Wallace Roney

Wallace Roney was born in Philadelphia, PA and spent his formative years in Washington, DC, attending the Duke Ellington School of the Arts and Howard University. While a member of HUJE, at age nineteen, he was named “Best Jazz Soloist” in the 1981 downbeat Student Recording Awards. After studying at the Berklee College of Music, he attained prominence in Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers in the early 1980s. In the 1990s he was an integral part of the Tony Williams Quintet. He was featured with Miles Davis in a tribute to the Birth of the Cool sessions, issued in 1993 as Miles Davis and Quincy Jones at Montreux. His debut album, Verses, on the Muse label, was recorded in 1987. He is a three-time Grammy Award winning jazz artist, including his 1994 award (A Tribute to Miles), with Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams, Ron Carter, and Wayne Shorter. He has shared bandstands and recording studios with many of the giants of jazz, including Art Blakey, Kenny Barron, Sonny Rollins, Herbie Hancock, Randy Weston, Geri Allen, Chick Corea, T. S. Monk, Gerry Mulligan, and Tony Williams. His most recent album, Mystikal, was recently released. Described as an evocative player with a tremendous stylistic range, his brilliant artistry has made him one of the premiere trumpeters in jazz. He is married to pianist, Geri Allen.