TIM JAGO

Australian guitarist/composer/educator Tim Jago began performing in jazz ensembles at the age of 21. He completed a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Performance at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts and was awarded the Melville Toyota Scholarship for the most outstanding final year jazz student (2006). The following year he became an adjunct guitar tutor at the same institution. Also in 2007, Tim was selected as a finalist in the National Jazz Awards to perform at the Wangaratta Jazz Festival.

In 2010 he was a selected candidate for the Freedman Fellowship in Australia. Tim relocated to the United States in August 2010 to undertake the Master of Music program in Studio Music and Jazz with a major in jazz guitar performance at The University of Miami Frost School of Music. There he held a Teaching Assistant (T.A.) position for the duration of his Masters and graduated in 2012. Tim continued in the T.A. position, returning to The University of Miami to complete the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in May 2015. He was then announced as a semi finalist in the inaugural Wes Montgomery International Jazz Guitar Competition (2015).

Throughout his musical career Tim has performed/recorded extensively across Australia and The United States. He has led and co-led groups at jazz festivals including The York Jazz and Soul Festival in Western Australia (2008, 2009), The Perth International Jazz Festival (2013, 2014), The Melbourne International Jazz Festival (2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015), and The Miami Downtown Jazz Festival (2018). He has performed and recorded with a host of world-class musicians including Patti Austin, Terence Blanchard, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Chick Corea, Dave Douglas, Gloria Estefan, Wycliffe Gordon, Dave Liebman, Bobby McFerrin, Vince Mendoza, Steve Miller, James Morrison, Danillo Perez, Chris Potter, and Arturo Sandoval, to name a few.

Tim has released three albums - 'The Grid' (2010), 'Wear More Headbands' (2013), and 'The Grid III (featuring four)' (2015) with his trio, The Grid. He has recorded in the U.S. as a member of many bands, including Troy Roberts' Nu-Jive, 'Nu-Jive 5' (2013), and 'Nu-Jive Perspective' (2018).

“The volume of obscured early musical influences we have in common is quite frightening. Tim is always in the moment, playing with grace, fire, finesse and humor – every note grooving so infectiously hard, no matter the setting. Being the extremely versatile and intent listener that he is, I know I can play absolutely anything I want on the bandstand and he’s got my back. Often, it’s like we finish each other’s sentences.”

-       Troy Roberts