John Kalleen

“I love music!” exclaims John who was exposed to music at a very young age. “Music was always being played or performed in my house, everything from Miles to Mozart.” Beginning on piano at the age of eight under the tutelage of his pianist/composer father, John soon started having his own ideas about music. At a jazz concert John heard how the young Freddie Hubbard played the trumpet and it became clear to John that he would express his musical creativity with the trumpet. John’s mother bought him his first trumpet at the age of twelve. At sixteen John formed a Dixieland jazz combo performing regularly at local venues and at state music education competitions wining numerous awards. John’s unique dark sound and trumpet style developed from the influence of such jazz trumpet greats as, Chet Baker, Clifford Brown, Miles Davis, Freddie Hubbard and Lee Morgan. John’s most beloved jazz trumpet player and undoubtedly the one that has influenced his playing the most is the late Chet Baker. “Chet’s solos were beautiful melodies onto themselves!” explains John. Before creating “The John Kalleen Group” in 2005, he lead and performed for thirteen years with the “High Society Jazz Band” and “The Tout Va Bien Jazz Quintet”. Although John has performed primary all over the west coast, he also enjoys performing in New Orleans (Fritzel’s) and Amsterdam N.L. (Café Alto) when visiting family in Europe. John enjoyed a successful business career for over twenty-five years as the President and CEO of Computers America Inc. John has gone back to his roots and heartfelt passions of devoting himself again to his music. When John not playing the trumpet you’ll find him engrossed in his other passion on the tennis court.

Tags