Jon Faddis and CapU Jazz Ensembles

Legendary trumpeter leads homage to Dizzy Gillespie at BlueShore at CapU, Friday, Nov. 27!

Jon Faddis is a renowned trumpeter, conductor, composer and educator widely recognized as the protégé and musical heir to jazz icon Dizzy Gillespie. Faddis closely mirrored Gillespie's virtuoso style early in his career, becoming a close friend and mentee, and later serving as the musical director for several of Dizzy's tribute bands, including Dizzy Gillespie Alumni All-Stars.

For this concert, Faddis brings his Dizzy charts to be performed by both large and small CapU Jazz ensembles.

Faddis played with Lionel Hampton and Charles Mingus in his early career, before becoming a noted studio musician in New York. Faddis’ distinctive trumpet – his incredible range and control is often referred to as “stratospheric”– appears on hundreds of records, from James Brown to Paul Simon.

In the mid-1980s, he left the studios to continue to pursue his solo career, which resulted in albums such as Legacy, Into the Faddisphere and Hornucopia. Gillespie declared of Faddis, “He’s the best ever, including me!”

Faddis has taught at the Conservatory of Music at Purchase College-SUNY in New York since 1999. Remaining true to the tradition of honoring mentors, he also leads master classes, clinics and workshops around the world; he often will bring promising students along to his gigs and allow the students to sit in, and also has produced a number of CDs for up-and-coming musicians.