John L Worley Jr. is a well known jazz musician, trumpeter and teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area. His love for jazz and in particular, the trumpet, permeates his work and life. Find out more about his musical contributions and upcoming shows here.
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Hi Friends, 9/17/2016 Summer has left me with great playing memories with some of my favorite musicians, bands and venues. A highlight for me was the Birth of the Cool@65 with the Wallace/Worley and the San Jose Jazz All Star Nonet at the San Jose Summerfest. We had an all-star group with Wayne Wallace, Dave Martell, Cathleen Torres, Kristen Strom, Aaron Lington, Murray Low, Ken Okada and Wally Schnalle. What a treat to play with these people. I also was invited to sit with a panel of musicians for disc jockeys from all over the country by Brad Stone. Sitting on the panel was one of my favorite all time trumpeters, Joe Magnarelli. I love this guy’s work! Also on the panel was Jane Burnett and San Jose’s own Wally Schnalle, Aaron Lington and other fine musicians. This Fall I’m taking a short breather to put together material for my next CD and another one with my good friend Sebastien Lanson. More to come about those two projects! I’m also excited about a new project I’m a part of. Saxophonist Johnnie Bamont and Rob Sudduth (Huey Lewis and the News) and I are putting together a new big band and we have our first gig coming up on October 30th at the Firehouse in Pacifica, CA. The band personnel made up of some truly great musicians and some of my lifelong friends. We’re combining mostly original material from local composers, material from the Fasmania Big Band Library as well as charts from my personal library. Please remember the date, October 30th and more info regarding starting time and ticket prices coming soon. I look forward to sharing more of my musical endeavors with you all soon. All the Best, John Worley Hi Friends, 7/29,2016 Last weekend I played with the formidable Lila Downs and her band at the SF Jazz Center. Lila was on the top of her game and the band was right with her. I feel very lucky to be one of the trumpet players nationwide on her list. Trombonist George Saenz and I did a duel on Vamanos and that my friends, was a blast…literally!! The fans in SF held on to her every word and it’s no surprise we did a couple of encore tunes after each set. I look forward to playing with her and the cats again someday soon. Safe Travels… This coming week, I'll be playing with one of the most unique ensembles in the bay area. Maestro Jeff Sanford has booked the septet version of the Cartoon Jazz Orchestra at Angelica's a week from today. This group features music from various composers such as Raymond Scott, Leroy Anderson and many others. The show will also feature a comedy and magic performance, and silent films presented by film historian Paul Etcheverry. *Friday, August 5th. 8:30pm. Jeff Sanford’s Cartoon Jazz Septet Angelica’s 863 Main St. Redwood City, Ca 650-679-8184 Considering all of the stuff going on in the world, this would be the perfect way to spend a Friday evening away from it all. Hope to see you there and please don't forget to go to my web site to take a look at my upcoming events including: The Birth Of The Cool@65 with the Wallace/Worley San Jose Jazz All Star Nonet. San Jose Jazz Summerfest, Sunday 8/14, 3pm, Silicon Valley Stage. Fairmont Hotel. See ya soon! John Hi Friends, 7/17/2016 I just got back to town from a visit to my wife Susan's hometown, Manitowoc, WI. I haven't been to too many places more beautiful and clean than the state of WI. No litter, people are friendly and housing prices are 90% lower than the bay area. It's amazing what your dollar will buy you!....and when I got back home..... I jumped off the plane last Friday at 2pm, went home, showered, changed and play the first of two great gigs with maestro Pete Escovedo and his Latin Jazz Orchestra. Friday's hit was at Angelica's in Redwood City and yesterdays gig was at the newly renovated UC Theater in Berkeley, CA. It's always great to play with Pete and the cats.....Pete's celebrating his 81st birthday and in style. If you get a chance, go to one of his gigs and congratulate him on having one of the best careers anyone could ever have. My horn buds Louis Fasman, Dave Gregoric, Alex Murzyn were on the gig and what a horn section! These cats can play anything! Please take a moment to look through my calendar page and see what I've got coming up in the next couple of months. Here are a few of the places I'll be playing; Dio Deka, SJ Jazz Summerfest, Angelica's, Café Pink House, Hedley Club/De Anza Hotel etc... I hope you are having a fine summer and I