John Rutherford, Trombone

John Rutherford is one of Detroit's leading freelance trombonists. He earned a Bachelor of Music from the University of Michigan after two years of study at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. He received his Master of Music in Jazz Studies from Wayne State University. John spends his summers as artist-in-residence at the Bay View Music Festival in Petoskey, MI. He has also held teaching positions at the University of Toledo and Albion College.

John has performed with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Michigan Opera Theatre, and the Toledo Symphony on many occasions. He has served as guest principal trombonist of the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra. He has performed abroad with the Jerusalem International Symphony, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Palermo, Sicily, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, and most recently at the Santo Domingo Music Festival in the Dominican Republic.

An active chamber musician, John has performed with the Detroit Chamber Winds, the Boston Chamber Ensemble, is a member of the Michigan Chamber Brass, and a founding member of the Motor City Brass Quintet. He has recorded with Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble (Silk Road Journeys: When Strangers Meet), for Sony Classical as part of the Silk Road Project. With the Silk Road Ensemble, John has toured a large part of North America, including performances at Carnegie Hall.

On the other side of the spectrum, John performs with many of Detroit's leading jazz ensembles. He performs on tenor trombone, bass trombone, and tuba for the pit orchestras at many of Detroit's theatres. He is lead trombonist with the Scott Gwinnell Jazz Orchestra and Ed Nuccilli's Plural Circle. He has played in backup bands and orchestras for artists including Ray Charles, Jimmy Heath, Christian McBride, Michael Brecker, Dave Liebman, George Russell, Terence Blanchard, Patti Austin, Gladys Knight, Debbie Gibson, Clarence Clemens, the Four Tops, the Temptations, the Fifth Dimension, and Dennis DeYoung of Styx.. John is a founding member of the Motor City Horns, who recently released a CD with the hip-hop group, Wayne Kounty, on Premier Cru Music in NYC. He has recorded for radio and television commercials at studios in Detroit and Los Angeles and is a voting member of the Grammy Association.

John uses Audio Technica microphones and Robert Keely modified Mello Wah and Boss DD3 effects pedals.

Click here for his solo repertoire.

John's MySpace Page

Equipment:

Bach 42 with a Thayer valve and a lightweight Greg Black 5G mouthpiece
Bach 50T3 with a Bach 1.5G mouthpiece
Bach 36 with a Greg Black 5GS mouthpiece
Bach 16 with a lightweight Greg Black 6.5AL mouthpiece
Getzen bass trumpet with a Greg Black 5AL mouthpiece
Besson Sovereign Euphonium with a Greg Black 5AL mouthpiece.
Sanders Etude BBb Tuba with a Perantucci 62 mouthpiece