Terell Stafford

Terell Stafford, acclaimed trumpet player based in New York, has been hailed as “one of the great players of our time, a fabulous trumpet player” by piano legend McCoy Tyner. Stafford is recognized as an incredibly gifted and versatile player, he combines a deep love of melody with his own brand of spirited and adventurous lyricism. Stafford’s exceptionally expressive and well defined musical talent allows him to dance in and around the rich trumpet tradition of his predecessors while making his own inroads.

Stafford first picked up the trumpet at age thirteen, initially studying classical music. While pursuing a music education degree at the University of Maryland, Stafford played with the school’s jazz band. In 1988, Stafford had the good fortune to meet and receive advice from Wynton Marsalis who suggested that he study with Dr. William Fielder at Rutgers University. After studying trumpet fundamentals with Dr. Fielder, Stafford was inspired to play all genres of music including jazz. It was during this time that he began to immerse himself in jazz; listening to everything he could get his hands on. Stafford cites one of his most profound musical influences as Clifford Brown’s rendition of Cherokee. Later, Marsalis gave Stafford the opportunities to perform in his group Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, and teach at Jazz at Lincoln Center and Juilliard. Marsalis supports Stafford’s current role as Managing and Artistic Director of the Jazz Orchestra of Philadelphia and continues to offer his guidance and support. While studying at Rutgers, Stafford was invited to join Bobby Watson’s group, Horizon. The next five years were spent balancing his offstage education with the incredible knowledge and experience gained from performing alongside Watson, co-leader Victor Lewis and Shirley Scott. Scott invited Stafford to join her quintet and the house band on Bill Cosby’s show You Bet Your Life, where Scott was Musical Director, this gave Stafford the opportunity to play alongside Tim Warfield that led to their ongoing musical collaborations. Stafford credits these experiences to honing his skills as an effective arranger, composer and bandleader; all things that Bobby Watson himself learned from his time with the late Art Blakey while performing with the Jazz Messengers. Stafford’s time with Horizon led to his joining McCoy Tyner’s Latin All-Star Band that featured some of the best Latin jazz players, including trombonist Steve Turre, flutist Dave Valentin and percussionist Jerry Gonzalez.

Since the mid-1990’s, Stafford has performed with groups such as Benny Golson’s Sextet, McCoy Tyner’s Sextet, Kenny Barron Quintet, Frank Wess Quintet, Jimmy Heath Quintet and Big Band, Jon Faddis Jazz Orchestra, Carnegie Hall Jazz Band and Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Alumni Band.

Stafford has been an integral member in bands led by esteemed artists such as Cedar Walton, Sadao Watanabe, Herbie Mann, and Matt Wilson. Stafford has appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Rosie O’Donnell Show, and You Bet your Life with Bill Cosby. Bill Cosby has been an incredible mentor for Stafford welcoming him into the house band on his show, encouraging Stafford to teach and was instrumental in his positions at Cheney University and Temple University, Cosby’s alma mater. Stafford can be heard along with Bobby Watson on the soundtrack for the feature film A Bronx Tale and in the documentary Treme: Untold Story of Black New Orleans. Stafford has performed as a guest artist with the Billy Taylor Trio on National Public Radio’s Billy Taylor’s Jazz at the Kennedy Center.

Time to Let Go (Candid 1995) was Stafford’s debut album featuring Victor Lewis, Ed Simon, Steve Wilson, Tim Warfield, Victor See-Yuen, Steve Nelson and Michael Bowie. Centripetal Force (Candid 1997) was Stafford’s second release featuring Ron Blake, John Clark, Stefon Harris, Ed Howard, Victor Lewis, Russell Malone, Daniel Moreno, Stephen Scott and Tim Warfield. His third album was Fields of Gold (Nagel-Heyer 2000) featuring Bill Cunliffe, Kiyoshi Kitagawa, Antonio Hart and Rodney Green. His fourth release was New Beginnings (MAXJAZZ 2003) featuring Mulgrew Miller, Derrick Hodge, Dana Hall, Steve Wilson, Dick Oatts, Harry Allen, and Jesse Davis. He followed this album with Taking Chances (MAXJAZZ 2007) featuring Bruce Barth, Tim Warfield, Dana Hall and Derrick Hodge. Stafford’s newest release This Side of Strayhorn (MAXJAZZ 2011), featuring Tim Warfield, Bruce Barth, Peter Washington and Dana Hall, has been hailed as “the first must have album of 2011” and “genius”.

