Born: March 8, 1963 Primary Instrument: Trumpet
BIO
Rob Walker has performed with many of music's most notable acts including Wayne Newton, Natalie Cole, Ray Charles, The Temptations, The Supremes, and The Moody Blues. He recently was the guest soloist and arranger for the United States Air Force Jazz Commanders tour. He was recognized by Downbeat magazine as a “Musician Deserving Wider Recognition”. As a jazz soloist, Walker appeared at the 2002 Park City International Jazz Festival and at the San Miguel International Jazz Festival in Mexico in 2000 and 2002. In 2004, he appeared with Brent Jensen along with the Lewis Nash Quintet at the Living Legends Jazz Festival. He has also shared bebop licks with such jazz masters as David “Fathead” Newman, John Heard, Gene Ludwig, Ray Santisi, Gary Foster, Bobby Shew, Lanny Morgan, Jeff Hamilton, Clay Jenkins, Kim Richmond, and Mike Vax. Rob and Brent Jensen have collaborated on a variety of projects including their latest CD on Origin Records entitled “Art of the Groove”.
Walker is quite active as a composer/arranger. His TV credits include Friday Night Lights, Cold Case, Army Wives, The O.C., Shark, and Ugly Betty. His Film Credits include College Road Trip(2008) and Fired Up!(2009). His music can be heard on a series of new Honda commercials. He creates customized charts for any sized ensemble and recently completed a chart of drummer Harvey Mason for his South Africa Big Band tour. He is a composer in residence with Five Alarm Music, a leading film/TV production company in Los Angeles. He begin his film writing career as a guest composer with Mike Post Productions.
Rob Walker frequently appears as a clinician, jazz festival adjudicator, and jazz educator. He is the Director of Jazz Studies at the College of Idaho. He has served as Artistic Director for the Pasadena Jazz Institute’s Summer Jazz Program and was a founding faculty member of the Jazz Saturdays Series at Boise State University, and the co-founder of the Gene Harris Jazz Camp. He created and conducted the Idaho All State All Star Jazz Ensemble for three years. He also directed the Sacred Heart Elementary School Jazz Band who performed as a warm-up act for Dave Brubeck at the 2004 Gene Harris Jazz Festival. He is a frequent jazz festival adjudicator and clinician and was a member of the International Jazz Educators (IAJE) Artist Outreach Network.
He has adjudicated various high school and college jazz festivals including BYU Jazz Festival, Park City Jazz Festival, Gene Harris Jazz Festival, College of Southern Idaho Jazz Festival, and countless high school festivals. He also appears as a clinician at various music educator conferences including the IAJE Conference in New York City. His clinics discuss jazz improvisation, jazz composition, and jazz theory.
Rob Walker studied jazz composition with trumpeter Herb Pomeroy at the Berklee College of Music. He holds a B.A. from New York University in Film and Music Composition and did additional compositional studies at The Juilliard School. While in high school, he also studied jazz arranging with Ray Ricker, Ray Wright, and Bill Dobbins at the Eastman School of Music Summer Jazz Program. He has studied trumpet with Bobby Shew, Clay Jenkins, Vince DiMartino,and Mike Metheny.
As one of the pioneers of music on the Internet, Walker amassed over 200,000 downloads of his original music in 2002 and was named “Best Jazz Artist/Group” at mp3.com. Walker can also be heard at www.pandora.com, where he is a featured artist. Walker is a member of the International Trumpet Guild, ASCAP, and the IAJE.
Check out his new CD Art of the Groove as reviewed by www.allaboutjazz.com.
“Wow this is some really cool jazz...expertly played and recorded just as well.” www.bandradio.com
“Walker offers an earnest tribute to musical predecessors•especially the legendary Miles Davis• without imitating them, choosing instead to invoke the spirit of the bop era while giving it his own modern spin” - All About Jazz
...real hard bopping...makes me think of Chet Baker...One could clearly find a lot of resemblance to old masters like for instance Miles Davis. www.fortunecity.com
Primary Instrument:
Trumpet
Location:
Meridian, ID
Willing to teach:
Advanced students only.
Credentials/Background:
Private Trumpet Lessons
Improvisation Lessons
Jazz Festival Adjudication
Jazz Band Guest Artist
Jazz Band Coach