look forward to seeing you at one or more of my gigs. Don't forget to come up and say Hello... Cheers! John Hi Everyone, Check out the great photos taken by Brad Shirikawa in my photo gallery of my gig with Ron Howard at the Dana Street Roasting CO. last Saturday night. Many thanks go to all of the trumpeters, Jared Lee, Alex Oh, Michael Carder and Christian Cotter who played and to our friends who came out to see our gig. My students did a great job playing their originals and sounded great! The Marley/Pohorski/Burn Trio accompanied us magnificently and Ron did a great job with the arrangements and play his butt off. Look for more of this project later this year. Coming up this weekend, hits with the Pete Escovedo Latin Jazz Orchestra, Mo-Chi Quartet and starting next week, the 20th Annual San Jose Summer Jazz Camp. Take Care! John Worley Hi Friends, This Saturday 6/11, I'll be playing with the Marley, Pohorski and Burns Trio with special guest Portland trumpeter Ron Howard at the Dana St Roasting CO. in downtown Mountain View. Also joining us will be trumpeters Alex Oh, Jared Lee and Christian Cotter, three of my students currently studying jazz improvisation with me at Hope St Studios. We'll be playing from 7:30-9:30pm and playing music from the hard bop era, standards and original compositions from all three students and myself. We hope that you can join us for this evening of fine music and fun.. Dana Street Roasting CO 744 Dana St. Mountain View, CA 94041 650-390-9638 www.danstreetroasting.com www.johnworley.com Hi Friends, 5/23/2016 We had a great turn out at Café Stritch. It was nice to see so many friends turn out for what was a very memorable evening of jazz with the Mo-Chi Quintet. We played selections from our Miles of Blue show that we performed at the 3rd Annual SLO Jazz Festival last weekend, tunes from our latest CD Naivasha and from our tribute to Chet Baker, Let's Get Lost. Amy Dabalos, Murray Low, Wally Schnalle and Ken Okada played as if there was no tomorrow and it was quite inspiring for me and the audience. My thanks also go out to Max B. for having us and providing the right vibe for a show like ours. The next day, my friend Carl Yamada wrote me this note and I would like to share this with everyone. It was very thoughtful and touched me greatly. John, Your rendition of "Beatrice" was the finest I've ever heard. The way you lightly danced in and around the melody while the piano was playing the tune was masterful. Playing a note here and there, was as if you were thinking of Susan from afar. Sam Rivers was admired by other musicians but not popular with the public. His playing was too "out" for most, but when he composed "Beatrice" as an ode to his wife, everyone loved it and is adoringly played to this day. I know it takes a lifetime to play masterfully as you do. I am pleased to truly listen like never before, as it has taken my lifetime to also achieve. Thank you my friend. Carl No, thank you Carl, you represent the soul of our fine jazz community in the South Bay. Thank you for all you do for us. I'm proud to have you as a friend. Sincerely, John Hi Friends, The Mo-Chi Quintet (Murray Low, Amy Dabalos, Wally Schnalle, Ken Okada and moi) will be playing at the Café Stritch this Saturday night, 5/21 at 8:30pm . We will be playing music from out new CD Naivasha as well as music from our shows "Miles of Blue" and "Let's Get Lost". We also will have CDs for sale, Naivasha and WorlView. I will donate $5 for each CD sold to San Jose Jazz and the Summer Jazz Camp because we're celebrating our 20th year of mentoring young jazzers and helping them find their voice and way into the jazz scene here and all over the globe. And one of those jazz campers is a member of the Mo-Chi Quintet, Amy Dabalos. Amy has been very active in the jazz scene in San Jose and the SF Bay Area and has made quite a name for herself in many different genres including singing with the San Jose Opera chorus, Weds nights at the Continental and is a active participant at the Hedley Club Jazz Jam run by Stephen Marley. Our drummer Wally Schnalle is the director the Summer Jazz Camp and the both of us have been a part of the faculty for many of the 20 years it's been active. More info to come later regarding the Summer Jazz Camp. Mo-Chi Sextet had three fun gigs so far in the month of May and it ain't over yet! The first one was in Mountain View's series, "Concerts in the Plaza", second one at Café Pink House in Saratoga and the 3rd annual SLO Jazz Festival in San Luis Obispo. The Café Pink House gig included my good friend, guitarist Sebastien Lanson. Sebastien traveled from the Loire Valley in France and played magnificently on the Mountain View and Pink House gigs. It was a magical