Derrick Gardner

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title: "Derrick Gardner" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["living-people", "american-jazz-composers", "american-male-jazz-composers", "american-jazz-bandleaders", "american-jazz-trumpeters", "american-male-trumpeters", "bebop-trumpeters", "african-american-musicians", "count-basie-orchestra-members", "jazz-musicians-from-chicago", "1965-births", "independent-music-awards-winners", "owl-studios-artists"] description: "American jazz trumpeter" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derrick_Gardner" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American jazz trumpeter ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox musical artist"]

Field	Value
name	Derrick Gardner
birth_name	Derrick Earl Gardner
birth_date
birth_place	Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
genre	Jazz
occupation	Musician, composer, arranger
instrument	Trumpet
years_active	1992–present
label	Owl
associated_acts	Derrick Gardner & The Jazz Prophets, Rob Dixon
website
::

| name = Derrick Gardner | image = | image_size = | caption = | birth_name = Derrick Earl Gardner | birth_date = | birth_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | genre = Jazz | occupation = Musician, composer, arranger | instrument = Trumpet | years_active = 1992–present | label = Owl | associated_acts = Derrick Gardner & The Jazz Prophets, Rob Dixon | website =

Derrick Gardner (born June 3, 1965) is an American jazz trumpeter from Chicago, Illinois.

Gardner began playing trumpet at the age of 9 in his hometown of Chicago. In 1991, he moved to New York City and played with groups such as the Count Basie Orchestra, Frank Foster's Loud Minority Band, Harry Connick, Jr.'s Big Band, Roman Schwaller's European Sextet, and the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra.

Gardner has gone on to work with such jazz notables as the late Dizzy Gillespie, George Benson, Jon Faddis, Nancy Wilson, Tony Bennett, Joe Williams, Rufus Reid, Clark Terry, Kenny Barron, Stefon Harris and James Moody.

Critics have described him as "having a way of moving past the notes in a solo and getting into formal realms that make sense and heighten interest." Another critic describes him as "Soulful and Intelligent, a tremendous talent with a vivid and unusual imagination."

As a composer and arranger, Gardner's music has been featured with The Count Basie Orchestra, The Jazz Heritage Orchestra, The Brad Leali Big Band, Michigan State University Jazz Ensembles, Ohio State University Jazz Ensembles, University of Manitoba Jazz Ensembles.

Since 1989, Derrick has written for and led his own sextet, Derrick Gardner & the Jazz Prophets. In 2008, Gardner signed the group to Indianapolis jazz label Owl Studios and has since released two albums on the label, 2008's A Ride to the Other Side, and 2009's Echoes of Ethnicity, which was the winner of the Best Jazz Album award at the 9th Annual Independent Music Awards "Echoes of Ethnicity".

As of July 2011, Gardner is associate professor of trumpet in the University of Manitoba's Jazz Studies program.

Discography

::data[format=table]

Year	Artist	Title	Label
1992	Count Basie Orchestra	Live at El Morocco	Telarc
1997	Frank Foster	Leo Rising	Arabesque
2000	George Gee	Swingin' Away	Zort
2001	Craig Bailey	Brooklyn	Evidence
2003	Stefon Harris	The Grand Unification Theory	Blue Note
2003	Lizz Wright	Salt	Verve
2003	Derrick Gardner & The Jazz Prophets	Slim Goodie	Impact Jazz
2003	Harry Connick, Jr.	Harry for the Holidays	Columbia
2003	Harry Connick, Jr.	Only You	Columbia
2006	Harry Connick, Jr.	Chanson Du Vieux Carre	Columbia
2007	Harry Connick, Jr.	Oh, My Nola	Columbia
2007	Brad Leali Jazz Orchestra	Maria Juanez	TCB
2007	Ron Di Salvio	Essence of Green: A Tribute to Kind of Blue	Origin
2008	Derrick Gardner & The Jazz Prophets	A Ride to the Other Side...	Owl
2009	Derrick Gardner & The Jazz Prophets	Echoes of Ethnicity	Owl
::

References

References

1. 9780195320008
2. (6 August 2013). "Derrick Gardner & The Jazz Prophets | Listen and Stream Free Music, Albums, New Releases, Photos, Videos".
3. "♫ Slim Goodie - Derrick Gardner & The Jazz Prophets. Listen @cdbaby".
4. [https://www.owlstudios.com Owl Studios]
5. "University of Manitoba - Faculty of Music - Derrick Gardner".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::