Prof. Jamal Jones

Jamal Jones

Prof. Jamal Jones
jajones@kutztown.edu
610-683-4550
Old Main 34

Jamal Jones is a Philadelphia native composer/arranger and trumpeter. He is a University of the Arts alumni, where he majored in Trumpet Performance. Jones graduated amongst the top of his class, receiving The Director's Award, The Mary Louise Beitzel Award for Excellence in Jazz Studies and The Trumpet Performance Award. In September of 2007, he moved to Holland to pursue a M.M. in Jazz Composition & Arranging from The Conservatorium van Amsterdam to advance his style of composition and develop an international perspective of the art form.

During his two year stay in Amsterdam, he performed, composed, and recorded with original ensembles of his own (varying from jazz septet to full big-band) and also for fellow
colleagues and jazz orchestras throughout the Netherlands. Throughout his career he has worked with John Swana, Archie Shepp, The Amsterdam Jazz Orchestra, Orrin Evans and the Captain Black Big Band, Donnie McCaslin, Ursula Rucker and the BMI Jazz Orchestra, among other notable musicians. Performance venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Bimhuis, Kimmel Center and the Amsterdam Blue Note have featured arrangements and compositions of Jones', as well.

He currently resides in Philadelphia, PA where he is a commissioned composer for large ensembles at the University of the Arts and leads his own original jazz orchestra, entitled 'Jamal Jones and the Bureau of Sonic Wonderland'. In March 2018, Jones and his jazz orchestra began their monthly residency at the Upstairs London Grill/Paris Wine Bar Lounge in Center City Philadelphia, where they feature a performance every 1st Tuesday of the month.

He is also now a Radio Host and DJ for WPEB 88.1 FM (also on W 236 CL 95.1 FM) where he airs his own weekly radio show, entitled "Jamal Jones and the Philadelphia Original Jazz Series".

To further the minds of up & coming musicians and help the ongoing generations of music to come, Jones is involved in music education, as well. He is a recently appointed Composition & Arranging Professor at Kutztown University and an instructor for the Kimmel Center's Creative Music Program in Philadelphia. Jones is also on the committee for the Lancaster Avenue Jazz Festival for being its Masterclass Instructor and he teaches for multiple studios & conservatories throughout the region.