night with a small but attentive audience. Believe me, this beats the heck outta playing in a place where everyone is talking and not paying attention to what we are trying to share with our guests. At the 3rd annual SLO Jazz Festival, we played music from our Miles of Blue show with saxophonists Tod Dickow and Kristen Strom. Festival director Scott Andrews made us feel totally at home and the band played great!!! The thing that made it extra special for me was how many friends came down from the bay area to hang and dig the festivities with us. Also, after the gig, many people came up to me to say how much they enjoyed hearing the music from Kind Of Blue live. They also shared personal stories about the first time they heard the album and what a difference the music made in their lives. Truly awesome!!!! My trumpet clinic which was sponsored by Yamaha was well attended. A local band called The Cool Tones backed me up along with my friend and special guest Juan Escovedo (he's is one of Pete's sons) from the Pete Escovedo Latin Jazz Orchestra. I had a group of trumpeters sitting in and we covered many topics of interest: warming up, different techniques for increasing their range, flexibility and last but not least, jazz improvisation. The Cool Tones backed us up as we traded choruses, fours and imitate our favorite players and what made them so special to us. It was a day of fun and one that I'll remember for years. John Worley...... Hi Friends, 4/28/2016 I hope everyone is in good health and spirits in today’s ever changing world. I took a little bit of time to refresh myself after our move from Mountain View to Palo Alto. It was quite a task but Susan and I are happy with our new digs and it’s bringing us peace of mind and inspiration for new and creative endeavors. Spring of 2016 is looking pretty good and I’m looking forward to sharing plenty of Jazz for you to enjoy! Coming up in the months of May and June with my Mo-Chi crew, (pianist Murray Low, bassist Ken Okada and Doug Porhorski, drummer Wally Schnalle, vocalist Amy Dabalos) you’ll see chances to catch us live here in the south bay as well as a little further south. Here’s a list of what’s coming up. For more info, please visit my calendar page. * May 6th - Concerts on the Plaza in Mountain View with the Mo-Chi Quartet and special guest from France, guitarist Sebastien Lanson. May 12th – Café Pink House. Mo-Chi Sextet featuring vocalist Amy Dabalos and Sebastien Lanson. *May 14th – San Luis Obispo Jazz Festival. John Worley and the Mo-Chi Sextet-Miles of Blue, music from Miles Davis’s recording Kind of Blue and selections from my new CD Naivasha. Joining Mo-Chi will be saxophonists Tod Dickow and Kristen Strom. *May 21st – Café Stritch. John Worley and the Mo-Chi Quintet playing music from my latest CD Naivasha. *June 3rd – Hedley Club/Hotel De Anza. John Worley and the Mo-Chi Quintet. Joining us will be host of the Hedley Club Jazz Jam, drummer Stephen Marley and guitarist/co-producer of Naivasha, Scott Sorkin. *June 8th – Hedley Club/Hotel De Anza. Portland trumpeter Ron Howard and I will be special guests with The Marley Pohorski Burn Trio. *June 11th – Dana Street Roasting CO. This is a concert that will feature some of my jazz trumpet students for the first set and Ron Howard and I on the second set with the The Marley Pohorski Burn Trio. Hope to see you soon! John Worley Hi Friends, 2/12/2016 Well, 2015 ended with a bang! I was fortunate to be able to back up Seth McFarlane with the San Francisco Symphony at Davies Symphony Hall on NY Eve. Playing with the SF Symphony was so beautiful. And Seth McFarlane was fantastic paying tribute to the Maestro, Frank Sinatra. 2016 is proving to be just as fun with upcoming performances at local jazz venues Café Pink House, Café Stritch, Hedley Club/DeAnza Hotel and the San Luis Obispo Jazz Festival. I'll be presenting our "Miles of Blue" show with the Mo-Chi Sextet featuring music from Kind of Blue and other works of the man himself, Miles Davis. But first, on March 5th, I'll be presenting a show at the Mildred Owen Concert Hall called "Sirens of the Pacific" featuring Amy Dabalos, Kat Parra, Wendy Waller, Morning Nichols and the Mo-Chi Quartet (Scott Sorkin, Ken Okada and Wally Schnalle). We'll be playing selections from our previous shows "Let's Get Lost, the music of Chet Baker" (Amy), "Zooma Zooma, the music of Louis Prima and Keeley Smith (Kat), "Tribute to Etta James and Women of Soul (Wendy) and A Tribute to Billie And Sweets (Morning). Plus I'm planning to sneak in a few selections from my new CD, Naivasha. This will be a great show featuring four of the most talented and personable vocalists in the Bay Area. For more info, go to my events tab and click