John David Simon has performed extensively on the national and international jazz scene with Ella Fitzgerald, Chaka Khan, Clark Terry, Buddy DeFranco, Ray Charles, Dizzy Gillespie, J.J. Johnson, Shirley Scott, The New Jersey Pops Orchestra, T.S. Monk and Charles Earland. John’s big band credits include The Lionel Hampton, Illinois Jacquet, Artie Shaw, Jimmy Dorsey and Cotton Club Orchestras. He has toured Japan, Europe, Scandinavia, Canada and the United States performing at major festivals including the Playboy, Monterey, Montreal, North Sea, JVC, Pori, Grande Parade du Jazz (Nice, France), and Newport jazz festivals. Some of the venues John has played include Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Radio City Music Hall, The Kennedy Center, Brooklyn Academy of Music, The Village Vanguard, The Blue Note, The Hollwood Bowl and Ravinia. Currently Simon appears on over ten CD albums, including as a leader, Legacy: The John Simon Trio Featuring Don Patterson, his critically acclaimed debut CD on Muse Records and his second and latest CD, John David Simon And Friends With Clark Terry & Etta Jones on WarmGroove Records. As a sideman, Simon can be heard on The Joe Sudler Swing Machine & Clark Terry on TJA Records, Born to Swing with Buddy DeFranco on Satellite Records and The Ponderer with the Odean Pope Saxophone Choir on Soul Note Records. John also appears in the documentary film Texas Tenor: the Illinois Jacquet Story, shown on the Bravo TV network.
In 1999, Simon entered into the prestigious Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz, by Leonard Feather and Ira Gitler, as one of 3300 biographies spanning the entire history of jazz. A recipient of two NEA Jazz Performance Fellowships and a Master of Music Degree from Manhattan School of Music, John has taught jazz performance, ensemble and musicianship at many conservatories and schools.
Simon currently resides in New York City where he works as a free-lance saxophonist, woodwind doubler and bandleader, and is a faculty member of The Ridgewood Conservatory and Henry Street Settlement Abrons Arts Center.
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