The Great American Songbook

Jeff D. Shadley began playing trumpet in the Boston area at 10 years of age. After his family moved to Chicago, he continued playing and especially took to the work of the great Jazz trumpeter, Clifford Brown. Early in high school, he began memorizing Clifford’s improvised solos and continued studying both Jazz and Classical trumpet. A subsequent move brought him to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Before finishing high school, Jeff played in the Tulsa Youth Symphony, the Tulsa All City Jazz Band, won the Louis Armstrong Award for Outstanding Musicianship, and was principal trumpet in the All State Band. While completing a degree in Trumpet Performance at The University of Tulsa, Jeff began playing professionally in the Tulsa area. Although his focus continued to be Jazz, he also played with the Tulsa Ballet, the Tulsa Philharmonic Pops and the Bartlesville Orchestra. As a freelance musician based in Tulsa, Jeff performed with the various celebrities that came through town: Mel Torme, Frank Sinatra, Jr., Vic Damone, Dianne Schuur, Maureen McGovern, Ellis Marsalis, David Sanborn, Pete Fountain, Bill Watrous, Clark Terry, and others.

Jeff began adding his award-winning voice to his performances in 2005. His dynamic trumpet playing and Rat Pack vocal style has won over the critics and transformed him into a highly demanded all around entertainer. As such, he appears frequently with his 24-piece Orchestra, 18-piece Big Band and 8-pc Combo and Quartet. Jeff performs at the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame, the (Woodie) Gutherie Green, Tulsa Performing Arts Center, Utica Square near Downtown Tulsa and many other venues. Jeff’s first album, “When You Dream”, featuring the full Big Band is available for download on iTunes and most other digital music distribution sites. In addition to his own groups, Jeff has been a soloist on both trumpet and voice with the Space Coast Symphony Orchestra in Vero Beach, the Maitland Symphony Orchestra in Florida, the Starlight Band in Tulsa, the Signature Symphony in Tulsa and the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas (SoNA). Jeff lives in Tulsa with his beloved wife Ronnamarie Jensen and two boys. Ronna is the Associate Concertmaster of the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra, the Co-Concertmaster of the Tulsa Opera and plays Violin or Viola in other symphonic organizations in the region.