on calendar. You don't want to miss this show!!! Hi Friends, 11/25/15 What a great 60th birthday/ CD Release Celebration we had at the Hedley Club. It was the perfect way to welcome in my 6th decade and the birth of my 2nd CD Naivasha. The Hedley Club was packed and the band was on fire. Amy Dabalos sounded like an angel and my good friends Glenn Appell and Nathan Tao sat in on trumpet and just killed it. Nathan is a former student of mine and attends SJSU and is really bringing it!!! Ricardo Rivera (D’Vine Jazz and Wine) wielded a mighty P Bone, joined in the festivities and sounded great. I want to thank Collette Lewis (Hedley Club manager), the Mo-Chi cats and kitten, all of my friends, my sister Joy and niece Gillian, and those who came from all over the world to celebrate with us. Susan really went to town by organizing a letter writing campaign from friends and former students. I didn’t see these until we were in Paso Robles the next day. I was very touched to read them all. Thank You to my wonderful wife Susan, Collette Lewis, Joy and Gillian Autajay, Sebastien and Muriel Lanson, Murray Low, Wally and Karen Schnalle, Ken Okada, Doug Pohorski, Amy Dabalos, Yvonne and Henry, Claudia Arh, Stephen and Sue Marley, Carl Yamada, Ray and Sharon Hill, Schareen and Jeff Holland, Lori Stotko and Stuart Nafey, John Kalleen and Mauriette Leufkins, Jim Norton and Kemi Nakabayashi, Kathy Gardner, Yoko, Tim and Serena, Rick and MaryJane Johnson, Matt Beasley and Layla, Glenn Appell, Niel and Jennifer Levonius, Wendy Waller, Kat Parra, Oscar Pangilinan and Natalie Chia, Chris Davis and family, Natalie and Kyle Neubarth, Steve Beckner, Gayle and Len Dabalos, Anne and Andrew Bradford, Celeste and Darlene Oda, Ricardo and Linda Rivera, Brenda Johnson, Alan Roter and Martha Hector, Andy Nozaka, Greg Newlon and Bev Barnett, Scott and Julianne Kepley, Lionel Emde and Renee Batti, Ed Johnson, Paul and Jenny Mernyk, Kris Strom and Scott Sorkin, Amanda Cienfuegos, Nathan Tao, Marion Dumont, Tammy Kaneko and Al, Bennett Newell-Roth, Mason Razavi, Bill Newell and Roberta Roth, Bob and Laurel Hawn, Kristi and David Stubbs, Roger and Beth Somero, June Riley, Frank and KaRin Zimmerman… If I left anyone out I apologize…Much Love to you all. Cheers!!!! John Worley Hi Friends, 10/29/2015 It’s been a great 59 years on the planet and I’m looking forward to many more years of great music and friends. My new CD, Naivasha will be released at my 60th Birthday celebration on November 14th at the Hedley Club-De Anza Hotel. It features the Mo-Chi Quartet with special guests Amy Dabalos, Sebastien Lanson, Scott Sorkin and Doug Pohorski. I hope you can fall by and help me ring in the new decade. Check my calendar for more info. Tonight I’m playing at a new music venue/Vietnamese restaurant called Jade Leaf. I played there a couple of weeks ago with my friend Jackie Gage who just moved to NY to seek new musical experiences and people. I know she’ll do well....you go Jackie!!! The Jade Leaf is located in downtown San Jose at 95 S. Market St. We play from 8-11pm and Lilane Kane is the featured vocalist. Stay tuned for more info regarding my new CD Naivasha........ Hi Friends, This Friday, Scott Sorkin and I will be playing at the Bon Vivant in Palo Alto, CA. We play from 7:30-10:30pm and are looking forward to seeing our friends and family fall by. It’s a win-win deal….Fine Jazz, French Bistro Cuisine and French wines!!!! And my next CD, Naivasha is almost finished. We are finishing up the art work and it should be sent off to the presses sometime next week. The CD release party will be held at the Hedley Club-DeAnza Hotel in San Jose on November 14th. I’ll also be celebrating my 60th birthday that night with my friends, family and Mo-Chi Cats and Kitten from 8:30pm-12:30am. Come down and help us celebrate good times and friendship! Love that place!!!!! All The Best, John Mo-Chi Quartet is John L. Worley Jr, Murray Low, Ken Okada and Wally Schnalle. Our special guests on the CD are Sebastien Lanson, Scott Sorkin, Doug Pohorski and Amy Dabalos. Hi Friends, September 25th, 2015 Man o’ man, what a great weekend! Getting to play with Pete, Sheila E., Peter Michael and Juan E. Escovedo at the DeVille Theater and Monterey Jazz Festival… The band also had the amazing and talented Louis Fasman, Marty Wehner, Dave Gregoric, Mark VW, Melecio Magdaluyo and the one and only Ray Obeido. What a totally awesome ensemble representing the bay area on the Jimmy Lyons Stage. A milestone for sure!!!! And to add a little sugar and spice…The Mo-Chi Quintet featuring the lovely and talented vocalist Amy Dabalos bringing the Mo-Chi touch to the South Bay scene. Joining us was Curt Moore, Kevin Mc., and Ken Okada. Featuring great