James Suggs
St Petersburg Fla.-based trumpeter James Suggs is a talented force to be reckoned with, a status he earned with hard work and by following a very unconventional musical path.
Originally from Harrisburg Pa, but raised in Ohio, Suggs started playing trumpet when he was nine years old.
He joined the Canton Youth Orchestra at 15. At 16 he toured the U.S. and Europe with the Continental Singers an evangelical Christian group that mounted ambitious “mission tours,” by recruiting talented young musicians.
After High School Suggs was awarded a scholarship to Youngstown State University and earned a bachelor’s degree in music performance.
After college Suggs spent several years working as a musician aboard cruise ships, which led to gigs with the Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey Orchestra’s starting in 2005.
Later that year Suggs moved to Argentina and spent the next eight years playing in local jazz bands and touring internationally with a successful Reggae/Ska band, Los Pericos.
In 2014 he moved to Tampa and attended the University of South Florida and in 2018 earned a Masters’s degree in music performance. He now teaches at USF.
Also in 2018, with the help of Clearwater-based Arbors Records, Suggs released his album “Your Gonna Hear from Me,” recorded at the prestigious Rudy Van Gelder Studios. The album was produced by saxophone titan Houston Person. The critically acclaimed album went to number 16 on the JazzWeek national charts.
He has performed with a long list of legendary artists including Randy Brecker, Kenny Burrell and Bob Mintzer. He is now one of the most sought-after jazz artists in Central Florida, selling out concerts and wowing audiences with his jaw-dropping solos that at times seem to defy the laws of physics.
–Steve Splane
