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The American pianist, conductor and composer, J.J. Wright, was trained as a jazz improviser at the New School for Jazz in New York City. He is also passionate about sacred music. Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina and J.S. Bach vie with Monk and Cannonball Adderley as just a few of his harmonic and melodic inspirations.
J.J. Wright's style cannot be easily categorized. While with the U.S. Naval Academy Band, he performed for the President - as well as several other high-profile diplomatic gigs - and with the Caribbean Jazz Project: Afro Bop Alliance, recording and performing with vibraphonist Dave Samuels, which was nominated for a GRAMMY and won a Latin GRAMMY. He recently recorded his debut album of original compositions and covers from Jon Brion, Sufjan Stevens, and Phil Collins. He is joined by Nate Wood on drums and Ike Sturm on bass and will release the album in conjunction with a USA tour in August 2014.
J.J. Wright is Director of Music at Sacred Heart Parish, the crypt church underneath the University of Notre Dame's Basilica of the Sacred Heart, and is the editor and creator of Sacred Music at Notre Dame's online journal: Music and the Sacred.
When he's not busy pursuing a DMA at Notre Dame's program in Sacred Music or or studying conducting with Carmen-Helena Tellez, J.J. Wright is a husband and father to three beautiful children. |