cats and one of my favorite places to play anywhere. And now it's the first couple days of Fall. I want you to know that I have a couple of life events coming up that I'm celebrating. On October 2nd, I'll have been a trumpeter for 50 years??!! Where has the time gone?!? I feel pulled in a couple of ways...”I should be a better player but at the same time, grateful to be as good as I am”. And like I share with my students, "you're only as good as you are at the moment, no matter what you did yesterday". Word everyone. On November 15th I'm celebrating 60 years of spinning around the sun, howling at the moon and loving life. What a gift to see all I've seen in the fraction of time in relation to the ageless existence of the universe. Really, in a billion years who will know what we are and have done with the speck of time we call a life time....Best to make it as pleasant as possible and stay positive and healthy eh? Have a sweet Fall y'all and keep a eye out for my new CD that's also arriving on Nov 14th......Check out my calendar for more info…… All the best, John Worley aka Worlboy Hi Everyone, September 15, 2015 Once more, there's a lot of great music coming up. Pete Escovedo and his family featuring Sheila E., Peter Michael and Juan E., The Mo-Chi Quintet featuring Amy Dabalos, Long Meadow All Stars Big Band, Frank Sinatra Jr, Jon Jang, Dick Bright, my 60th Birthday party/"Naivasha" CD release with the Mo-Chi Ensemble featuring Sebastien Lanson, Scott Sorkin, Murray Low, Wally Schnalle, Ken Okada, Amy Dabalos and some other special guests.... For more info please go to my calendar page.... and now for events coming up this month: Friday 9/18 I’ll be playing with The Escovedo Family with Sheila E., Peter Michael, Juan and the legend himself, Pete Escovedo at the DeVille Theater in Vacaville. Pete is celebrating his 80th birthday and 60 years in the entertainment industry. For tickets and more info, go to: www.devillevacaville.com Saturday 9/19 the Mo-Chi Quintet will be at the south bay’s favorite house of jazz, The Hedley Club/De Anza Hotel. Our gig goes from 8:30pm-12:30am you’ll hear original works, songs from our upcoming CD “Naivasha” and songs from the Great American Song Book. Joining Mo-Chi will be guest drummer Curt Moore, and vocalist Amy Dabalos. Sunday, 9/20 I’ll be playing once again with The Pete Escovedo Latin Jazz Orchestra featuring Sheila E., Peter Michael, Juan and the legend himself, Pete Escovedo at the 58th Annual Monterey Jazz Festival. We’ll be playing in the Arena/Jimmy Lyons Stage at 3:30pm. It’s part of his 80th birthday celebration and is a show you don’t want to miss! for tickets go to: www.montereyjazzfestival.org. For information for these and future events, go to my web site: www.johnworley.com Cheers, John Hi Friends, Fall is almost here and September holds many fun events you can go to if you love jazz. For the next month I’m playing in a myriad of places with my favorite musicians both in the Mo-Chi Quartet/Quintet, Pete Escovedo's Latin Jazz Orchestra featuring Sheila E., Peter Michael and Juan E., Oscar Pangilinan and The Bad Ones and drummer/Hedley Club Jazz Jam leader, Stephen Marley. Friday 9/4 from 12:30-1:30pm my group, the Mo-Chi Quintet will be performing at the Atrium in the Stanford Hospital. Joining Mo-Chi will be vocalist Amy Dabalos. The concert is free and everyone is welcome to fall by and listen to some of the tunes that will be on our new CD, Naivasha. It will be released on November 14th at our CD release/ my 60th birthday party at the Hedley Club-De Anza Hotel. More info to come….. Saturday 9/5, I'll be with Oscar Pangilinan and his band The Bad Ones at Cafe Pink House in Saratoga. Oscar has lined up a great group of musicians including David Behroozi, Fred Paclibon, Anthony Francheschi, Brian Sheu and once again, vocalist Amy Dabalos. Tickets are $10 at the door or can be purchased online at: http://cafepinkhouse.com/events/oscarpangilinans-bad-five Sunday 9/6, I'll be a guest soloist with the Monterey Bay Jazz Orchestra lead by Paul Contos at the Monterey Aquarium starting at 5pm. This is the season finale of the Evenings By The Bay jazz series. Wednesday 9/9, I’ll be joining my good friend drummer Stephen Marley and his fine trio at the Hedley Club/De Anza Hotel. Stephen leads the Hedley Club Jazz Jam every 1st and 3rd Wednesday and on the alternate weeks his trio holds court at the south bay’s most beautiful jazz room. The gig runs from 7:30pm-10:30pm and I’ll be joining him from 9-10:30pm. Friday 9/11, Mo-Chi Duo guitarist Scott Sorkin and I will be playing at the Bon Vivant in Palo Alto from 7:30-10:30pm. The Bon Vivant recalls the charm and pleasure of a Parisian brasserie and the menu is inspired by