I lead bands of various sizes and shapes, and with varying members, depending on the occasion.
I also play as a "side man" with quite a variety of top-shelf players and bands. I'm a lucky guy!
Here is a video of me and guest artist/trumpeter/pal-o-mine Duke Heitger playing at my regular Sunday night gig at the Ear Inn on June 7th, '09, 326 Spring St., NYC. Guitarist Matt Munisteri is the other regular EarRegular, and the guest bassist that night was Neal Miner. It was a night to remember.
Here is a video of me leading a hell of a jam session at the Ear Inn, 9/14/08.
The song is "You're Driving Me Crazy."
For those keeping score, the 1st soloist is cornetist Danny Tobias,
followed by clarinetist Evan Christopher, in town from New Orleans,
trombonist Harvey Tibbs,
trumpeter Jon-Erik Kellso,
clarinetist Dan Block,
guitarist Howard Alden,
and that's drummer/vibes player Chuck Redd playing brushes on the table and chair and whatnot,
in town from DC,
trading with bassist Sebastien Girardot, who was in town from Paris. Trombonist Jim Fryer is also in there, but his solo on this tune came before the video starts.
Here's another tune from that night at the Ear Inn, "I'll See You In My Dreams," with Jim Fryer on 'bone:
Below is a video of me playing with pianist Ehud Asherie at Small's in NYC last year ('08). Ehud is a hell of a stride pianist, among other styles. I am making use of my trusty plunger and nipple mute.
Here's one from Birdland, NYC, 10/2/08 where I'm playing trumpet with David Ostwald's Louis Armstrong Centennial Band, w/Jim Fryer-trombone; Anat Cohen-clarinet; Ehud Asherie-piano; David Ostwald-tuba; Kevin Dorn-drums. You get to hear Fryer solo this time, and there's Ehud again--he gets around! Check it out:
If you wish to see more videos of me playing with Ehud, or Ostwald, or if you wanna check out some where I'm playing with Vince Giordano's Nighthawks, The Statesmen of Jazz w/Kenny Davern, John Gill's Yerba Buena Yerba Stompers, , Duke Heitger and his New Orleans Wanderers, Lars Edegran's All-Stars at the French Quarter Fest, Dan Levinson's Roof Garden Jass Band, or the '99 Ascona All-Stars (with Butch Thompson, Dan Barrett, etc.), just go to www.youtube.com and enter my name or the band's name in their search engine, and go crazy!
Influences
Louis Armstrong is my favorite...after him, not necessarily in this order--Bix Beiderbecke, Buck Clayton, Cootie Williams, Rex Stewart, Sweets Edison, Roy Eldridge, Ruby Braff, Bobby Hackett, Clifford Brown, Muggsy Spanier, Yank Lawson, Lee Morgan, King Oliver, Dizzy Gillespie, George Mitchell, Freddie Hubbard, Freddie Keppard, Wild Bill Davison, Hot Lips Page, Frankie Newton, Natty Dominique, Bill Coleman, Ornette Coleman, Coleman Hawkins, Bird, Lester Young, Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Basie, oh man--now that I've gotten out of the trumpet/cornet players--this list could get reeeeeally long, argh--I better just stop now.
hey, check out this video of Ruby Braff playing with Louis Armstrong and Jack Teagarden (and Cozy Cole, Marty Napoleon, Chubby Jackson, and Tony Parenti)! Wow! Love it.
OK--now check out Louis with the Ellington band!! From the movie Paris Blues, with Sidney Poitier and Paul Newman. This makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end...among other things....
Check out my recordings or come hear me and decide for yourself!
My schedule is also on www.kellsojazz.com , I'll try to be better about keeping it up to date.
My brand new Arbors Records CD "Blue Roof Blues: A Love Letter to New Orleans" is out! Contact me to get yourself a copy, or Arbors at their website: www.ArborsJazz.com
I just released another CD on Gen-Erik Records, "Remembering Ruby," my homage to cornettist Ruby Braff. Contact me to purchase one (or several).
Hey--Now you can buy mp-3s of the tunes on my out of print Arbors CDs as well as my new Arbors CD, "Blue Roof Blues: A Love Letter to New Orleans" right here on this page! These were my first two CDs as a leader, "Chapter One," recorded in 1993, and "Chapter Two: The Plot Thickens," from 1995.
