For over fifteen years, John Yao has been honing his talents as a trombonist, composer, and arranger, and has cemented his place on the New York City jazz scene. Yao’s lyrical soloing and expressive, round tone combined with his creative hunger for exploring the
boundaries of harmony and rhythm in his compositions and arrangements have established him as a unique musical talent.
As a trombonist, Yao has worked extensively as a sideman for Grammy-award winning New York City ensembles, such as the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra and Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra. He has also performed with as Paquito D’Rivera, Eddie Palmieri, Danilo Perez, Chris Potter and Kurt Elling, New Cuban Express Big Band, Terraza 7 Big Band, among many others.
As a composer, Yao has released five solo recordings, all of which feature his adventurous,boundary-pushing compositions for small groups and big bands alike. In addition to composing for his own big band, Yao has also been commissioned to write works for
professional artists and ensembles including the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, Jazz Orchestra of Philadelphia, Luis Bonilla, and HGM Jazzorkestar Zagreb. His works have been performed internationally by college and high school ensembles, including Temple University, Indiana University and the University of North Carolina, among many others. Many of his works are published and available to professional and educational ensembles. For two years, he was a member of the BMI Jazz Composers workshop under the guidance of Jim McNeely and Mike Holober.
In 2015, Yao pioneered a crowdsourcing campaign and founded the “Big Band & Beyond Concert Series.” The goal of the series was two-fold: to challenge himself to produce new big band works and perform them with JY-17 at each concert, and to expose audiences to new ideas of what a big band is and what it sounds like today. As Elliot Simon of the NYC Jazz Record put it, “This ain’t your granddaddy’s big band.” An in-demand educator, Yao serves as Assistant Professor of Trombone at Berklee College of Music and as Adjunct Professor of Music at Molloy College. He is an active guest artist and soloist at colleges and universities throughout the United States and abroad. In this episode, John shares his background, education, and musical journey.
Check Out John on this YouTube Video: John Yao’s Triceratop’s – Three Parts as One
How to Reach John Yao:
Website: https://www.johnyao.com/
Instagram: Johnyao5737
Twitter: JohnYao3
Listen to John Yao:
Apple – Spotify – Tidal – Amazon
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