bistro classics that showcase French tradition. The wine list is made up of French and Californian wines by the glass as well as a cocktails and beers. Bon Vivant is about pairing great food and interesting foods and for this event, original works from the Mo-Chi jazz repertory and selections from the Great American Song Book. The Mo-Chi Duo and Bon Vivant hope you will join us for a memorable evening of food, wine and song. Friday 9/18 I’ll be playing with The Escovedo Family with Sheila E., Peter Michael, Juan and the legend himself, Pete Escovedo at the DeVille Theater in Vacaville. Pete is celebrating his 80th birthday and 60 years in the entertainment industry. For tickets and more info, go to: www.devillevacaville.com Saturday 9/19 the Mo-Chi Quintet will be at the south bay’s favorite house of jazz, The Hedley Club/De Anza Hotel. Our gig goes from 8:30pm-12:30am you’ll hear original works, songs from our upcoming CD “Naivasha” and songs from the Great American Song Book. Joining Mo-Chi will be guest drummer Curt Moore, and vocalist Amy Dabalos. Sunday, 9/20 I’ll be playing once again with The Pete Escovedo Latin Jazz Orchestra featuring Sheila E., Peter Michael, Juan and the legend himself, Pete Escovedo at the 58th Annual Monterey Jazz Festival. We’ll be playing in the Arena/Jimmy Lyons Stage at 3:30pm. It’s part of his 80th birthday celebration and is a show you don’t want to miss! for tickets go to: www.montereyjazzfestival.org. For information for these and future events, go to my web site: www.johnworley.com Cheers, John Hi friends, Last night (Weds 8/12) I had the pleasure of being a guest artist with the Stephen Marley Trio at the Hedley Club in downtown San Jose. It was great to be back in the De Anza Hotel-Hedley Club and seeing and playing with old friends. Some of you may know that Oscar Pangilinan and I were co-hosts of the Hedley Club Jam for 2 1/2 years and we played a lot of music in that time. We left Stephen in charge and he's done a terrific job keeping it alive and well. I've got some other fun gigs coming up including this coming Sunday (8/16) from 2-3pm at The R-House at Shoreline Park in Mountain View. The Mo-Chi Quartet (Moi, Murray Low, Wally Schnalle and Doug Pohorski) will play tunes from our new soon to be released CD called Naivasha. I hope you can come out and see us! Check my calendar for more upcoming gigs and events..... Cheers! John Hi Everyone, 8/4/15 I'm back from my tour with the Stanford Jazz Orchestra led by my good friend Fred Berry with special guest Jon Faddis. We played in Paris at Le Petite Journal, the Bateaux Parisian, Jazz - At - Vienne Jazz Festival, Bastille Day in Evian, Montreux Jazz Festival and the Alba Music Festival. Jon Faddis was terrific as a performer and educator. The audiences were receptive and went wild over Jon's tasteful solos that spanned 4 octaves plus!! Now I'm back home, teaching and back to playing gigs with my favorite peeps..... Take a moment and look over my calendar and if you see something that interests you stop by and check out the music. And don't forget to stop and say Hi ! All the Best! John Bonjour Men Amis, I'm back from a very releaxing and wonderful trip to the Loire Valley, Stuttgart, Germany and Paris. Susan and I spent two weeks celebrating her and our good friend Sebastien Lanson birthdays. We went to Giverny and visited Claude Monet's gardens, shopped and explored Tours, visited a castle with our good friends Yvonne and Henry, saw Madame Butterfly in Stuttgart Dorothee and Michael, and dinner with Parisian saxophonist Vincent Jourde and his lovely girl friend Vanessa Trucat at my favorite café in Paris, Café Vavin. We also celebrated the release of "The Lives of Elves" by Sebastiens wife Muriel Barbery (author of the book "The Elegance of the Hedgehog"). It truly was a special time spent in several of the most beautiful places I've ever been to. And now I'm back with renewed energy, a fresh take on life and the thirst to play great music. This summer is filled with many events that promise to be very memorable and musical. Please check my calendar to peruse these musical events and I sincerely hope to see you and some if not all of them. Au Revoir, Worl Hi Friends, Man, the Billie Holiday/Sweets Edison Tribute went great. Special thanks to the musicians who made it happen and for all of our friends who came by and supported us. It was inspiring to hear Morning, Jim, Charlie, Jason and John bring that music to life. Afterwards we heard these comments from the audience members, "tasteful, "when can we hear this again" and more..... What a great night and I loved every minute. Thank you to all who came and supported us. We couldn't have done it without you and we thank you all