James Blackwell

Session: Read music like you’re reading the paper and aim the content toward internalizing the sounds of all of the intervals

James Blackwell is a GRAMMY award winning and multiply nominated trumpet player for his work on the jazz albums of Clare Fischer, Bob Mintzer and the University of North Texas’ One O’clock Lab Band.

He received his undergraduate degree from the University of North Texas and played trumpet in the internationally recognized One O’clock Lab Band for four years – the last two years as the lead trumpet player. During this time he recorded five albums with the band while working full-time in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex as a trumpet player for hire.

After completing his undergraduate studies, James moved to Los Angeles where he completed his Master’s degree at the University of Southern California. Along with his studies, James played lead trumpet in the Thornton Jazz Orchestra under the direction of Bob Mintzer.

In the nine years that James lived in LA, he maintained an active freelance career and was a member of Bill Holman’s Big Band, the Mike Barone Big Band and the Clare Fischer Big Band. His trumpet playing can be heard on the most recent albums released by Mike Barone (‘Birdland’ and ‘La Fiesta’) and the Clare Fischer Latin Jazz Big Band (‘¡Ritmo!’ and ‘¡Intenso!’).

Perhaps James is most well-known for his work with the Brian Setzer Orchestra and has performed with the group as lead trumpet for their last nine tours, including seven ‘Christmas Rocks!’ tours along with two stints in Japan.

You can also hear James on the theme song to Amazon Prime’s hit show, “Bosch.”

Most recently, James has relocated with his family back to the east coast where he runs his website, “Blackwell’s Trumpet Basics.” Along with its corresponding YouTube channel, BTB is committed to helping trumpet players learn and is continually updating the site’s collection of original learning materials for trumpet players around the globe.