Ten-time Jazz Journalists Association Trombonist of the Year Wycliffe Gordon has been named a Visiting Artist in Jazz Studies at the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University for the 2018-19 academic year. Gordon will conduct lessons and master classes with Peabody students during his fall and spring semester residencies on campus.
“There are few trombonists alive that embody the spirit of their instrument while simultaneously having the ability to transcend it,” noted Sean Jones, Richard and Elizabeth Case Chair in Jazz Studies at the Peabody Conservatory. “Wycliffe Gordon is the epitome of this, with his ability to draw upon the most quintessential aspects of the trombone while making it sound like a gospel preacher. It is a complete joy to have him on board!”
Wycliffe Gordon’s successful performing career includes frequent critically acclaimed solo performances and tours leading his quintet – Wycliffe Gordon and His International All-Stars – at legendary jazz venues and performing arts centers throughout the world. He received the 2017 International Trombone Association Award, recognizing the highest level of creative and artistic achievement; recently accepted the “Louie Award” honoring his dedication and commitment to the music of Louis Armstrong; and has been named Best Trombone by the Downbeat Critics Poll four times. Commissioned frequently, his extensive catalog of original compositions spans jazz and chamber music, and his arrangement of the theme song to NPR’s “All Things Considered” is heard daily across the globe. A former veteran member of the Wynton Marsalis Septet and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Gordon has been a featured guest artist on Billy Taylor’s “Jazz at the Kennedy Center” Series. He is also a persuasive and committed music educator, and currently serves as Artist-in-Residence at Augusta University.
“My work as an educator is all about energy – the energy I can share with students and the energy I draw from them as we work together to improve as musicians,” notes Wycliffe Gordon. “There is a tremendously positive energy around Jazz Studies at Peabody right now, and I am looking forward to my residencies there and my work with Peabody Jazz students and faculty.”
Gordon’s teaching activities at Peabody will complement students’ regular coursework, lessons, and ensemble rotations. He joins Jones and pianist Alex Brown, also a Visiting Artist in Jazz Studies, and a roster of Jazz Studies faculty artists which now includes drummers Nasar Abadey and Quincy Phillips, bassist Kristopher Funn, saxophonist Tim Green, guitarist Matthew Stevens, vocalist Charenée Wade, and vibraphone specialist Warren Wolf. Under the Conservatory’s new Breakthrough Curriculum – designed to help students develop skills in performance excellence, career development, and citizen artistry to meet the demands of today’s ever-changing musical landscape – Jazz Studies is becoming increasingly integrated with other programs across the Conservatory and expanding its connections to communities across the region.