very much! Hello Everybody! I am very excited to present a "Tribute To Billie Holiday and Harry "Sweets" Edison" for you and your friends on Saturday evening, March 21. Vocalist Morning Nichols and I pay tribute to a pair of the most recognized and revered musicians in Jazz. We've assembled an all star group featuring: guitarist Jim Nichols, saxophonist Charlie Keagle, bassist John Shiflett and drummer Jason Lewis for this not-to-be-missed performanc Morning and I will set the mood by featuring songs such as "What A Little Moonlight Can Do", "Good Morning Heartache", "Day In, Day Out", "God Bless the Child" plus tunes from the Great American Songbook and originals penned by myself that capture the essence of 42nd St in New York City. You'll be transported to the intersection of Swing and Be Bop, snapping your fingers on two and four and swinging all the way with us. Billie Holiday (or as Lester Young called her - "Lady Day") had a tremendous influence on both Jazz and Pop music to this day. Her vocal interpretations were reminiscent of the phrasing of horn players rather than the vocalists of her time. She had a difficult life early on but stints with pianist Teddy Wilson that featured Lester Young ( "Prez" her nickname for him) helped bring her talents to the public as well as imitated by many singers of that period. She had a long and tumultuous career but brought to light many great songs and the politically charged atmosphere of that time. Harry "Sweets" Edison was a great trumpet player....period! He played with the talented and famous Count Basie, Frank Sinatra's favorite trumpeter, Ben Webster, Lester Young, Oscar Peterson as well as recording on "The Jazz at Philharmonic" in the 80's with notable ex-Basie sidemen Al Grey and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis. His distinctive and sultry trumpet styling's earned him his nickname "Sweets" by the legendary saxophonist Lester "Prez" Young. One of my finest memories involved an SF Jazz concert I played with "Sweets" in a "Tribute to Louis Armstrong" back in 1993. Excellent trumpeters Terence Blanchard, Allen Smith, Mike Vax and TPTS (Warren Gale, Steve Campos and myself), and vocalists Maria Muldar and George Fleming were all a part of this concert. "Sweets" style and ideas were so infectious that very soon into the concert, his influence became the dominating force behind everyone's improvisations. A very exciting moment in time for me to say the least! Please join us on the evening of March 21st to pay tribute to two icons of the Jazz World, Billie Holiday and Harry "Sweets" Edison. All The Best!!! John Worley Tribute to Billie Holiday and Harry "Sweets" Edison Saturday March 21, 2015 Doors 7:00 pm - Concert 7:30 pm http://www.woodshed.org/calendar.html http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/1319262 St James Church 1565 Lincoln Ave., San Jose Calif. 95125 *just south of Minnesota between Nevada Place and Laura Ville Lane. 408-692-4484 Hi Friends, Earlier in February, I had the pleasure of playing with Jamie Cullum and his cats from England at the Palace of Fine Arts. He added local SF players to complete his big band and it was a swinging evening of hits after hits. He has a pretty loyal fan base and the show was sold out! Trumpets were Louis Fasman, Dave Scott and moi, bones were Ryan Black, John Gove and Dave Martell and saxophones were Dan McGuy, Aaron Lington, Fil Lorenz and Steve Steinburg and Tim Devine. Great band, venue and a good time was had by all. Happy New Years to everyone. Check out my calendar to see what's happening musically in the coming year.... 2014 was filled with many good times with friends, family and all of my band mates...... December was no exception! I went on a journey to Japan to honor the memory of my Mother, Hana who passed in April 2013. My brother Rich and sister Joy took her remains back to Japan in June and I was able to visit her resting with 15 generations of her family! afterwards I had the fortune to play with my good friend Sebastien Lanson in Kyoto, Osaka and Tokyo. I also got to visit the Yamaha Atelier Shop in the Ginza district of Tokyo and had some work done on my trumpet and flugelhorn. I was fortunate to have Hideichi Aoyagi take care of my horns and they came back playing better than ever!!!! So many memories and so many wonderful people.......I'm looking forward to going back someday soon....I've got my fingers crossed! Hi Friends, I want to thank everyone for all of your birthday wishes, Bari Bari cats blowing their butts off at the Art Boutiki gig and all of the folks who sat in, took pics and the Art Boutiki for having us. Walter Wagner took some awesome pics of my Bari Bari gig. Enjoy!!! Friends, there is a lot to grateful