Saxophonist/Composer Gary Campbell's life as a jazz musician began in his hometown of Indianapolis where, as a teenager, he was introduced to the "Naptown" jazz community through his teacher and mentor David Baker.

After brief stays at Indiana University and the University of Miami (where he studied with Jerry Coker), Gary migrated to New York City. From the late 60's through the early 80's he was active in the innovative, energetic, and notorious loft scene - the testing ground for dozens of creative young jazz musicians.

He appeared on records alongside Randy Brecker, John Abercrombie, Dan Wall, Adam Nussbaum, David Friesen, Ira Sullivan, and others. He has shared concert, festival and night club stages with (in addition to the above) John Scofield, Dave Liebman, Tom Harrell, Jaco Pastorius, Andy Laverne, Red Rodney, James Moody, George Adams, Hank Crawford, Mose Allison, Conrad Herwig, and is currently working with the legendary bassist, Miroslav Vitous.

Gary is a Fulbright Scholar, has been awarded numerous National Endowment for the Arts Performance Grants, and has published five highly acclaimed books on jazz improvisation: PATTERNS FOR JAZZ (co-authored with Jerry Coker); EXPANSIONS - a method for developing new material for improvisation; HANK MOBLEY TRANSCRIBED SOLOS; CONNECTING JAZZ THEORY; and TRIAD PAIRS FOR JAZZ. He has performed and presented improvisation clinics at the Paris Conservatory, the Jazz Pop Conservatory in Helsinki, the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest, and at Universities throughout Germany.

Gary taught for 12 years at the University of Miami, and is now Associate Professor of Jazz Performance/Saxophone at Florida International University.

Visit Gary at garycampbelljazz.com

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