Jun 9, 2026 10:54 AM
In Memoriam: James Blood Ulmer, 1940–2026
With deep sorrow and profound love, we announce the passing of James Blood Ulmer, a boldly innovative guitarist,…
Jim Rotondi was acclaimed for his wide, round trumpet tone, remarkable virtuosity and assured swing.
(Photo: Andrea Frascari)Jim Rotondi, a renowned hard-bop trumpeter, composer and educator, died suddenly on July 7 at a hospital in France. He was 61.
His death was announced on Facebook by his wife, the former Julie Van Parys, on July 8. Cause of death was a heart attack.
Rotondi was acclaimed for his wide, round trumpet tone, remarkable virtuosity and assured swing. It served him with distinction in his years of work alongside the likes of soul superstar Ray Charles; jazz organist Charles Earland; pianists Harold Mabern, Mike LeDonne and Toshiko Akiyoshi; vibraphonists Lionel Hampton and Joe Locke; and tenor saxophonist George Coleman.
His most frequent collaborators, however, were tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander, trombonist Steve Davis, pianist David Hazeltine, bassist John Webber and drummer Joe Farnsworth: the other members of One For All, all of whom worked regularly and in varying combinations with each other outside the collective’s aegis. This frequently included work as members of Rotondi’s bands, with whom he released 14 albums.
Rotondi was also highly regarded as a composer with a strong foundation in melody, the blues and bebop, and as an educator, teaching jazz trumpet for 14 years at the University for Music and Dramatic Arts in Graz, Austria. (He previously taught trumpet at Rutgers University and SUNY Purchase).
James Robert Rotondi was born Aug. 28, 1962, in Butte, Montana, the youngest of five children in a musical family. His mother was a piano teacher and required all of her kids to take piano lessons. In junior high school, he switched to trumpet — only after which he heard Clifford Brown for the first time. “Pretty eye-opening, to say the least,” he recalled in a 2019 interview. “So clear, so perfect, it’s unbelievable.”
After two undeclared years at the University of Oregon, Rotondi transferred to the University of North Texas in 1982, studying jazz trumpet — and winning first place in the International Trumpet Guild’s jazz trumpet competition in 1984. Graduating in 1985, he moved to New York, where he freelanced for several years before being hired into Ray Charles’s touring band in 1991. From there he made the leap into the big bands of Lionel Hampton, Toshiko Akiyoshi and Bob Mintzer, and small bands led by Charles Earland, Lou Donaldson, Curtis Fuller and Joe Chambers. He was also playing regularly at Small’s with Eric Alexander, where Criss Cross Records founder Gerry Teekens first heard Rotondi and recorded his debut album, Introducing Jim Rotondi.
While Rotondi was a frequent freelancer, Farnsworth, Alexander, Davis and Hazeltine remained his core cohort; together with bassist Peter Washington, they founded the “supergroup” hard-bop collective One For All in 1997. The band remained together for the next three decades, with John Webber eventually becoming the permanent bass player. In addition, Rotondi and Hazeltine co-led an electric group, Full House.
Rotondi moved to Austria in 2010 to teach at the University for Music and Dramatic Arts, where he was an accomplished and well-liked educator, reviving his electric band as a means of teaching. He also worked frequently in bands across Europe, maintaining homes in France as well as in Austria. His most recent album, Finesse, recorded with both big band and orchestra, was released by Cellar Music in February.
In addition to Julie, his wife of 20 years, Rotondi is survived by two brothers, Douglas and Frank Rotondi; two sisters, Susan Rotondi and Mary Ann Rotondi Heus; and several nieces and nephews. DB
To the world, James Blood Ulmer was a legend, a visionary and a musical force whose sound was distinctive and unique. To his family, he was their teacher, their storyteller and a source of strength.
Jun 9, 2026 10:54 AM
With deep sorrow and profound love, we announce the passing of James Blood Ulmer, a boldly innovative guitarist,…
Clockwise from top left, Mary Halvorson, Patricia Brennan, Adam O’Farrill, Keith Jarrett’s At the Deer Head Inn: The Complete Recordings, Sheila Jordan and Jaki Byard.
Jul 16, 2026 1:34 PM
The DownBeat Critics Poll never ceases to amaze! And the 74th Edition offered plenty of accolades for poll veterans and…
A drummer’s drummer, Rodney Holmes gigged with everyone from Joe Zawinul and Carlos Santana to Steve Kimock and the Brecker Brothers.
Jul 22, 2026 12:37 PM
Drummer Rodney Holmes, a powerful presence behind the kit who emerged as an in-demand player on the New York scene…
Ibrahim was an early jazz acolyte, studying the music via 78s he would buy from soldiers stationed in South Africa — who also gave him the nickname “Dollar.”
Jun 30, 2026 3:19 PM
Pianist Abdullah Ibrahim, the NEA Jazz Master from South Africa who helped fuse the folk music of his home country with…
Joe Lovano’s Paramount Quartet will record live at New York’s Village Vanguard for ECM records on Aug. 26–27.
Jul 22, 2026 12:46 PM
One of Joe Lovano’s buzz terms is “the moment of now” and with seemingly infinite patience — despite a schedule…