for....The universe has been kind to me and my heart is filled with love and gratitude. Susan and I had some friends join us the next day at Solis Winery and we shared great company, wine, food with them and after, we drove to Santa Cruz and had dinner at Hula's. What a fine weekend!!! In 4 days I'm leaving for Japan to see my Mom's resting place for the first time. She is in Sanjo which is north of Osaka. She told me stories about her home and after 59 years, I am finally going to see it for the first time. I'm meeting my family there, some for the first time and some for the second. I'm also playing with my good friend Sebastien Lanson in Kyoto and Osaka. He is kind enough to let me "horn in" on his gig..........Perhaps you've seen the poster of the Kyoto Composers Jazz Orchestra. It's really nice they are letting me sit in with them. It should be fun!!!!! I'll also be going to Tokyo to see friends and the folks at Yamaha. I'm looking forward to trying some trumpets and flugelhorns (I'll be darn, I never do that!...sure...)and seeing some of my favorite trumpet players.....more to come.... Hi Friends November is here and is going to be a month filled with Jazz, traveling and my last year as a fifty-something! (I know it’s hard to believe but…) I’m not going to sit back on my hinder this last year of my 50’s and watch the world go by! I’m not ready for that rockin’ chair yet. On Friday November 7th, the Mo-Chi Quartet will be playing at the Hedley Club-Hotel De Anza in downtown San Jose from 8:30pm to 12:30am. Most of you know the Hedley Clubs reputation, shared by the general public as one of the best places to hear live music in the South Bay. Come down and enjoy this beautiful room while we present some original works as well as jazz standards loved by all. It’s a great place to hear live jazz. (cue the fanfare trumpets) On my birthday, the 15th of November, I’m playing at the SLG Art Boutiki in San Jose with one of my premier ensembles, Bari Bari. Bari Bari is a bottom heavy extravaganza that features not one, but 3 baritone saxophonists Aaron Lington, Geoff Roach, Oscar Pangilinan (who’s subbing for Fil Lorenz) and my Mo-Chi Quartet, Murray Low, Nils Johnson and Wally Schnalle. For this show, we’re adding one more person, Kristen Strom on the big horn just like we did at the San Jose Jazz Festival a couple of years ago. Bari Bari is a tribute to the Hard Bop and Cool eras of JAZZ that inspired me tremendously during my early years as a young trumpeter. Bands led by Donald Byrd, Art Farmer and Chet Baker featured baritone saxophonists Gerry Mulligan and Pepper Adams that brought forth a unique doubling of sounds. The sound of four baritone saxophones in this context is unparalleled. You have to hear it to believe it! Doors open at 7:30pm and we’ll have some special guests falling by so save the date…… Later in the month, I’ll be making a pilgrimage to Japan. Some of you know that my mother, Hana passed from this world in April of 2013. This summer, my brother and sister Rich and Joy took my mother home per her wishes to Sanjo, Japan. I am going to see her final resting place and visit my family over there. Some I’ve met years ago and some for the very first time. I’ll be going to Kyoto, Osaka and Tokyo and sitting in with some groups in Kyoto and Osaka with my good friend guitarist Sebastien Lanson. We’ll be playing at Le Jazz Club in Kyoto, Blue Note Lounge in Osaka and at Live@Always with the Kyoto Composers Jazz Orchestra directed by Tomomi Taniguchi. While I’m in Tokyo, I hope to visit friends and also see the Yamaha Atelier Shop. I’m planning on visiting the Yamaha store in the Ginza and trying different model trumpets and flugelhorns that are only available in Japan. I’m enjoying my status as a Yamaha Performing Artist and am looking forward meeting and discovering new friends. More info regarding my Japan trip coming soon!!! |
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"From the moment I laid eyes on the cover of the Readers Digest Treasury of Short Stories with Louis Armstrong on the cover, I was aware that trumpet playing was what I would do for the rest of my life. For a shy kid, the thought of going anywhere in the world and having people understand me through music was intoxicating. I’ve been playing ever since then."
John L. Worley Jr. 2003
John L. Worley Jr. 2003
People Speak...
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"Finally the world gets a chance to experience the music of one Bay Area's best kept secrets... Whether playing lead, or soloing in the bop style or sharing his vast knowledge with his numerous students, John brings a fresh approach to it all. Worley's music is from the heart..."
Ray Vega, The Bronx, 2002 |
