About Jon Faddis
Jon Faddis (born July 24, 1953) is an American jazz trumpet player, conductor, composer, and educator, renowned for both his playing and for his expertise in the field of music education. Upon his first appearance on the scene, he became known for his ability to closely mirror the sound of trumpet icon Dizzy Gillespie, who was his mentor along with pianist Stan Kenton and trumpeter Bill Catalano. == Biography == Jon Faddis was born in Oakland, California, United States. He played trumpet in the Oakland Symphony's Youth Chamber Orchestra, directed by composer Robert Hughes. In 1970 he participated in the YCO historic performance program and tour of "The Black Composer in America" to the American South, later recorded on the Desto label. At 18, he joined Lionel Hampton's big band before joining the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra as lead trumpet. After playing with Charles Mingus in his early twenties, Faddis became a noted studio musician in New York City, appearing on many pop recordings in the late 1970s and early 1980s. One such recording was the Players Association's cover of "Disco Inferno", from their LP Born to Dance (1977), on which he plays trumpet. In the mid-1980s, he left the studios to continue to pursue his solo career, which resulted in albums such as Legacy (1985), Into the Faddisphere (1989) and Hornucopia (1991). He became the director and main trumpet soloist of the Dizzy Gillespie 70th Birthday Big Band and Dizzy's United Nation Orchestra.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.