Erik Jekabson (born March 23, 1973) is an American jazz

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

er and

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet, but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B♭, though ...

player. A Bay Area-based musician, he is known for the jazz group The Electric Squeezebox Orchestra, which he leads. He is also a composer and arranger.

Biography

Jekabson graduated from the

San Francisco Conservatory of Music The San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) is a private music conservatory in San Francisco, California, United States. As of 2024, it had more than 440 students. History The San Francisco Conservatory of Music was founded in 1917 by Ada ...

in 2006, having already studied at the

Oberlin Conservatory of Music The Oberlin Conservatory of Music is a private music school, music conservatory of Oberlin College, a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio. It was founded in 1865 and is the ...

and having toured in Japan in the 1990s. While in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

from 1994 to 1998 he played with

Kermit Ruffins Kermit Ruffins (born December 19, 1964) is an American jazz trumpeter, singer, and composer from New Orleans. He has been influenced by Louis Armstrong and Louis Jordan and says that the highest note he can hit on trumpet is a high C. He often a ...

, Eddy Louiss, and the jam band

Galactic Galactic is an American funk band from New Orleans, Louisiana. Origins and background Formed in 1994 as an octet (under the name Galactic Prophylactic) and including singer Chris Lane and guitarist Rob Gowen, the group was soon pared down to a ...

. While enrolled at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, he toured with guitarist and singer

John Mayer John Clayton Mayer ( ; born October 16, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but he left for Atlanta in 1997 with fellow guitarist Clay Cook, with whom he formed the short-liv ...

. While in New York City, he performed with jazz saxophonist

Illinois Jacquet Jean-Baptiste Illinois Jacquet (October 30, 1922 – July 22, 2004) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, best remembered for his solo on " Flying Home", critically recognized as the first R&B saxophone solo. He is also known as one of the w ...

; on TV he has played on the ''Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' and ''

Late Night with David Letterman ''Late Night with David Letterman'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the first installment of the '' Late Night''. Hosted by David Letterman, it aired from February1, 1982 to June 25, 1993, and was replaced by ...

''. In 2022, he co-released an album with pianist

Art Lande Art Lande is an American musician who was born in New York City, United States, on 5 February 1947. Born in New York, Lande began piano at age 4. He attended Williams College and moved to San Francisco in 1969. In 1973 he recorded '' Red Lanta,' ...

, ''The Silver Fox'', in the Arterik Quartet, which was recorded at a live concert in Berkeley in 2012. The album included two discs, each disc including the compositions of one of the co-leaders. The same year he released ''Anti-Mass'', recorded in 2011 with the String-tet chamber group, including

Dayna Stephens Dayna Stephens (born August 1, 1978) is an American jazz saxophonist and composer. In addition to leading his own group, Stephens has performed extensively with Kenny Barron, Ambrose Akinmusire, Taylor Eigsti, Julian Lage, Eric Harland, and G ...

. Jazz critic Matt Collar noted that, "while the nature of a string-based ensemble naturally encourages a ruminative, classically oriented sound, Anti-Mass is at its core a jazz album," comparing its style to the

Gil Evans Ian Ernest Gilmore Evans (né Green; May 13, 1912 – March 20, 1988) was a Canadian Americans, Canadian–American jazz pianist, Music arranger, arranger, composer and bandleader. He is widely recognized as one of the greatest orchestrators i ...

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...

collaborations of the early Third Stream era. The album was inspired by the

De Young Museum The de Young Museum, formally the M. H. de Young Memorial Museum, is a fine arts museum located in San Francisco, California, named for early San Francisco newspaperman M. H. de Young. Located on the West Side (San Francisco), West Side of the ci ...

, who commissioned Jekabson to write music for a sculpture in its gallery. Another recording in 2011, a live performance at the Hillside Club with percussionist John Santos, was released in 2014 as the album ''Live at the Hillside Club.'' In 2020, he released ''One Note at a Time'' by the Erik Jekabson Sextet III, his eighth album as leader. Also on the album were saxophonist Dave Ellis, guitarist Dave MacNab, bassist John Wiitala, drummer David Flores, and John Santos. Roger Farbey of ''

Jazz Journal ''Jazz Journal'' is a British jazz magazine established in 1946 by Sinclair Traill (1904–1981). It was first published in London under the title ''Pick Up'', which Traill founded as a locus for serious jazz criticism in Britain.Roberta Freund S ...

'' described the album as achieving a "consistently high level of musicianship" throughout its contrasting themes.

The Mercury News ''The Mercury News'' (formerly ''San Jose Mercury News'', often locally known as ''The Merc'') is a morning daily newspaper published in San Jose, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is published by the Bay Area News Group, a subsidia ...

noted the album "The Last Days of Studio A" (2021) with Jekabson on trumpet as one of the "favorite 2021 releases by Bay Area artists," having been recorded shortly before the closure of

Fantasy Studios Fantasy Studios was a music recording studio in Berkeley, California, United States, at the Zaentz Media Center, known for its recording of award-winning albums including Journey (band), Journey's ''Escape (Journey album), Escape'' and Green Day's ...

. Jekabson has performed tributes to former jazz trumpeters, including

Chet Baker Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool". Baker earned much attention and ...

and

Clifford Brown Clifford Benjamin Brown (October 30, 1930 – June 26, 1956) was an American jazz trumpeter, pianist and composer. He died at the age of 25 in a car crash, leaving behind four years' worth of recordings. His compositions "Sandu", "Joy Sprin ...

Discography

As leader

* ''Intersection'' (2004, Fresh Sound, New Talent) * ''Crescent Boulevard'' (2010, Jekab's Music) * ''Anti-Mass'' (2012, Jekab's Music) * ''Live at the Hillside Club'' (2014, Jekab's Music) * ''Cheap Rent'' (2015, OA2 Records) * ''A Brand New Take'' (2016, OA2 Records) * ''Erik Jekabson Quintet'' (2017,

Wide Hive Records Wide Hive Records is an independent record label based in Berkeley, California. It was founded by Gregory Howe in 1997 in San Francisco's Mission District as a record label, live music venue, recording studio and café. In its early incarnatio ...

) * ''The Falling Dream'' (2018, OA2 Records) * ''Erik Jekabson Sextet'' (2018, Wide Hive Records) * ''Matter Is'' (2019, doubleOone) * ''One Note at a Time'' (2020, Oklahoma Wind Music)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jekabson, Erik Living people American trumpeters 21st-century American trumpeters 1973 births