Jason Holcomb
About
Jason Holcomb, professional trombonist.
Originally from Coeur D' Alene Idaho, Mr. Holcomb was educated at The University of Idaho, Lionel Hampton School of Music, graduating in 2000 with a Bachelor of Music Performance. While at The University of Idaho he studied trombone performance from Mr. Alan Gemberling and Mr. Robert Spevachek and music theory and aural skills from Mr. Dan Bukvich. He performed in multiple ensembles including jazz bands, wind ensembles, brass quintet, trombone quartet, jazz choir, and many more. In his third and fourth years Mr. Holcomb taught aural skills and music theory to groups of first and second year students as a Teacher's Assistant. He had the pleasure of performing with such jazz legends as Claudio Roditi, Bill Watrous, and the late Al Grey during The Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival. During this time Mr. Holcomb was also a guest ajudicator for numerous Elementary, Middle School, and High School Solo and Ensemble competitions, and taught multiple private lessons for trombone and general music.
After graduating Mr. Holcomb was employed as a show band musician for Carnival Cruise Lines where he performed nightly with a ten piece showband aboard multiple ships. He was shortly promoted to Music Director where he oversaw the rehearsal, production, and performance of no less than 5 bands (approximately 30 musicians). He was responsible for fronting his own showband and running rehearsals daily. During his tenure as Music Director he co-wrote and produced what would become the highest rated show in the 20-ship strong Carnival Cruise Line fleet.
Shortly thereafter Mr. Holcomb moved to Las Vegas where he began working as a freelance musician performing in Las Vegas shows, with tribute artists, and with headlining acts. He performed with the motown group "The O'Jays", America's Got Talent Winner Michael Grimm, Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, and many others. He created his own corporate performance act performing for numerous high profile private corporate events.
During this time Mr. Holcomb began teaching private lessons again to a studio of young brass players numbering no less then 10 students.
In 2009, Mr. Holcomb was asked to record with British pop star Matt Goss (formerly of Bros fame). He recorded the song "Lovely Las Vegas" and was asked immediately by Goss' mananger Robin Antin (creator of The Pussycat Dolls) to join the band and began a resident weekly performance at Caesar's Palace Hotel. During the following three years he performed regularly in Las Vegas and internationally with Goss, recording at Capitol Records in Los Angeles, performing two sold out shows at The Royal Albert Hall and playing numerous television appearances.
In 2012 Mr. Holcomb relocated to the United Kingdom and joined the northern funk band "King Bee", in January of 2014 he performed to a crowd of 30,000 with the band and short thereafter released a debut album. The album has been played on BBC Introducing, Solar Radio London, The Saturday Night Experience with Mike Chadwick on JazzFM and on The Craig Charles Funk and Soul Show on BBC6 Music. Most recently the album is being played on SwissGroove Radio in Zurich.
Mr. Holcomb approaches music from a performance based foundation. He believes that performance is necessary as the basic building block of music education and incorporates aural skills, music theory and music history in every lesson and masterclass. Inspiring new musicians is as important as teaching the language of music and Mr. Holcomb achieves this by providing real life examples from a career of experience in many contrasting arenas. He approaches each student with a personalized curriculum that is suited to the individuals abilities and ultimately their musical goals.