Jerry Weldon (born September 27, 1957) is a tenor

saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pro ...

, noted for his involvement in various groups such as Lionel Hampton Orchestra and

Harry Connick, Jr. Joseph Harry Fowler Connick Jr. (born September 11, 1967) is an American singer, pianist, composer, actor, and television host. He has sold over 28million albums worldwide. Connick is ranked among the top60 List of best-selling music artists i ...

's big band. He is seen as a "veteran" of the New York jazz scene.

Career

Weldon graduated from the

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

Jazz Program in 1981 and joined the Lionel Hampton Orchestra. He worked with Hampton until he died in 2002. He subsequently worked with organist Jack McDuff & his "Heatin' System" band. In 1990, Weldon became a charter member and featured soloist with Harry Connick Jr.'s newly formed big band. Since then, he has toured with Connick, and was also part of his Broadway musical production, ''Thou Shalt Not''. From 2016 to 2018, he was a member of the “house band" on ''HARRY'', Connick’s daytime television variety show. In addition to Weldon's work with Connick, he performs regularly as a leader of his own groups in New York City and tours throughout the U.S. and Europe.

Personal life

Weldon is married to author Virginia DeBerry.

Discography

As self and collaborations

* ''Midtown Blues'' (Amosaya, 1998) * ''3 O'Clock in the Morning: Live at Smoke'' (Dex Jazz, 2006) * ''Well Done! (Recorded Live at Smoke)'' (Dex Jazz, 2008) * ''Don't Look Back'' (Index Jazz, 2010) * ''On the Move!'' (Doodlin', 2016) * ''Those Were the Days'' (Cellar Live, 2018)Jerry Weldon, ''Those Were the Days''
Review by Alex Henderson, NYCJR, August 2018 - Issue 196, page 19. Retrieved 20 August 2018. * ''Massimo Faraò Trio Meets Jerry Weldon'' (Racing Jazz, 2020)

Collaborations

* ''Five by Five'' with Bobby Forrester (Cats Paw, 1994) * ''The Second Time Around'' with Bobby Forrester (Cats Paw, 1995) * ''Head to Head'' with Michael Karn ( Criss Cross, 1998) * ''What's New'' with Massimo Faraò (

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...

, 2017) * ''We're Rollin''' with Hammond Groovers (Nuccia, 2017)

With the N.Y. Hardbop Quintet

* ''The Clincher'' (TCB, 1995) * ''Rokermotion'' (TCB, 1996) * ''A Whisper Away'' (TCB, 1998) * ''A Mere Bag Of Shells'' (TCB, 2000)

As sideman

* ''Post No Bills'' (Joe Ascione, 1996) * ''Remembering Blakey: A Tribute to Art Blakey'' (Ron Aprea, 2012) * ''Bass, Buddies & Blues'' (

Keter Betts William Thomas "Keter" Betts (July 22, 1928 – August 6, 2005) was an American jazz double bassist. Early life and education Born in Port Chester, New York, he was nicknamed "Keter", a short form of the word mosquito. He graduated from Port ...

, 1998) * ''Bass, Buddies, Blues & Beauty Too'' (Keter Betts, 1999) * ''Live at the East Coast Jazz Festival'' (Keter Betts, 2000) * ''The Dreamer in Me: Live at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola'' ( Freddy Cole, 2009) * ''Blue Light, Red Light'' (

1991) * ''When My Heart Finds Christmas'' (Harry Connick, Jr., 1993) * ''Star Turtle'' (Harry Connick, Jr., 1995) * ''Come By Me'' (Harry Connick, Jr., 1999) * ''Songs I Heard'' (Harry Connick, Jr., 2001) * ''Harry for the Holidays'' (Harry Connick, Jr., 2003) * ''Only You'' (Harry Connick, Jr., 2004) * ''Oh, My Nola'' (Harry Connick, Jr., 2007) * ''Your Songs'' (Harry Connick, Jr., 2009) * ''In Concert on Broadway'' (Harry Connick, Jr., 2011) * ''Smokey Mary'' (Harry Connick, Jr., 2013) * ''That Would Be Me'' (Harry Connick, Jr. 2015) * ''True Love: A Celebration of Cole Porter'' (Harry Connick, Jr. 2019) * ''Joey D!'' (

Joey DeFrancesco Joey DeFrancesco (April 10, 1971August 25, 2022) was an American jazz organist, trumpeter, saxophonist, and occasional singer. He released more than 30 albums under his own name, and recorded extensively as a sideman with such leading jazz perfo ...

, 2008) * ''Big Shot'' (Papa John DeFrancesco, 2009) * ''What Time Is It?'' (

Giacomo Gates Giacomo Gates (born September 14, 1950) is an American jazz vocalist. Career Gates was born and raised in Connecticut. His father was a classical violinist. He made his public debut as a vocalist at the age of six. Soon after, he picked up guita ...

, 2017) * ''Sentimental Journey'' ( Lionel Hampton, 1985) * ''For the Love of Music'' (Lionel Hampton, 1995) * ''90th Birthday Celebration'' (Lionel Hampton, 2003) * ''Greasy Street'' (Richie Hart, 2005) * ''My Little French Dancer'' (Diane Hoffman, 2006) * ''Write On, Capt'n'' ( Jack McDuff, 1993) * ''The Heatin' System'' (Jack McDuff, 1994) * ''That's the Way I Feel About It'' (Jack McDuff, 1996) * ''Bringin' It Home'' (Jack McDuff, 1998) * ''Brotherly Love'' (Jack McDuff, 2001) * ''Endangered Species'' (David Schumacher, 2005) * ''Oriental Express'' ( Akiko Tsuruga, 2009) * ''Sakura'' (Akiko Tsuruga, 2012)

References

External links

Jerry Weldon @ AllAboutJazz

Jerry Weldon Organ Quartet

Jerry Weldon official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weldon, Jerry Jazz tenor saxophonists American jazz saxophonists American male saxophonists Musicians from New York (state) 1957 births Living people 21st-century American saxophonists 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Criss Cross Jazz artists