Stafford can be heard performing on over 130 albums; a sampling is included here. Stafford with the Hamilton-Clayton Jazz Orchestra, performed on Diana Krall’s GRAMMY nominated From this Moment On (2006). John Clayton invited Stafford to perform with the Clayton Brothers Quintet, Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra and to teach for the prestigious Vail Jazz Foundation. In celebration of Jimmy Heath’s 80th birthday, Stafford recorded with the Jimmy Heath Big Band for the album Turn Up the Heath (2006). As a member of drummer Matt Wilson’s group Arts and Crafts, Stafford is featured on the album Scenic Route (2007). Stafford performed on Alvin Queen and the Organic’s album I Ain’t Lookin’ at You (2006).

Stafford was a member of the GRAMMY nominated Bobby Watson’s Tailor Made Big Band for their album Tailor Made. Stafford is a member of the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra and they were awarded a GRAMMY in 2009 for Best Large Ensemble, Live at the Village Vanguard. Stafford had the privilege of performing solo trumpet with the Temple University Symphony Orchestra for the premiere performance of Fourth Stream…La Banda. This commissioned piece for orchestra, jazz combo and solo trumpet, was written by GRAMMY winning composer Bill Cunliffe, former Boyer College faculty member. It was recorded on the university’s music label, BCM&D, and subsequently nominated for a GRAMMY in 2010 for Best Instrumental Composition. He is a member of the GRAMMY nominated Clayton Brothers Quintet for Best Instrumental Composition, Brother to Brother 2010 and New Song and Dance 2011. Another Temple University commissioned piece, Overture; Waltz & Rondo was nominated for a GRAMMY in 2013.

Stafford is the Director of Jazz Studies and Chair of Instrumental Studies at Temple University, founder and band leader of the Terell Stafford Quintet, and Managing and Artistic Director of the Jazz Orchestra of Philadelphia (JOP). Stafford is renowned in the jazz world as an educator, performer and leader along with countless award nominations, accolades and associated acts.

Terell Stafford was born in Miami and raised in Chicago, Illinois and Silver Spring, Maryland. He received a Bachelor of Science in Music Education from the University of Maryland in 1988 and a Masters of Music from Rutgers University in 1993.
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Diego Rivera: Ofrenda

Read "Ofrenda" reviewed by David A. Orthmann

by David A. Orthmann
November 5, 2024

Tenor and soprano saxophonist Diego Rivera has amassed an impressive track record on the Posi-Tone imprint as a leader, sideman, and other projects curated by producer Marc Free. Ofrenda, a ten-movement suite, is a vehicle for Rivera's impressions of aspects of altars corresponding with the traditional Mexican holiday Día De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead). In essence, an ofrenda is usually created by and placed in the home of the family of a person who has passed away.

Album Review

Diego Rivera: Ofrenda

by Kyle Simpler
November 3, 2024

El Dia de los Muertos (The Day of the Dead) is a time to honor deceased loved ones. Although the holiday originated in Mexico, many other cultures have embraced the tradition. One of its traditional features is an ofrenda, which is a traditional altar, generally placed in the home, containing several different items ranging from food to religious items. To an outsider, the celebration might seem somber and mournful, but this is not entirely the case. El Dia de los ...

Album Review

Danny Jonokuchi Big Band: A Decade

by Jack Bowers
October 15, 2024

For trumpeter, vocalist and bandleader Danny Jonokuchi, the path to success--in music and in life--has never been smooth or trouble-free. Born with a congenital lung disease, Jonokuchi needed life-saving surgery while in high school to treat a collapsed lung, which caused him to put his trumpet playing aside, at least temporarily. Years later, and almost a continent away from his native Los Angeles, Jonokuchi was viciously attacked in south Philadelphia, resulting in traumatic injuries to his mouth and embouchure. This ...

Album Review

Michael Dease: Grove's Groove

Read "Grove's Groove" reviewed by Richard J Salvucci

by Richard J Salvucci
October 6, 2024

The story of Michael Dease's journey from sax to trombone and back again is one any parent of a musically talented child could recognize. Dease started out as an alto saxophonist in middle school. Sometime later, he wanted to switch to the baritone sax. He worked at it. And worked at it some more. His combination of talent and practice paid off. Dease became something of a young monster on the horn, outplaying his senior bandmates in high school. But ...

