George Garzone leads free clinics in Baltimore in November 2025
“I’m not the master of the saxophone, George Garzone is.” —Michael Brecker
This Fall, The Baltimore Jazz Education Project (BJEP) will host free clinics with saxophone giant George Garzone on November 6th, 7th, and 8th: November 6th at Towson University and November 7th and 8th at Divinity Lutheran Church at 1220 Providence Rd, Baltimore, MD 21286.
The final event, November 9th, will be two shows (5 pm and 7:30 pm) at Keystone Korner titled “Celebrating Coltrane,” featuring George Garzone with Carl Filipiak (guitar), Lafayette Gilchrist (piano), Greg Thompkins (sax), Paul Hannah (sax), Matthew Everhart (bass), and Frank Russo (drums).
Garzone is a well-known and sought-after jazz educator, currently teaching at Boston’s Berklee College of Music. He has also previously taught at New England Conservatory, Longy School of Music, New York University, Manhattan School of Music, Northeastern University and the New School University.
He has pioneered the Triadic Chromatic Approach, an improvisation concept which has his own signature in the jazz improvisation vocabulary. The first edition of the Triadic Chromatic Approach was released in DVD format. In 2020 George Garzone released the second part of the Triadic Chromatic Approach and other educational books related to his concept and his music.
Over the course of his teaching career, Garzone’s students have included greats such as Joshua Redman, Teodross Avery, Seamus Blake, Chris Cheek, Luciana Souza, Mark Turner, Donny McCaslin, Doug Yates, Danilo Perez, and the Grammy-award-winning drummer Antonio Sanchez, to name a few.
Saxophonist Gregory Thompkins is The Music Director of The Baltimore Jazz Education Project and has studied with Mr. Garzone for over 20 years. “Mr. Garzone’s teaching and performance have been at the center of my creative development and teaching for several decades,” says Thompkins. “I find his advice and suggestions invaluable”
For more information please go to www.jazzbjep.com. Contact. Greg Thompkins Greg@rolandparkjazz.com. 443-854-5876
–by Gregory Thompkins