Trumpeter Jon-Erik Kellso started playing professionally in and around Detroit, Michigan where he was born in 1964. Jon began early, playing in a big band at age 11, in the International Youth Symphony at age 13, and in a concert alongside Wild Bill Davison at age 17. Kellso played with a wide variety of groups there, including the J.C. Heard Orchestra.
In '88 Jon-Erik joined James Dapogny's Chicago Jazz Band with whom he's made appearances throughout North America, concertized on PBS TV and at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., performed on Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion live Public Radio International show, and recorded extensively.
Since moving to New York City in 1989 to join Vince Giordano's Nighthawks, Jon has enjoyed performing and recording with the likes of Ralph Sutton, Dan Barrett, Howard Alden, Marty Grosz, Milt Hinton, Dick Hyman, Banu Gibson, Linda Ronstadt, Maria Muldaur, Leon Redbone, Ken Peplowski, and Kenny Davern.
Recent engagements include recording a soundtrack with Wynton Marsalis for a movie about Buddy Bolden (called "Bolden"); a week at Jazzland in Vienna, Austria; several tours of Italy with Brock Mumford; concerts as a featured soloist in the U.K., Germany and Australia; annual appearances in jazz clubs and at the French Quarter Festival and Jazz Fest in New Orleans; and jazz parties and festivals throughout the United States and Europe.
Other bands that Kellso is currently a member of in addition to Dapogny's, Giordano's, and (Matt Munisteri's) Brock Mumford are: (Orange Kellin's) Manhattan Ragtime Orchestra, & David Ostwald's Louis Armstrong Centennial Band (a.k.a. the Gully Low Jazz Band).
Kellso can be heard on several television and movie soundtracks, including the Nickelodeon children's show "Blue's Clues," and the recent movies "Ghost World," "The Aviator," and "The Good Shepherd," with Vince Giordano's Nighthawks.
Watch and listen for Jon-Erik in the new Sam Mendes film, "Revolutionary Road," with Giordano, Leonardo DeCaprio, and Kate Winslet!
Jon has been featured several times on Arbors Records, including three CDs as a leader and two (with more to be released) with Ruby Braff. His latest from Arbors is entitled "Blue Roof Blues: A Love Letter to New Orleans."
Joe Lang wrote for the July/August '07 issue or Jersey Jazz:
"Blue Roof Blues: A Love Letter to New Orleans" (Arbors – 19346) is an
exceptional album. Conceived as a tribute to the city that suffered so much from the devastation of Katrina, it is a triumph that evinces both the pain and joy of the city.
Trumpeter Jon-Erik Kellso assembled a company of outstanding musicians who are steeped in the traditional jazz sounds of the Crescent City, but who are constantly taking the music to places where it has not been before. This creative crew, in addition to Kellso, is Evan
Christopher on clarinet, Matt Munisteri on guitar and banjo, Danton Boller on bass and Marion Felder on drums. Kellso once again proves that his is a unique and exceptional voice on trumpet.
In addition, this album highlights his strength as a composer who honors the tradition, but adds a personal and contemporary sensitivity.
Christopher is a player who mirrors Kellso’s eclecticism. Munisteri, Boller and Felder keep things vibrant and moving.
The program includes five tracks written by Kellso, “Just Like That,” “Blue Roof Blues,” “Door No. 4,” “Just Like This” and “Just Like This, Just Like That,” the latter being a combining and reworking of the two earlier pieces. Most of the other tunes are drawn from the traditional jazz catalog, “Panama,” “Weary Blues,” “Why” and “Hindustan.” Also included are Duke Ellington’s “Way Way Back,” and Thelonious Monk’s “Bye-Ya.” The Monk tune might seem like a fish out of water in this context, but once you hear it, you will understand that their reconception of this song is appropriate and magnificent.
Given the space limits dictated by the type of reviews that I write, I shall resist the temptation to explore the virtues of each individual track. Suffice to say that you will find that each of them is a gem. This is an album that is ostensibly aimed at an audience inclined toward the sounds of traditional New Orleans Jazz, and, indeed, it will certainly find great favor with those devotees. Give it a listen, however, and you will hear music that defies classification. I expect that there will be many who consider themselves modernists in their taste being drawn to the music on "Blue Roof Blues."