Album Review

Danny Jonokuchi: A Decade

Read "A Decade" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
September 26, 2024

A Decade is arranger-composer, trumpeter and vocalist Danny Jonokuchi's celebration of personal and musical evolution, encapsulating his growth over the last ten years as a musician and leader of his big band. The album draws on jazz's rich traditions while also serving as a reflection of the enduring spirit of the genre. The release features compositions that outline the signature flourish of Jonokuchi's writing, standing as a testament to his ability to overcome personal obstacles. The ...

Album Review

Ken Peplowski: Unheard Bird

Read "Unheard Bird" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
September 3, 2024

Even when the recording (in this case, two) is a classic--as, for example, Charlie Parker's memorable Bird with Strings (Mercury Records, 1950)--some songs that deserve better are necessarily left on the cutting-room floor. Some may see that as disappointing, while others--like reed specialist Ken Peplowski--embrace it as an opportunity. On Unheard Bird, Peplowski--with strings and a core quartet--presents a series of fourteen generally likable themes, most of which were destined for Parker's album but were somehow passed over, and three ...

Album Review

Jordan VanHemert: Deep in the Soil

Read "Deep in the Soil" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
September 1, 2024

Energy and enthusiasm fairly leap from the speakers--or headphones--on Sharel Cassity's daring “Call to Order," the opening number on Korean-born saxophonist Jordan VanHemert's fifth album as leader, Deep in the Soil. Alas, that same ardor doesn't reappear until track seven (of eight), trombonist Michael Dease's boppish “ST in the House." In between, VanHemert and his companions (group sizes vary from sextet to duo) offer some agreeable music but nothing that approaches the ebullience or cogency of the themes already named. ...

Performance / Tour

Temple University’s Boyer College Of Music And Dance Presents A One-Night Only Classical-Jazz Concert April 16 At Jazz At Lincoln Center With Orchestral Premieres By Billy Childs And Bill Cunliffe

Source: AMT Public Relations
March 2, 2023

Featuring Performances by 100+ Student and Faculty Artists including Temple University’s Symphony Orchestra, Studio Orchestra, and Faculty Jazz Sextet: Terell Stafford, Dick Oatts, Bruce Barth, Tim Warfield, Mike Boone, and Justin Faulkner. In Celebration of TU’s Faculty Jazz Sextet’s Album Release Fly With the Wind The award-winning Temple University Jazz Band (TUJB) today announced its return to Jazz at Lincoln Center in a one-night only concert April 16th at 8:00 p.m. Hailed as one of today’s leading jazz student ensembles, ...
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Event

Jazz Philadelphia Presents 2nd Jazz Summit: October 11 and October 12, 2019

Source: All About Jazz
September 25, 2019

Center City Philadelphia will be energized with discussion and performance at the 2nd Annual Jazz Philadelphia Summit on October 11 and October 12, 2019 when regional and national jazz luminaries explore the city’s deep jazz roots and discuss its future. Musicians, jazz enthusiasts, advocates, funders, and the arts and culture community are gathering at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts and the University of the Arts for both high-level discussions and hands-on workshops about the art and business of ...
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Recording

A Family Feeling: Temple University Jazz Faculty Record New Music By Bruce Barth

Source: All About Jazz
August 26, 2018

In June, six members of Temple University’s noted jazz faculty gathered in Bunker Hill Studio in Brooklyn to record eight tracks of new music composed by Bruce Barth. Terell Stafford, director of Jazz Studies at Temple, lead the charge and the result, Family Feeling, is a reflection on the warm camaraderie between Terell Stafford (trumpet); Dick Oatts (also/soprano saxophone); Bruce Barth (piano); Tim Warfield, Jr., (tenor/soprano saxophone); David Wong (bass); and, Byron Landham (drums) that has been forged over many ...
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Recording

