Jim Rotondi Day
August 28, 1962 – July 7, 2024
A tribute to the masterful trumpeter
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Trumpeter Jim Rotondi passed away on July 7, 2024 at the age of 61 from a heart attack.
He was born on Aug. 28, 1962 in Butte, Montana and was part of a musical family including a mother who was a piano teacher.
Rotondi took up the trumpet in junior high school, inspired by Clifford Brown, and studied at the University of Oregon and the University of North Texas.
After graduating in 1985, he moved to New York, freelanced, toured with Ray Charles, and worked with the big bands of Lionel Hampton, Toshiko Akiyoshi and Bob Mintzer and many small groups including with Charles Earland, Lou Donaldson, and Curtis Fuller.
Often teaming up with Eric Alexander, Rotondi became a fixture on the Criss Cross label, was part of the hard bop group One For All for decades starting in 1997, co-led an electric band Full House with pianist David Hazeltine, and taught at Rutgers and SUNY Purchase.
In 2010 he moved to Graz Austria where he taught jazz trumpet for 14 years at the University for Music and Dramatic Arts while maintaining an active performing career.
A brilliant hard bop trumpeter with a warm sound, Rotondi led at least 16 albums, recorded 18 sets with One For All, seven with Eric Alexander as the leader, and dozens of other projects.
He was active until the end.
Here is Jim Rotondi on fluegelhorn leading a quintet with tenor-saxophonist Jon Boutellier, pianist Danny Grissett, bassist Darryl Hall, and drummer Jason Brown, playing an original in 2022.
-Scott Yanow
