Jazz trumpeter Derrick Gardner has been appointed Director of Jazz Studies at the Bienen School of Music. He has served as Interim Director of Jazz Studies since September 2022.
“This change in title recognizes Mr. Gardner’s valuable work and dedication as leader of the jazz studies program,” said Jonathan Bailey Holland, dean of the Bienen School of Music. “I appreciate his commitment to building a strong jazz program at Northwestern and look forward to the program’s continued growth under his direction.”
At the Bienen School, Gardner leads the Northwestern University Jazz Orchestra and also directs one of the Jazz Small Ensembles. He has doubled the number of jazz concerts presented each quarter and also introduced a new Northwestern University Jazz Ensemble in fall 2023.
“Our expanded jazz offerings will further extend the jazz footprint here at Northwestern University and in Evanston as a whole,” said Gardner. “[The] newly formed Northwestern University Jazz Ensemble offers invaluable experiences and opportunities for undergraduate jazz majors, non-jazz majors, and non-music majors to continue sharpening their skills.”
All Northwestern jazz performances are accessible via free live stream. See a schedule of upcoming jazz concerts.
“I appreciate [Gardner's] commitment to building a strong jazz program at Northwestern and look forward to the program’s continued growth under his direction.”
- Jonathan Bailey Holland
Inspired by the finest hard-blowing funky bop bands of the 1960s, Gardner is working to extend that great tradition as a performer, composer, and arranger. He quickly made his mark on the New York City jazz scene after arriving in the Big Apple in 1991 and has since traveled the world playing top-flight jazz—including five years in the Count Basie Orchestra as well as work in Frank Foster’s Loud Minority Band, Harry Connick Jr.’s Big Band, The Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, and Swiss tenor player Roman Schwaller’s European sextet. He formed his sextet, The Jazz Prophets, in 1991 and more than 30 years later it continues to be the primary vehicle of his distinctive, hard-driving music.
Gardner has worked with a tremendous litany of artists that includes Dizzy Gillespie, George Benson, Frank Foster, Joe Williams, Benny Golson, Rufus Reid, Kenny Baron, Stefon Harris, James Moody, Oliver Lake, Roy Hargrove, and Clark Terry, to name a few. His fifth recording as leader, Pan Africa, was released in 2023 on the Impact Jazz label. This new recording by Derrick Gardner & The Jazz Prophets draws its inspiration from Derrick’s tour of Ghana and is a blending of West African musical culture and Jazz.
Photo by Todd Rosenberg