Trumpeter Terell Stafford Releases "Forgive and Forget" on Herb Harris Music

Source: All About Jazz
November 21, 2016

Herb Harris Music is happy to announce the release of a new album from trumpeter Terell Stafford. Forgive and Forget and is the second installment of a series of recordings dubbed “Jazzmasters Unlimited". A master jazz trumpeter with over 20 years of experience, Stafford has been hailed as “one of the great players of our time, a fabulous trumpet player" by legendary pianist McCoy Tyner. A powerful trumpeter with a finely honed sense of swing, and the ability to croon ...
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Performance / Tour

Jazz Orchestra of Philadelphia Dedicated to Preserve and Continue City's Signature Sound and Tradition

Source: DL Media
April 24, 2013

Premier Performance on International Jazz Day Free Event at City Hall Courtyard in Philadelphia, PA - April 30th at 12:00PM Terell Stafford, Artistic Director, and Deena Adler, Founding Director, announce the formation and premier performance of the long-awaited Jazz Orchestra of Philadelphia (JOP). World renowned trumpet player and Director of Jazz Studies, at Temple University, Terell Stafford, has organized an orchestra of 17 stellar, homegrown musical artists. ”I am incredibly excited to have the opportunity to present Philadelphia Jazz in ...
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Crowdfunding Campaign

Support the Jazz Orchestra Of Philadelphia at indiegogo.com

Source: Deena Adler
March 29, 2013

The Jazz Orchestra of Philadelphia, with Terell Stafford as Artistic Director, will be launched at City Hall Courtyard at noon on April 30th for International Jazz Day with an announcement followed by a performance. Jazz Orchestra of Philadelphia, comprised of 16 excellent, Philadelphia based musicians, has an artistic vision that will honor, preserve and continue the rich jazz legacy of Philadelphia while adding vibrancy to the City's jazz scene. After a few local performances, there will be a Grand Gala ...
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Performance / Tour

Terell Stafford Quintet Pays Tribute to Lee Morgan in the Kimmel Center’s Jazz Up Close Series, Feb. 25

Source: All About Jazz
February 3, 2012

Terell Stafford Quintet continues the Kimmel Center's 2011/12 Jazz Up Close Series, which honors Philadelphia jazz legends, with a tribute to Philly born hard-bop trumpeter, Lee Morgan, on February 25, 2012 at 7:30 p.m. in Perelman Theater. The quintet will perform a bebop-infused program of select works from the legendary composer, arranger and musician's catalogue of music, as well as works from Terell Stafford's latest 2011 release, This Side of Strayhorn. Trumpeter Terell Stafford will be joined on stage by ...
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Interview

Trumpeter Terell Stafford Interviewed at All About Jazz

Source: All About Jazz
January 30, 2012

Terell Stafford is as likely to credit his influences as he is to impress his listeners. Coming to jazz comparatively later than many players, and even with his busy schedule as a sideman, leader and educator, he remains devoted to exploring the music's roots, while expressing a relentless desire to learn more. Stafford's latest release, This Side of Strayhorn (MAXJAZZ, 2011), began with a commission for an educational project from the Cityfolk arts outreach group, with Stafford and his quintet ...
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Recording

Terell Stafford - This Side of Strayhorn (Maxjazz, 2011)

Source: Music and More by Tim Niland
April 25, 2011

The great composer, arranger and pianist Billy Strayhorn's compositions were a staple of the Duke Ellington songbook and remain a great inspiration to modern jazz musicians. Trumpeter Terell Stafford presents his view of some of the more well known compositions on this album where he is accompanied by Tim Warfield on tenor saxophone, Bruce Barth on piano, Peter Washington on bass and Dana Hall on drums.

The musicians are comfortable at many different tempos like the the lilting and haunting ...
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172

Recording

MAXJAZZ to Release Terell Stafford's This Side of Strayhorn on Tuesday, April 5

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
February 9, 2011

The independent St. Louis based record label MAXJAZZ has announced that they'll release trumpeter Terell Stafford's new recording This Side of Strayhorn (pictured) on Tuesday, April 5. The CD offers Stafford's interpretations of the music of Billy Strayhorn, the famed composer of jazz standards including “Take The A Train" and “Lush Life" who served for years as Duke Ellington's arranger, auxiliary pianist, and virtual alter ego. It features Stafford's working quintet, with saxophonist Tim Warfield, pianist and arranger Bruce Barth, ...
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"One of the great players of our time, a fabulous trumpet player." —McCoy Tyner