Stephen Jones

Stephen Jones is the Director of Jazz Studies at Texas Tech University, a position held since 2009. Prior to coming to Texas Tech, he held teaching positions at Bethel College in North Newton, Kansas, Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma,  Southeastern Oklahoma State University, Texas Christian University, and The University of North Texas. As a clinician, he has presented and/or performed at international conferences such as the Jazz Education Network, The Midwest Clinic, and the North American Saxophone Alliance. Professor Jones holds a Bachelor of Music degree with a Performer's Certificate in Clarinet from the State University of New York at Potsdam, a Master of Music degree in Jazz Studies at the University of North Texas, and additional study at the University of Illinois.

As a saxophonist, Stephen can be heard on recordings by the University of North Texas One O’clock Lab Band, the Dallas Jazz Orchestra, The University of Illinois Concert Jazz Band, The Bicoastal Jazz Collective on OA2 (Origin) Records, and Texas Tech colleague Benjamin Haugland on Dazzle Records. Released in June 2023 on the OA2 label (a division of Origin Records), his latest recording, Road to Nowhere, is a collaborative duo project with Ben Haugland. He has been employed as a woodwind performer with the Walt Disney Company and Carnival Cruise Lines; has been a member of The University of North Texas One O'Clock Lab Band and the Dallas Jazz Orchestra; and has performed with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Irving (Texas) Symphony Orchestra, and the Tulsa Philharmonic, as well as other regional orchestras in Texas and Kansas. As a featured saxophone soloist, he has performed with the Springfield (Missouri) Civic Orchestra, the Ozark Lyric Opera, and the Juneau (Alaska) Symphony Orchestra.

Stephen’s compositions and arrangements for big band have been recorded on the University of Illinois Concert Jazz Band's albums As Of Yet and Freeplay. He has also written commissions, and his composition “Sierra Blanca” was premiered at The Midwest Clinic in Chicago by the Del Valle High School Jazz Ensemble I (El Paso, TX.)  Other work has been performed by the George Robert Jazz Orchestra in Geneva, Switzerland.

Through affiliation as a leader or performer with ensembles both professionally and academically, he has performed with these and other prominent artists: Jay Anderson, Wayne Bergeron, Dave Brubeck, Conti Candoli, Rosemary Clooney, Bob Dorough, Peter Erskine, Maynard Ferguson, Slide Hampton, Marvin Hamlisch, Tom Harrell, Conrad Herwig, Steve Houghton, Ingrid Jensen, Jack Jones, Geoffrey Keezer, David Liebman, Rita Moreno, Bob Newhart, Dick Oatts, Marie Osmond, John Riley, Jaleel Shaw, The Temptations, Bill Watrous, and Scott Wendholt. Also active as a clinician, Stephen has appeared as a guest artist, clinician and/or adjudicator at contests and festivals in Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas. From 1996 to 2019 he was on the faculty of the University of North Texas Summer Jazz Combo Workshop.

Stephen is an Artist/Clinician for Conn-Selmer, Inc.