Austin-based jazz trumpeter Jeff Lofton swings hard with the Jeff Lofton Jazz Group in Brownsville on Wednesday, April 16, from 9:00pm – 12:00am, at Shenanigan’s Irish Pub and Grill, located at 2451 Pablo Kisel Blvd. If you missed Lofton’s appearance last month, do yourself a favor this month and hear a great man with a horn.

New to Austin, Lofton has shared the stage with the Marc Devine Trio at Reed’s Jazz and Supper Club, the Sean Hopper Quartet at Central Markets, and frequently sits in at the Elephant Room’s Mike Mardecai Jazz Jam on Monday nights. The Jeff Lofton Quartet’s other Austin performances include Central Market Westgate, Central Market Central, Club 40, Club 1808, Jerry’s Artarama Artist Festival and a Barack Obama fund raising event. Recent Texas shows outside of Austin include Kirby’s Fine Dining in San Antonio, Cine El Rey historic theatre and Espana Mediterranean Cuisine in McAllen, and Shenanigan’s in Brownsville.

On Thursday, April 24, Lofton returns to Austin’s famed Elephant Room jazz club with a new All Miles 1950s show featuring the Jeff Lofton Quintet. An earlier performance of “An Evening of the Music of Miles Davis” kicked off a Sunday Night Jazz series at the historic Victory Grill, one of the few remaining juke joints from the Chitlin’ Circuit. The show was so well received it was soon booked at the Elephant Room, and is now back again with new songs.

Lofton debuted his first jazz CD, Jazz Therapy, in 2005, with the Jeff Lofton Quartet. 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.

Born in Germany to American parents, Lofton grew up in Columbia, South Carolina where he studied music composition and jazz at the University of South Carolina. Playing trumpet for nearly thirty years, Lofton has spent time on the road in Chicago and New York City and studied. 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 South Carolina musicians Skip Pearson, Robert Gardner, Dr. Dick Goodwin, Dr. John Enkey, Teddy Linder and many others.

Lofton also works as an R&B and hip-hop producer, producing such artists as Legend and The Gutsmen. As a winner of the juried competition, Lofton was an artist in the music category of the South Carolina Arts Commission’s Arts in Education Roster. The program provides grants for work in educational settings statewide. He currently leads jazz clinics for high school students in Austin.

In South Carolina, The Jeff Lofton Quartet had a strong local following from a long-running Friday night show at Meritage in the Vista, as well as 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. Other groups Lofton has played with include Defellas (an avant guard jazz group), Deja Voodoo ( hip hop/jazz fusion group) and Wadada (a reggae group).

From press release dated 4/14/08

From Stan: If you missed Mr. Lofton last time he was at Shenanigans, do yourself a favor and catch him this time around. Starts at 9.

For the highly impressionable among you, here is Mr. Lofton’s resumé.

Jeff Lofton

Jazz Trumpet / Producer

www.jefflofton.com www.myspace.com/jeffloftonquartet

jeff@jefflofton.com 512.809.4561

“Listen up, Miles Davis fans. …the virtuoso studied music composition and jazz at the University of South Carolina… with decades of experience under his belt, … Lofton recently relocated to Austin where his smooth jazz sounds can be heard as he leads the melodic Jeff Lofton Group.”

Austin American-Statesman, Austin, Texas

“Jazz Therapy draws on the old-school be-bop styles of Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie while also employing some of the adventurous tendencies and structures of John Coltrane.“

Free Times, Columbia, SC

“Jeff’s trumpet flies onto tracks like singing birds into morning sunshine.”

The State, Columbia, SC

“Jeff plays with the spirit and fire of a young trail blazer, and the control and wisdom of a seasoned veteran.”

Gene Lewin, NYC jazz drummer

Fundamentia, GrooveLily

“Lofton is ‘old school,’ but no matter the chart, he makes it his own.”

Nunnayerbizness.com

“(on Black Magic Lofton) plays a silky-smooth horn… (he is) well-versed in the hard-bop that evolved into the soul sound… works from the perspective of horn pioneers Donald Byrd and Eddie Henderson. He has an understanding of the connection between hip-hop and the poetry of the late 1960s.” The State, Columbia, SC (Knight-Ridder)

“Jeff Lofton, one of the best trumpet players in S.C.” The State, Columbia, SC (Knight-Ridder)

RECORDINGS

• Jazz Therapy, The Jeff Lofton Quartet, featuring Jeff Lofton on trumpet, mixes old style be-bop with modern forms of jazz in the tradition of Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie and John Coltrane.
• Black Magic, DejaVoodoo, hip-hop/funk/jazz
• Self-titled, Jahson, reggae

PRODUCER

• Power to the People and Déjà vu, Legend, R&B and hip-hop
• Calling a Spade a Spade, The Gutsmen, R&B and hip-hop

VENUES

• Elephant Room, Austin, TX
• Victory Grill, Austin, TX
• Reed’s Jazz and Supper Club with The Marc Devine Trio, Austin, TX
• Central Market Café (Westgate and Central), Austin, TX
• Jerry’s Artarama, Austin, TX
• Club 40, Austin, TX
• Light Bar, Austin, TX
• Club 1808, Austin, TX
• Kirby’s Fine Dining, San Antonio, TX
• Espana Mediterranean Cuisine, McAllen, TX
• Cine El Rey, historic theatre, McAllen TX
• Three Rivers Music Festival, Columbia, SC
• Mac’s on Main – jazz and blues, Columbia, SC
• Meritage Tapas Restaurant and Bar, Columbia, SC
• Hunter Gatherer Café and Brew Pub, Columbia, SC
• The Rhino Room, Columbia, SC
• Group Therapy, club, Columbia, SC
• Streets of New Orleans, LA
• The Bop Shop Club, Chicago, IL (sat in)
• The Green Mill, Chicago, IL (sat in)

BANDS

• The Jeff Lofton Group - jazz
• The Jeff Lofton Quintet - jazz
• The Jeff Lofton Quartet – jazz
• Jazz Therapy Quintet - jazz
• Defellas - avant guard jazz
• Deja Voodoo - hip hop/jazz fusion
• Wadada - reggae

PERFORMED WITH

• Marc Devine Trio
• Sean Hubbard Quartet
• Mike Mordecai Jazz Jam at The Elephant Room
• Jim Ming, Austin guitarist (currently in S.C.)
• Ron Westray and Wycliff Gordon, trombonists, of the Wynton Marsalis septet and Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra
• Fred Wesley, trombonist, of the James Brown horn section
• Fred Hampton, saxophonist, of the Chicago A.A.C.M
• Skip Pearson, saxophonist
• Dr. Gregory McPherson, pianist, composer, teacher, Berkley School of Music
• John Blackwell , drummer

AIRPLAY / WEB

• KOOP, Austin, Texas – Sounds Around Town
• KMBH, Harlingen, Texas
• www.smoothatlanta.com

MISC.

• playing trumpet for 30 years
• studied music composition and jazz at the University of South Carolina
• a musician on the South Carolina Arts Commission’s Arts in Education Roster
• leads jazz clinics for high school students in Austin