Jamal Jones
Jamal Jones has been teaching musicianship and jazz composing/arranging courses at UArts since spring 2020. He currently runs his own jazz orchestra, Jamal Jones and the Bureau of Sonic Wonderland. He is also the creator of the Composers League of Philadelphia; a member of the Music Composition faculty at Kutztown University, Pennsylvania; and a guest lecturer for Drexel University Jazz Orchestra (Philadelphia).
Biography
Jamal Jones is a Philadelphia native, a composer/arranger and a trumpeter. He is a University of the Arts alum and earned a Bachelor of Music with Honors in Trumpet Performance in 2005. Two years later, Jones moved to Holland to pursue an MM in Jazz Composition and Arranging from the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. Since then, he has worked as a composer/arranger and trumpeter in Philadelphia and has also become involved in education. Initially, Jones became involved in music through his interest in early hip hop—like A Tribe Called Quest, Digable Planets, Mos Def & Talib Kweli are Blackstar, the Roots and other acts—to classic soul and funk, which segued into jazz fusion and classic jazz, among other genres.
Experience
- Throughout his career, Jones has worked with the Amsterdam Jazz Orchestra, Donnie McCaslin, Orrin Evans and the Captain Black Big Band, Archie Shepp, John Swana, and Ursula Rucker and the BMI Jazz Orchestra, among other notable musicians.
- He has performed at renowned venues such as Amsterdam Blue Note and Bimhuis, Amsterdam; Carnegie Hall, New York City; and Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, which have featured arrangements and compositions of his, as well.
- Jones runs his own jazz orchestra, Jamal Jones and the Bureau of Sonic Wonderland.
- He created the Composers League of Philadelphia and is a member of the Music Composition faculty at Kutztown University and a guest lecturer for Drexel University Jazz Orchestra.
Jamal Jones and the Bureau of Sonic Wonderland at Lancaster Ave Jazz Festival (Philadelphia)
Jamal Jones and the Bureau of Sonic Wonderland performance
Awards & Accolades
Jones has been honored with the
- HSP Nuffic Huygens Scholarship Award,
- CBC Spouses Performing Arts Scholarship Award,
- Mary Louise Bietzel Award for Student Excellence in Jazz Studies (University of the Arts),
- Director’s Award (University of the Arts) and
- Trumpet Performance Award (University of the Arts).