Vincent Gardner

Vincent Gardner was born in Chicago and raised in Hampton, Virginia. He attended Florida A&M University and the University of North Florida, soon connecting with Mercer Ellington, who hired Gardner for his first professional job. After moving to Brooklyn, he completed a world tour with Lauryn Hill, then joined the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. Gardner has served as instructor at The Juilliard School, visiting instructor at Florida State University and Michigan State University, and adjunct instructor at The New School.

He serves as Director of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Youth Orchestra, and an instructor at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Swing University. In 2009, Gardner was commissioned by Jazz at Lincoln Center to write The Jesse B. Semple Suite inspired by the short stories of Langston Hughes. Featured on a number of notable recordings, Gardner has recorded five leader CDs for Steeplechase Records.

He earned first place as Rising Star Trombonist in the 2014 DownBeat Critics Poll, and has performed with The Duke Ellington Orchestra, Bobby McFerrin, Harry Connick, Jr., The Saturday Night Live Band, Chaka Khan, A Tribe Called Quest, and many others.