James Peter Dvorak (born December 16, 1948, New York City) is an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

trumpeter.

Background

Dvorak received his bachelor's degree from the

Eastman School of Music The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. Established in 1921 by celebrated industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman, it was the ...

in 1970 and then relocated to England, where he lived for several decades. In the early 1970s he worked with

Keith Tippett Keith Graham Tippetts (25 August 1947 – 14 June 2020), known professionally as Keith Tippett, was a British jazz pianist and composer. According to AllMusic, Tippett's career "...spanned jazz-rock, progressive rock, improvised and contemporar ...

for the first time; the pair worked together again in the 1980s and 1990s. He played with

Brotherhood of Breath The Brotherhood of Breath was an English-South African big band established in the late-1960s by South African pianist and composer Chris McGregor, an extension of McGregor's previous band, The Blue Notes. History The Brotherhood of Breath in ...

from 1970 to 1975 and with a group called Joy around the same time, and played with

Louis Moholo Louis Tebogo Moholo (10 March 1940 – 13 June 2025) was a South African jazz drummer. He was a member of several notable bands, including The Blue Notes, the Brotherhood of Breath and Assagai. Biography Born in Cape Town, Moholo formed The ...

in the middle of the decade. He led his own groups from 1977 to 1982, first Sum Sum (with

Elton Dean Elton Dean (28 October 1945 – 8 February 2006) was an English jazz musician who performed on alto saxophone, saxello (a variant of the soprano saxophone) and occasionally keyboards. Part of the Canterbury scene, he featured in Soft Mach ...

Alan Skidmore Alan Richard James Skidmore (born 21 April 1942) is an English jazz tenor saxophonist, and the son of saxophonist Jimmy Skidmore. Career He was born in London, England. Skidmore began his professional career in his teens, and early in his care ...

, and Nick Evans), then Dhyana. In the 1980s he worked with

Dudu Pukwana Mthutuzeli Dudu Pukwana (18 July 1938 – 30 June 1990) was a South African saxophonist and composer. Early years in South Africa Dudu Pukwana was born in Walmer, Port Elizabeth, Walmer Township, Port Elizabeth, South Africa. He grew up studyin ...

, Brian Abrahams, Keith Tippett,

Maggie Nicols Maggie Nicols (or Nichols, as she originally spelled her name as a performer) (born 24 February 1948), is a Scottish free-jazz and improvising vocalist, dancer, and performer. Early life and career Nicols was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, as M ...

, and Ruthie Smith. In 1989 he joined the group In Cahoots, playing with them through most of the 1990s, and also worked with

The Dedication Orchestra The Dedication Orchestra is a jazz ensemble formed as a tribute to the exiled South African musicians who formed the core of The Blue Notes and the Brotherhood of Breath, it features Alan Skidmore, Radu Malfatti, Django Bates, Kenny Wheeler, Elto ...

and with Marcio Mattos and

Ken Hyder Ken Hyder (born 29 June 1946) is a Scottish jazz fusion drummer and percussionist born in Dundee, Scotland, perhaps best known for combining folk, ethnic and Celtic music with jazz. Career Hyder has worked with and recorded with many musician ...

. He was a member of Mujician, again alongside Tippett, from the late 1990s.

Career

1970s to 1980s

According to the 10 November 1973 issue of ''Melody Maker'', the Jim Dvorak Quintet was appearing at the Black Horse in Rathbone Place off Oxford Street on the Friday. Dvorak's group District Six had released the ''To Be Free'' album on Editions 53. It was reviewed by Bill Milkowski in the April, 1988 issue of ''Down Beat''. He referred to it as a "highly eclectic offering, a kind of hodgepodge". He gave it three and a half stars. It was also reported that year by ''Music & Media'' in the magazine's 22 October 1988 issue that Dvorak's s African jazz group District Six were working with

Metronome A metronome () is a device that produces an audible click or other sound at a uniform interval that can be set by the user, typically in beats per minute (BPM). Metronomes may also include synchronized visual motion, such as a swinging pendulum ...

artist

Annabel Lamb Annabel Lamb (born 28 September 1955) is an English singer-songwriter. Career Annabel Lamb has released eight albums to date. She had a British Top 30 hit in 1983 with her cover version of The Doors song, "Riders on the Storm", her only hit i ...

on her ''Justice'' album.

1990s to 2000s

The

self-titled An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...

album that Dvorak and his bandmates recorded in 1976 as members of the group Joy was finally re-released in 2023. It was well received.''Jazz Views'', Jul 26, 2023
Joy – Joy by Nick Lea
/ref>

References

External links

* Discogs
Jim Dvorak
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dvorak, Jim American jazz trumpeters American male trumpeters American emigrants to England Jazz musicians from New York City 1948 births Living people In Cahoots members 21st-century American trumpeters 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Brotherhood of Breath members Joy (jazz band) members