Born: September 5, 1966 Primary Instrument: Trumpet
Jazz trumpet player Jeff Lofton debuted his first jazz CD, Jazz Therapy, in 2005. The self-produced CD mixes old style be-bop with modern forms of jazz in the tradition of Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie and John Coltrane. In addition to Lofton on trumpet, the CD also includes Roland Haynes on piano, Reggie Sullivan on bass and Kenneth Salters on drums. Playing trumpet for nearly thirty years, Lofton has spent time on the road in Chicago and New York City and studied music composition and jazz at the University of South Carolina. He has performed with such musical talents as Austin’s own guitarist Jim Mings, Ron Westray and Wycliff Gordon of the Wynton Marsalis septet, Fred Wesley of the James Brown horn section, Fred Hampton of the Chicago A.A.C.M., and he has performed with South Carolina musicians such as Skip Pearson, Robert Gardner, Dr. Dick Goodwin, Dr. John Enkey, Teddy Linder and many others. Lofton has also worked as an R&B and hip hop producer, producing such artists as Legend and The Gutsmen. As a winner of the juried competition, Lofton is an artist in the music category of the South Carolina Arts Commission’s Arts in Education Roster. The program provides grants for work in education settings across the state. The Jeff Lofton Quartet has a strong local following from its two-year stint on Friday nights at Meritage in the Vista (which recently closed) and performances at Mac’s on Main. Lofton is also well known for the Jazz Therapy Jazz Quintet featuring himself and Skip Pearson performing on Sundays at the club Group Therapy a few years ago. Other groups Lofton has played with include Defellas (an avant guard jazz group), Deja Voodoo (a hip hop/jazz fusion group), and Wadada (a reggae group).
