EPISODE 86 - Jonathan Saraga

Rabbit Hole Sessions with Abe Ovadia

Jonathan Saraga is a New York City based, internationally acclaimed trumpeter, flugelhornist, composer, arranger, educator, band-leader and Doctor of Musical Arts. He holds 3 degrees in jazz studies/trumpet performance, has earned over 30 musical accolades from 30 different organizations, and has garnered 25+ years experience performing, recording, competing and teaching on a global scale. Jonathan appears on 30+ studio albums, in 250+ YouTube videos, and has performed extensively throughout Europe, Asia, Central America, the Caribbean, Canada and the U.S., including via multiple national tours.
Saraga has worked as a trumpeter and flugelhornist for many highly acclaimed and/or Grammy nominated/winning artists such as Maria Schneider, Darcy James Argue, Orrin Evans, Arturo O'Farrill, Tyshawn Sorey, Jimmy Greene, Steve Coleman, Henry Cole, Remy Le Boeuf, Valery Ponomarev, Steven Feifke, Migiwa Miyajima, Manuel Valera, Samuel Torres, Jihye Lee, Erica Seguine, the Revive Big, the Birdland Big Band, the Mingus Big Band, the Terraza Big Band, and Brass Against. He has performed at premier NYC venues such as Carnegie Hall, Symphony Space, the Jazz Standard, Birdland Jazz Club, the Jazz Gallery, the Barclay's Center, Smoke Jazz Club, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Le Poisson Rouge, the Iridium, Joe's Pub, Fotografiska, Roulette, Smalls Jazz Club as well as Rockefeller Center to name only a few.
Jonathan's work has been recognized and/or awarded by notable organizations such as the International Trumpet Guild, the ASCAP Foundation, Broadcast Music Incorporated, Chamber Music America, the Association for Popular Music Education, the International Society for Improvised Music, United States Artists, the Millay Colony, the International Society of Jazz Arrangers and Composers, the Louis Armstrong Foundation, the Banff Center, the International Songwriting Competition, the Jazz Foundation of America, the United States Navy as well as the United States Air Force and has engaged with audiences in over 500 cities, nearly 70 countries and just short of 100 different universities.
Critics have remarked that Saraga's original music is "skillfully conceived", "exquisitely realized", "assertive" and "inventive" (Jazz Wise, U.K.) and that it features "an uncommon freshness" (All About Jazz, U.S.). The U.K.'s 'Jazz Journal' has called it "intriguing", and that it "comes out of the speakers with a rare confidence and finish, but without the smuggery and sheen that a lot of contemporary jazz has in place of real content." Jerry Gordon of Evidence Records has deemed it "brilliant", France's 'Jazz Magazine' notes its “astonishing maturity”, and McArthur-fellow, saxophonist and composer, Miguel Zenon has hailed it as "impressive", "very focused" and "well conceived." All About Jazz has also noticed an "uncommon freshness" from Jonathan's music and has even proclaimed it as "a stand-up-and-take-notice offering."