (SteepleChase, 2007)
• Vin-Slidin (SteepleChase, 2008)
• Three-Five (SteepleChase, 2009)

Lexical entry

• Richard Cook , Brian Morton : The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings . 8th edition. Penguin, London 2006, ISBN 0-14-102327-9 .

Web links

• Portrait at All About Jazz
• Vincent Gardner at Allmusic (English)