Jerry Tolson

Jerry Tolson, Associate Professor of Music Education and Jazz Studies, teaches music education and jazz studies at the University of Louisville where, along with classroom instruction, he directs instrumental and vocal jazz ensembles. He taught previously at Central College(IA) and the University of Nebraska-Omaha as well as several Iowa high schools.

A graduate of Drake University and the University of North Texas, Mr. Tolson is an active clinician, adjudicator, and guest conductor throughout the United States, and has written numerous instrumental and vocal jazz works. His vocal jazz works are published by UNC Jazz Press. He has also been involved in organizing and administrating jazz festivals and community jazz groups in several states. He is coordinator of the University of Louisville Jazz Fest Week, a week-long celebration of jazz on the U of L campus. In addition, he is a faculty member of the prestigious Jamey Aebersold Summer Jazz Workshops and has been an instructor at numerous other jazz camps including the 1,000 Hills Summer Jazz Camp in Kirksville, MO., the Mile High Jazz Camp in Boulder, CO, and the City Stages Jazz Camp in Birmingham, AL.

Mr. Tolson has made workshop presentations at the National MENC conference, the International Association of Jazz Educators (IAJE) Conference, the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, and the Southern Regional conference of MENC. He co-founded the Kentuckiana Jazz Style Summer Workshop at Bellarmine University in Louisville. He also co-founded U of L's African American Music Heritage Institute, a three day celebration of the contributions of African Americans to America's musical history, and is co-founder of a series of teacher training institutes sponsored by IAJE that are held at several sites around the country. He has been named to"Who's Who Among America's Teachers", and was the Kentucky Music Educators Association "1998-99 College Teacher of the Year".

As a performer on woodwinds, keyboards, and vocals, Tolson leads three of his own groups including a jazz quartet and a big band and has worked with such popular artists as the Temptations, Four Tops, Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, and Manhattan Transfer, and with jazz artists Pete Christlieb, Phil Wilson, James Moody, Benny Golson, Kevin Mahogany, and Marvin Stamm. His CD "Nu View" was released in July 1999. His latest CD, Back at the Track, was released in September of 2003. Tolson's jazz groups have appeared at local and regional jazz festivals including the Louisville Jazz and Blues Festival and Jazz In Central Park and have been featured on the Kentucky Center for the Arts "Jazz Cabaret Series". Tolson's jazz group has appeared at the prestigious Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland as well as the Umbria Jazz Festival in Perugia, Italy.

Mr. Tolson is a board member of the Louisville Jazz Society and is a former executive board member of the International Association of Jazz Educators. He is past president of the Kentucky unit of IAJE and has also served as co-chair of the Planning and Development Committee and as a member of the President's Advisory Board of this organization. Mr. Tolson's other professional memberships include the College Music Society, National Band Association, the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP), and Music Educators National Conference.


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