Jay Saunders

Jay Saunders
Genres	big band jazz
Occupation(s)	collegiate educator, big band trumpeter
Instruments	trumpet
Associated acts	Stan Kenton

Jay Saunders (né John Henry Saunders III; born 29 June 1944 Sacramento, California) is an American trumpeter and music educator at the collegiate level. In the 1970s, Saunders was a lead trumpeter with big bands — notably the Stan Kenton Orchestra (early seventies) — and a session musician in the Dallas area. Saunders recently retired from the faculty at the University of North Texas College of Music where he taught jazz trumpet, jazz recordings, and directed the One O'Clock Lab Band.

Originally from Sacramento, California, Saunders attended the University of North Texas College of Music from 1965 to 1968 where he studied trumpet with John Haynie (born 1924). Saunders was a member of the One O'Clock Lab Band, served as an undergraduate teaching assistant in trumpet, and played two short tours with the Stan Kenton Orchestra. After earning a Bachelor of Music in 1968, Saunders played lead trumpet in the Studio Band(now called the "Jazz Ambassadors") of the United States Army Field Band in Washington, D.C., from 1968 to 1971. Upon discharge from the U.S. Army, he immediately rejoined the Kenton Orchestra in July 1971, eventually playing lead trumpet until the fall of 1972. That fall, Saunders returned to the UNT College of Music to work on his master's degree. While there, he served as a graduate assistant teacher of trumpet and lab bands until the summer of 1975. He earned a Master of Music Education in fall 1974.

His tenure with the Army Studio Band (1968–71) and Kenton (1971–72) coincided closely with that of Ray Brown — a composer, arranger, trumpet player, and jazz educator, who, while with the Kenton Orchestra, held the jazz trumpet chair.

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