Artist in Residence
Peter Martin was raised by parents who are both classical musicians and began studying violin and piano at age three. After graduating from high school, Peter received the Presidential Scholar in the Arts award from President Reagan. He then attended The Juilliard School in New York on scholarship, studying with Martin Canin, until moving to New Orleans in 1990.
While in New Orleans Martin honed his skills working with key musicians such as Nicholas Payton, Germaine Bazzle, Chris Thomas, Alvin Batiste, Brian Blade and Victor Goines. He also embarked on an active solo career and toured and recorded with artists such as Betty Carter, Wynton Marsalis, Dianne Reeves, Chris Botti, Joshua Redman, Christian McBride, Roy Hargrove, and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.
Peter has also performed with the Berlin Philharmonic with Simon Rattle, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony as well as numerous other orchestras around the world.
Peter performed on and arranged Dianne Reeves’ Grammy winning release A Little Moonlight as well as co-produced her 2004 Blue Note CD Chrismas Time Is Here. Peter appeared in George Clooney’s 2005 film Good Night, and Good Luck as well as being featured on the Grammy® winning soundtrack.
Martin’s latest release is SET OF FIVE, his first solo piano recording. Peter Martin is a Steinway Piano Artist, and on the faculty of Northwestern University’s music department in Chicago, IL.
Jason Swagler is an Instructor of Music at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) and has led the JSL All-Stars since 2010. A member of the SIUE faculty since 2000, his teaching duties include jazz saxophone, concert jazz band, lab band, combo, jazz history, music history, and music theory. Jason maintains an active performing career, playing between 100 to 150 dates a year under his own name and as a freelancer. He is the founding member of the soul jazz group, CommonWealth. Locally, he has performed in nearly every major (and minor!) venue in the St. Louis area, including Jazz at the Bistro, UMB Bank Pavillion, Fox Theatre, The Pageant, Savvis Center, Busch Stadium, Touhill, and Sheldon Concert Hall. He has toured extensively throughout Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey, and the United States.
Andy Ament is a graduate of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, with Bachelor’s of Music degrees in Jazz Performance and Music Education. He performs all over St. Louis and the Midwest with various jazz, pop, rock, funk, and dance bands. He is also a founding member of the jazz quartet, Utter Chaos, which pays tribute to the great baritone saxophonist, Gerry Mulligan.
As an educator, Andy has worked with students all over the area as a clinician, instructor and adjudicator. He has worked as an instructor at numerous jazz camps, including camps at St. Louis University High School and the Birch Creek Performing Arts Center in Door County, WI. He also maintains private studios on both saxophone and piano. Andy has been a JazzU faculty member since 2008
Phillip Dunlap has been the Director of Education for Jazz St. Louis since April 2007. He holds Bachelor’s degrees in Jazz Piano Performance and Music Theory and Composition as well as a Master’s degree in Jazz Performance from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Mr. Dunlap is an active musician as well as an educator and performs extensively throughout the United States and abroad with his own group, the Legacy Jazz Quintet, and as a sideman having performed with musicians such as Jimmy Cobb, Terell Stafford, Byron Stripling, and Houston Person.
Recent performances include appearances in the Cedarhust Chamber Music Series, Elmhurst College Jazz Festival, Notre Dame Collegiate Jazz Festival, Powell Symphony Hall, Jazz at the Bistro, the Missouri History Museum and Twilight Tuesdays. Mr. Dunlap frequently performs with members of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) and has conducted pre-concert talks for the SLSO on topics covering music history, theory and literature. He is also a faculty member of American Voices and in the summer of 2009 traveled to Afghanistan where he was artist in residence at Kabul University’s School of Music and at the National Institute for Music.
In 2010, Phillip became adjunct professor of music at the University of Missouri St. Louis where he teaches jazz history for non-music majors. He has presented clinics at the Missouri Music Educators Association conference and the Missouri Band Masters Association conference. In 2011, Phillip was awarded the Certificate of Merit by the St. Louis Suburban Music Educators Association and was also named one of St. Louis’s “30 Under 30″ by the St. Louis Business Journal.
Cody Henry is an active trombonist in the St. Louis Metropolitan area. He attended college at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville where he studied jazz and received a Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. Mr. Henry believes versatility is a strength as a professional musician and therefore plays in a variety of styles from jazz and classical to hip-hop and R&B. Along with performing, he is an active jazz clinician, having contributed to Jazz St. Louis, the Birch Creek Music Academy, and the Jim Widner summer jazz camps. While attending SIUE, Mr. Henry has explored a niche in big band and small group arranging/composing, having arranged for local musicians Rick Haydon and Mardra Thomas. Mr. Henry has served on the JazzU Faculty since 2008.
Adaron “Pops” Jackson has performed as a sideman as well as with his own ensembles throughout the U.S. and Europe. Jackson’s career has already seen him on stage with such diverse artists as Ronald Carter, Conrad Herwig, Harry Allen, Frank Morgan, LaVerne Butler, Red Holloway, Wallace Roney, Houston Person and Grammy award winning Motown legends The Temptations.
Having started the piano at the age of 9, Jackson has dedicated his life to music. An alumni of East St. Louis Lincoln Sr. High School, he was part of the school’s legendary big band and had the opportunity to perform consistently throughout the United States and abroad with noted musicians Ellis Marsalis, Arturo Sandoval, Greg Tardy, and Slide Hampton.
Jackson has taken his music off the stage and into the classroom with teaching positions at St. Charles Community College, Jazz St. Louis and is currently an adjunct professor at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Mr. Jackson is the newest addition to the JazzU faculty.
Aaron Lehde is Associate Director of Bands in the Ladue School District, where he has taught since 2002. He has been a JazzU faculty member since 2009.
Aaron earned his Master’s and Bachelor’s of Music in Jazz Performance and Music Education from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
Aaron has served as the St. Louis Suburban Music Educators Association Vice-President of Jazz for both Middle School (2004-2008) and High School (2010-present). He has directed the IMEA District 6 High School Jazz Band and frequently serves as an adjudicator and clinician.
Aaron has played saxophone and other woodwinds with numerous nationally and locally known acts including Frankie Valli, The Temptations, The Four Tops, The O’Jays, Manhattan Transfer, Wayne Newton, Bernadette Peters, Debby Boone, the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra and Bob Newhart. His touring and performance experience has brought him to 47 states and 27 countries worldwide. He can be found in St. Louis playing with a variety of groups, including Downtime, Push the Limit, Musica SLESA, The 4 City Saxes and the Sessions Big Band.
Anthony “Wig” Wiggins has been a fixture in the St. Louis jazz scene for the past 20 years and a JazzU faculty member since the program’s inception in 2007. A graduate of East St. Louis Lincoln High School and Northern Illinois University, Wig performs regularly throughout the region, playing trumpet with groups such as the Legacy Jazz Quintet and the Jazz Edge Big Band. An adjunct faculty member at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, where he teaches jazz trumpet, Tony is also an ordained minister and in 2007 opened the Genesis Academy of Arts and Fine Arts Ministry in East St. Louis.