James Robert Rotondi (born 28 August 1962) 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, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

trumpeter, composer, arranger, educator, and conductor. The youngest of five siblings, Rotondi was born in Butte, Montana. He played in New York City for twenty years before moving to Austria. He has taught at the University for Music and Dramatic Arts in Graz, Austria. He has released over ten albums as a leader for Sharp Nine, Criss Cross, Posi-Tone, and

Smoke Sessions Records Smoke Sessions Records is an independent record label based in New York City. History Smoke jazz club started the label in 2014.Hovan, C. Andrew (April 23, 2014"Smoke Sessions: A Threesome from Herring, Jackson, & Hazeltine" AllAboutJazz. The co- ...

. He has played on over eighty albums as a sideman. He has performed and recorded with

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

, Lionel Hampton, the

Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra Toshiko is a feminine Japanese given name. Possible writings *敏子 "agile/clever, child" *俊子 "genius, child" *淑子 "graceful/polite, child" *寿子 "longevity, child" *年子 "year/age, child" *歳子 "age/time, child" *稔子 "humble, ch ...

Lou Donaldson Lou Donaldson (born November 1, 1926) is an American retired jazz Alto saxophone, alto saxophonist. He is best known for his soulful, bluesy approach to playing the alto saxophone, although in his formative years he was, as many were of the bebop ...

Curtis Fuller Curtis DuBois Fuller (December 15, 1932May 8, 2021) was an American jazz trombonist. He was a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and contributed to many classic jazz recordings. Early life Fuller was born in Detroit on December 15, 1932. ...

, Benny Sharoni, Eric Alexander, and

George Coleman George Edward Coleman (born March 8, 1935) is an American jazz saxophonist known for his work with Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock in the 1960s. In 2015, he was named an NEA Jazz Master. Early life Coleman was born in Memphis, Tennessee. He was ...

. Rotondi has led a quintet, which features vibraphonist Joe Locke, and an electric band with

David Hazeltine David Perry Hazeltine (born October 27, 1958) is an American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and educator. Early life Hazeltine was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on October 27, 1958. He began studying the piano at the age of nine, and first pe ...

called Full House, which uses electronic sound on his trumpet and a variety of other electronic instruments. He is also a member of the group One for All. In 1984, while attending North Texas State University (

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal School, ...

), he won first place in the International Trumpet Guild's jazz trumpet competition.

Discography

As leader

* ''Introducing Jim Rotondi'' ( Criss Cross, 1997) * ''Jim's Bop'' (Criss Cross, 1997) * ''Reverence'' (Criss Cross, 2000) * ''Excursions'' (Criss Cross, 2000) * ''Destination Up'' (Sharp Nine, 2001) * ''New Vistas'' (Criss Cross, 2004) * ''The Pleasure Dome'' (Sharp Nine, 2004) * ''Iron Man'' (Criss Cross, 2006) * ''1000 Rainbows'' ( Posi-Tone, 2010) * ''The Move'' (Criss Cross, 2010) * ''Live at Smalls'' ( Smalls Live, 2010) * ''Hard Hittin' at the Bird's Eye'' (Sharp Nine, 2013) * ''Dark Blue'' ( Smoke Sessions, 2016)

As sideman

With One for All * ''Too Soon to Tell'' (Sharp Nine, 1997) * ''Optimism'' (Sharp Nine, 1998) * ''Upward and Onward'' (Criss Cross, 1999) * ''What's Going On'' (Venus, 2000) * ''The Long Haul'' (Criss Cross, 2000) * ''The End of a Love Affair'' (Venus, 2001) * ''Live at Smoke Volume 1'' (Criss Cross, 2001) * ''Wide Horizons'' (Criss Cross, 2002) * ''No Problem'' (Venus, 2003) * ''Blueslike'' (Criss Cross, 2004) * ''Killer Joe'' (Venus, 2005) * ''The Lineup'' (Sharp Nine, 2006) * ''Return of the Lineup'' (Sharp Nine, 2009) * ''Incorrigible'' (Jazz Legacy, 2009) * ''Invades Vancouver!'' (Cellar Live, 2010) * ''The Third Decade'' (Smoke Sessions, 2016) With Eric Alexander * '' Straight Up''(Delmark, 1993) * ''Man with a Horn'' (

Milestone A milestone is a numbered marker placed on a route such as a road, railway line, canal or boundary. They can indicate the distance to towns, cities, and other places or landmarks; or they can give their position on the route relative to so ...

, 1997) * '' Mode for Mabes'' (Delmark, 1999) * ''

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...

'' (HighNote, 2000) * '' The Second Milestone'' (Milestone, 2001) * '' Temple of Olympic Zeus'' (

HighNote HighNote Records is a jazz record company and label founded by Joe Fields with his son, Barney Fields, in 1997. Joe Fields worked for Prestige Records in the 1960s, and in the 1970s founded Muse Records. After he sold Muse, he started the Highn ...

, 2007) With Charles Earland * ''Blowing the Blues Away'' (HighNote, 1997) * ''Cookin' with the Mighty Burner'' (HighNote, 1999) * ''Live'' (Cannonball, 1999) With

Irene Reid Irene Reid (September 23, 1930 – January 5, 2008) was an American jazz singer. Early life Reid was born and raised in Savannah, Georgia. She sang in church and in high school in Georgia, and moved to New York City in 1947 after her mother d ...

