Jazz Artists Resource
Improvisation, Composition, Arranging, Education
Founded in 2014 and incorporated in Chicago, the mission of Jazz Artists Resource (JAR) is to support the preservation and development of jazz music. JAR has identified three main objectives to fulfill this mission:
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To provide resources to ensembles, composers, arrangers and musicians who are seeking to find new audiences for their works, through live performances and recordings
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To implement educational outreach programs to connect students with jazz professionals, teaching all aspects of music through side-by-side mentoring
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To support the presentation and recording of undiscovered and new music from jazz composers and arrangers whose music, though fully formed, that has not yet been in the public sphere.
Over the past seven years, JAR has supported the presentation of performances by jazz artists in the Chicago area, including the Metropolitan Jazz Octet and Jazz String Quintet. JAR has supported more than 24 jazz performances, the recording of four albums, and six original commissions. More than 1500 people have attended JAR-affiliated artist performances and 1000 have purchased, downloaded, or digitally streamed JAR-supported jazz recordings.
JAR seeks to develop an ongoing relationship between artist and audience. JAR offers support to develop jazz music that bridges gaps in age, race, economics and orientation, across a diverse population.
Over the next five years, JAR has committed to continuing to support the presentation of new works in the public sphere by supporting jazz artists; implementing educational outreach programs for students, with an emphasis on under served communities, with the specific purpose of sharing how to create, rehearse, and perform
Ensembles affiliated with Jazz Artists Resource
Jazz String Quintet (JSQ) is an integration of both jazz and classical music written for string quartet and soprano saxophone. Inspired by sources as diverse as Debussy and Ravel to Miles Davis and John Coltrane, composer and saxophonist Jim Gailloreto offers a perfect blend of classical music and jazz: structure and spontaneity. The compositions interweave his own soprano saxophone with skilled modernist writing for string quartet.
The Metropolitan Jazz Octet (MJO) is the reawakening of a group that was originally started in the 1950’s by saxophonist/arranger Tom Hilliard. Hilliard taught three members of the current MJO to whom he bequeathed his musical library, passing the torch to the next generation.
Board of Directors
Jim Gailloreto, Executive Director
Jim Gailloreto is a saxophonist, composer, educator, and performs and leads the Metropolitan Jazz Octet. He has performed with many of Chicago’s leading musical organizations, including the Chicago Jazz Ensemble, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Chamber Musicians, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the Fulcrum Point New Music Project.
Gailloreto has collaborated with acclaimed artists, including Fred Hersch, Patricia Barber, John McLean, and Grażyna Auguścik, among many others. His string arrangements are featured on Kurt Elling’s Grammy Award–winning album Dedicated to You: Kurt Elling Sings the Music of Coltrane and Hartman.
Gailloreto earned a Bachelor of Music in Composition from DePaul University and a Master of Music in Composition from Northwestern University.
John Kornegay, Project Coordinator
John Kornegay is a saxophonist/composer/arranger and graduate of DePaul University’s School of Music. He performs and arranges for the Metropolitan Jazz Octet. He also created arrangements and orchestrations for jazz violinist John Frigo’s appearances with Chicago Sinfonietta and the Tonight Show orchestra, Purdue University annual Christmas shows, and orchestrations for numerous regional theater productions.
Kornegay composed and orchestrated the Academy Award-nominated Holocaust documentary “Eyewitness,” documenting the lives and art of three artists forced to work in secret while living at the Auschwitz concentration camp.
His professional experience includes live performances with Tony Bennett, Ray Charles, Burt Bacharach, Al Jarreau, Bernadette Peters, and Julie Andrews, to name a few. In addition to playing in the Metropolitan Jazz Octet, he has performed in many musical theater orchestra pits on pre-Broadway tours and regional productions.
John McCortney, Engineer and Production Coordinator
John McCortney has been a recording engineer and studio owner (AirWave Recorder) for the past 50 years. Past clients include Tom Waits, Gregg Allman, Emmy Lou Harris, Jorma Kaukonen, Pine Top Perkins, Hubert Sumlin, David (Honey Boy) Edwards, Ira Sullivan, Ken Vandermark, members and ensembles from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra, The Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, The William Ferris Chorale, and countless other musicians.
John also serves on the Board of Directors of the W.P. and H.B. White Foundation. The Foundation makes grants to over one hundred social service organizations and high school scholarships in the City of Chicago.
John is also a member of the Board of Directors of Jazz Artist Resources and has the privilege of serving as a recording engineer for the Metropolitan Jazz Octet.