His debut album, "Chapter One" captured the attention of noted jazz critic Owen Cordle, who wrote, "Kellso has a fluent gift of melody and a knack for spicing it up with a Roy Eldridge-like rasp, a Howard McGhee-like excitability, and Rex Stewart-like tonal effects. Kellso debuts with a warm, swing-oriented session with no stray notes. The effortless, swinging mood is sustained throughout all 13 performances. Kellso is a most welcome discovery."
In Scott Yanow's recently published book entitled "Swing," Kellso's "Chapter 2: The Plot Thickens" received 9 of 10 stars. He is described as being "one of the finest Mainstream and trad cornetists to emerge during the 1990's." Jon is also honored to be in Yanow's "Trumpet Kings" book.
Jack Sohmer reviewed "Chapter 2" for the Mississippi Rag, writing, "Kellso emerges as one of today's most fulfilling mainstream trumpeters and cornetists. His poignant, rounded tone suggests a seamless combination of Buck Clayton, Bill Coleman, Cootie Williams, Frankie Newton, and Roy Eldridge, a synthesis of which anyone may be justifiably proud. From the listener's point of view, it is difficult to think of anyone, save Ruby Braff, who so successfully embodies the best traditions of the past while at the same time bringing them convincingly into the present. Kellso is telling his story in the hallowed tradition of great yarn-spinners throughout history. He entertains, informs, and keeps our interest whetted for the next installment."
To see my gig schedule, go to my website: www.KellsoJazz.com
http://www.kellsojazz.com/schedule.htm
CLICK HERE TO GET A FREE MYSPACE LAYOUT
I changed my profile with help from pYzam
There is currently a search for two types of bands for record label consideration.
*** Note: PLEASE IDENTIFY IF YOU ARE IN GROUP 1 OR 2 IN THE SUBJECT LINE OF YOUR RESPONSE. Emails are being reviewed by different representatives.
1. A Pop/Rock/Commercial band with female lead. Band must consist of 2 guitars (Prefer both guitar players to be of lead caliber. However, one lead and one rhythm is acceptable), keyboard/piano, bass, and drums. Lead vocal, followed by backing vocals, in that order, is a plus as it relates to other members of the group. Average age of the band cannot exceed 28 years of age.
* Group must have an outstanding lead vocalist. ** Musicianship throughout the entire band must be very strong. *** Group cannot currently be under any contract of any type that is related to the music industry.
2. A Modern Rock band with male lead. Must be a complete band but there are no prerequisites as it relates to the make up of the band. Average age of the band cannot exceed 23 years of age.
* Group must have an outstanding lead vocalist. ** Musicianship throughout the entire band must be very strong. *** Group cannot currently be under any contract of any type that is related to the music industry.
XXX - If you meet the minimum qualifications as described above. Email a link for your MySpace Page and if applicable, a link for your website to: recordingartistsearch@gmail.com
Only send one email with your links. Due to the volume of responses normally received for these types of opportunities. After review of your material, you will only be contacted if there is an interest in attending one of your shows by a label representative. As such please to not send any follow up emails regarding selections. If you were not contacted back, there was not an interest.
Thank You.
PS: Before You Enter Any MySpace Contests You Might Want To Also Review The Website At: www.st
This is for my thesis which is about differences in personality of jazz and classical musicians, and in general, differences in jazz and classical stage performance.
I am psychologist but also a musician, and I..m interested in everything about the music influences...
HI JON-ERIK do you remember us? We already have our first CD-DVD.with some friends
We would like to have your opinion about it.......please send our kindest regards to SCOTT ROBINSON .. He came to play with us a few months ago (ko-ko is featuring by Scott)
Well summer has come and gone and fall is in the air so here I am back on myspace as promised. I thank you for your patience in being without comments for such a long time.
Unfortunely, I left NYC one week ago. I wanted to play wuth you again but Monday was my last night in NYC. I really hope to see you and play with you soon. I hope to return to New York. Thank you.. Malo
Online Now!
Hello John-Erik !