Curated by Ernest Stuart

Ernest Stuart is a Philadelphia-bred trombone player that fell in love with jazz early. He eagerly pursued music throughout his adolescence, sometimes with—and sometimes without—his family’s knowledge. At various points in his jazz education, he surreptitiously signed up for band classes on his own (though he worried his mother could not afford to buy him an instrument), spent his high-school-service-worker wages on trombone lessons, and meted out as much time playing in jazz clubs as he did attending class while he was getting his music degree from Temple University. After a post-college stint in New York, Stuart returned to Philadelphia to continue his recording and performance career, including several years spent playing and touring internationally as part of the band Red Baraat, and performing, and touring, with the likes of John Legend, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, Seal, The Legendary Roots Crew, Aretha Franklin to name a few. He also threw time into founding and producing the Center City Jazz Festival. He is currently tours regularly as part of the house bands for international acts, as well as playing and producing his own original music.