* ''Million Dollar Secret'' (Savant, 1997) * ''I Ain't Doing Too Bad'' (Savant, 1999) * ''The Uptown Lowdown'' (Savant, 2000) * ''One Monkey Don't Stop No Show'' (Savant, 2002) With others *

Toshiko Akiyoshi is a Japanese–American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and bandleader. Akiyoshi received fourteen Grammy Award nominations and was the first woman to win Best Arranger and Composer awards in '' Down Beat'' magazine's annual Readers' Poll. ...

, Jazz Orchestra Featuring Lew Tabackin, ''Hiroshima Rising from the Abyss'' (Videoarts, 2001) *

, Jazz Orchestra Featuring Lew Tabackin, ''Last Live in Blue Note Tokyo'' (Warner Music Japan, 2004) * Ray Appleton, ''Killer Ray Rides Again'' (Sharp Nine, 1996) * Paul Bollenback, ''Soul Grooves'' (Challenge, 1999) *

Ann Hampton Callaway Ann Hampton Callaway (born May 30, 1958) is an American jazz singer, songwriter, and actress. She wrote and sang the theme song for the TV series ''The Nanny''. Career A native of Chicago, her father, John Callaway, was a journalist and her mot ...

, ''To Ella with Love'' (After 9, 1996) *

Alexis Cole Alexis Cole is an American jazz singer. Career Cole was born in Queens, New York. Her father and grandmother were both jazz singers and pianists. She grew up in South Florida, where she studied Musical Theater at the New World School of the Arts ...

, ''You'd Be So Nice to Come Home to'' (Venus, 2010) *

, ''Danger High Voltage'' (Two and Four, 2000) *

Steve Davis Steve Davis (born 22 August 1957) is an English retired professional snooker player who is currently a commentator, musician, DJ, and author. He is best known for dominating professional snooker during the 1980s, when he reached eight World S ...

, ''Dig Deep'' (Criss Cross, 1997) *

Dena DeRose Dena DeRose (born February 15, 1966) is an American jazz pianist, singer and educator. Although she began her career just as a pianist, medical problems with her hand forced her to become a vocalist as well. She has released seven solo albums. B ...

, ''I Can See Clearly Now'' (Sharp Nine, 2000) *

Kyle Eastwood Kyle Eastwood (born May 19, 1968) is an American jazz bassist and film composer. He studied film at the University of Southern California for two years before embarking on a music career. After becoming a session player in the early 1990s and lea ...

, ''Paris Blue'' (Candid, 2005) *

Joe Farnsworth Joseph Allen Farnsworth (born February 21, 1968, Holyoke, Massachusetts) is an American jazz drummer. Farnsworth was one of five sons born to trumpeter and bandleader Roger Farnsworth; one of the brothers played saxophone in Ray Charles's band. ...

, ''It's Prime Time'' (2003) *

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 ...

, ''Fly Rite'' (Sharp Nine, 1998) * Lionel Hampton, ''90th Birthday Celebration'' (Sound Hills, 1999) *

, ''How It Is'' (Criss Cross, 1997) *

Mike LeDonne Michael Arthur LeDonne (born October 26, 1956) is a jazz pianist and organist known for post-bop and hard bop. He has worked with Benny Golson since 1996 and performs under his own name all over the world. Early life LeDonne was born in Bridgepo ...

, ''Then & Now'' (Double-Time, 1999) *

Bill Mobley Joseph William Mobley (born April 7, 1953) is an American jazz trumpet and flugelhorn player. Early life and education Mobley was born in Memphis, Tennessee. Both of his parents were musicians. Mobley learned piano, his mother's instrument, from ...

, ''Live at Small's Vol. 1'' (Space Time, 1997) * Bill Mobley, ''Live at Small's Vol. 2'' (Space Time, 1998) *

Meeting Point Meeting Point ( Chinese: 匯點) was a liberal political organisation and party in Hong Kong formed by a group of former student activists in the 1970s and intellectuals for the discussion for the Sino-British negotiation on the question of Hon ...

, ''Quintessence'' (Challenge, 2008) * Bob Mintzer, ''Swing Out'' (MCG, 2008) *

One O'Clock Lab Band One O'Clock Lab Band is an ensemble of the Jazz Studies division at the University of North Texas College of Music in Denton, Texas. Since the 1970s, the band's albums have received seven Grammy Award nominations, including two for ''Lab 2009''. ...

, ''Lab 85'' (North Texas Lab Band, 1985) *

Cecil Payne Cecil Payne (December 14, 1922 – November 27, 2007) was an American jazz baritone saxophonist born in Brooklyn, New York. Payne also played the alto saxophone and flute. He played with other prominent jazz musicians, in particular Dizzy Gilles ...

, ''Chic Boom, Live at the Jazz Showcase'' (Delmark, 2001) * Benny Sharoni: ''Slant Signature'' (Papaya, 2014)

References

General references * Jim Rotondi at

allmusic.com AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

* Jim Rotondi a
allaboutjazz.com
* Article on Jim Rotondi i
JazzTimes
Inline citations

External links

jimrotondi.com
* *Eric Siereveld (Author), Brandon Coleman (Series Editor), A Modern Approach to Improvisation, Volume 2: The Improvisational Style of Jim Rotondi, 2014 (ISBN 978-1499662108) {{DEFAULTSORT:Rotondi, Jim 1962 births Living people 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century trumpeters American jazz trumpeters American male trumpeters Criss Cross Jazz artists American male jazz musicians One for All (band) members People from Butte, Montana Posi-Tone Records artists University of North Texas College of Music alumni Smoke Sessions Records artists