Jim Pugh

Biography

A distinguished performer, composer, and educator, Jim Pugh is one of the most sought-after trombonists in contemporary music, with a resume that includes over four thousand recordings sessions with the likes of Yo-Yo Ma, Philip Glass, Steely Dan, Eos, Concordia, St. Luke’s Orchestra, André Previn, Paul Simon, Barbara Streisand, Tony Bennett, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Pink Floyd, and Frank Sinatra.

Born and raised in Pennsylvania, Pugh began studying piano at the age of five and later added the trombone to his repertoire at ten. Following his graduation from the Eastman School of Music, he toured extensively with the Woody Herman Band and Chick Corea before settling down in New York City, where he became a first-call session player. In addition to his work on countless jazz, classical, and pop albums, Pugh also contributed to a host of film scores (including A League Of Their Own, When Harry met Sally, and Meet Joe Black), Broadway cast recordings (including City Of Angels, Fosse, and Victor/Victoria), and radio themes (including NPR’s Morning Edition). Since 1979, he has served as lead trombonist with the esteemed house orchestra for the Tony Awards (which he also began arranging/orchestrating for in 2011), and since 2000, performed both in the studio and on the road as the solo trombonist for Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, Steely Dan.

The only recipient of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences Virtuoso Award for Tenor Trombone, Pugh also boasts an impressive catalog as a bandleader and composer. In 1989, Marin Alsop and the Concordia Chamber Orchestra premiered Pugh’s Lunch with Schrödinger’s Cat at Lincoln Center and in 1992, Pugh premiered his Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra with the Williamsport Symphony (later receiving its New York premiere in 2000 with soloist Joseph Alessi and Leonard Slatkin conducting the New York Philharmonic). In 2003, he “re-premiered” Nathaniel Shilkret’s Trombone Concerto to a sold-out audience at Carnegie Hall with Skitch Henderson and the New York Pops Orchestra. Pugh would go on to record the piece along with his own Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra and Jeff Tyzik’s Trombone Concerto for this critically acclaimed 2007 album, X-Over Trombone, which featured the Colorado Symphony Orchestra.

On his 14th and most recent album, New American Symphonies, Pugh teamed up with revered audiophile power couple Jim Anderson and Ulrike Schwarz, whose cutting edge, immersive recording and mixing techniques have earned them more than 30 Grammy nominations. Recorded live at the Power Station at BerkleeNYC, the collection brings together two stunning, multi-movement works: the first, a long-lost and previously-unheard trombone symphony originally written for Tommy Dorsey by famed “cowboy composer” Roy Harris, and the second, a more recent piece written specifically for Pugh by his former student, composer/arranger Scott Ninmer, whose work has been performed everywhere from the White House to Lincoln Center. Featuring an all-star cast of players (including several of Pugh’s bandmates from Steely Dan and the Tony Awards house orchestra), the sessions capture Pugh’s work in Digital eXtreme Definition (DXD) for the first time, yielding unparalleled sonic and spatial audio mixes.

On top of his busy recording career, Pugh also serves as a Distinguished Professor of Jazz Trombone at the University of Illinois, where he has guided the school’s Jazz Trombone Ensemble to first place wins at six National Jazz Trombone Ensemble Competitions and two Kai Winding Jazz Trombone Ensemble Competitions. Pugh appears frequently at schools and universities throughout the country and has been a clinician/soloist at numerous Eastern Trombone Workshops (now known as the American Trombone Workshop) and International Trombone Festivals.

Though Pugh currently performs on a BAC Custom trombone, he was key in the development of small-bore instruments for both the Edwards and S.E. Shires Instrument Companies. A close, multi-decade association with David Monette also resulted in the development of the Monette TS6 and TS11 tenor trombone mouthpieces. Pugh proudly endorses all of these products and uses BAC horns, Monette mouthpieces, and Facet mutes exclusively.

SPECIALTIES:

Tenor and bass trombone
Classical and jazz trombone
Jazz improvisation
Composition
Big Band performing
Solo repertoire
Orchestral repertoire

LANGUAGES:

English