Alan Hood

Trumpeter Alan Hood hails from the small upstate New York hamlet of Pumpkin Hook and has been performing music for over 30 years.  Mr. Hood toured the world with the Phil Collins Big Band, appearing at the Montreux and North Sea Jazz Festivals and New York City’s prestigious Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall.  He is among featured soloists on the band’s live compact disc recording “A Hot Night in Paris,” on the Atlantic jazz label and appears on well over forty other jazz, commercial, and classical recordings.  Appearing with the orchestras of Woody Herman, Glenn Miller, and Harry James, and performing on stage with Ray Charles, Doc Severinsen, Natalie Cole, Manhattan Transfer, Arturo Sandoval, the Richie Cole Alto Madness Orchestra, the Summit Brass, Mr. Jack Daniel’s Silver Cornet Band, Jon Faddis, Conte Candoli, Clark Terry, Curtis Fuller, and Wynton Marsalis, to name just a few, has rewarded Alan with an array of irreplaceable memories and a well spring of professional experience.

Dividing his career between performing and teaching full time at the University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music as Professor of Trumpet, Al directs the Lamont Jazz Ensemble and performs extensively with Lamont’s artist-in-residence ensembles, the faculty brass trio, and the faculty jazz ensemble.  Al hosted the highly acclaimed 2004 International Trumpet Guild conference at the Lamont School of Music and is currently a faculty member of the annual esteemed Rafael Méndez Brass Institute (and a former 5-year host!), featuring the world-renown Summit Brass. As a freelance trumpeter he continuously performs and records in and beyond the Colorado region with the Denver Brass, the Ken Walker Jazz Sextet, the Denver Brass 5 Quintet and the Colorado Jazz Repertory Orchestra. In 2009 Alan released his first solo CD “Just A Little Taste” which features the arranging talents of Dave Hanson in various settings for trumpet, rhythm section, strings, sax, flute, oboe and French horn and has recently (2011) released a new big band CD with Hanson and the H2 Big Band called “You’re It!” featuring the exciting trumpet playing of guest Bobby Shew, among others. The CD peaked at #10 on the national Jazz Week chart and was #1 on Bob Parlocha’s Top 40 list for several weeks. Al’s playing can also be heard on the 2010 double-CD Capri release by trombonist Curtis Fuller entitled “I Will Tell Her,” which reached #1 on Jazz Week, and Curtis Fuller’s 2012 Capri release “Down Home,” also reaching #1 on the Jazz Week charts and finishing the year at #5 all around. A newly recorded CD with Dave Hanson and the H2 Big Band, entitled “It Colud Happen,” featuring vocalist Rene Marie and some stellar Los Anglese studio players, is scheduled to be released by the conclusion of 2014.

Prior to his 1999 appointment with the University of Denver, Alan taught jazz trumpet and musicology at the University of Miami while pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in jazz performance.  Mr. Hood holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Kentucky and a Master of Music degree from Northern Illinois University, and has taught music at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Richmond in Virginia. His trumpet mentors include Vince DiMartino, Ron Modell, Ray Crisara, Howard Rowe and the late Gil Johnson. As a clinician, Al has enjoyed working and performing with students from such places as the University of Minnesota, Northeastern State University of OK, Western Michigan University, Indiana University, Pittsburg (KS) State University, East Tennessee State University, Wichita State University, Centre College, Cumberland College, University of Northern Colorado and Nagoya University of the Arts in Japan, to name a few. He has performed and has made presentations at the International Trumpet Guild conference, the International Association of Jazz Educators conference, the National Trumpet Competition, the Colorado Music Educators Association conference and at the International Association of Jazz Record Collectors conference. He has also served as a judge for the National Trumpet Competition, the International Trumpet Guild, the Carmine Caruso International Jazz Competition and at many Colorado and national jazz festivals.

A leading authority on the life and work of jazz trumpet legend, Clifford Brown, his doctoral research topic, Al has to his credit, several published articles on Brown and has been invited to present his findings at international conferences. Dr. Nick Catalano’s recent biography of Clifford Brown, published by Oxford University Press, showcases Al Hood’s major contributions as chief research consultant and primary interviewer. His research and performance is utilized in a newly released video documentary on Brown (Brownie Speaks by Don Glanden) and he has been consulted by Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Education Department for assistance with their Clifford Brown exhibit that is now a part of the Nesuhi Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame.

“The Coyote Loredo Snap 2.5 is the most compact, protective, and stylish way to get my all horns around.  And I love the easy conversion for flugelhorn.” — Alan Hood.

Alan Hood travels in style with his brown Coyote Loredo