Returning to SJW as a member of Matt Wilson’s Arts and Crafts quartet, Terell Stafford is uniquely qualified to teach at Stanford Jazz. His master of the trumpet is unequalled, for starters, but Terell is also thought of by many as one of the most creative performers, composers, and arrangers working in jazz today. He also holds the positions of Director of Jazz Studies and Chair of Instrumental Studies at Temple University in Philadelphia where he has been a recipient of the University's “Creative Achievement Award.” He is also a clinician for the prestigious Vail Foundation in Colorado and Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Essentially Ellington Program. Formerly, Stafford served as a member of the faculty for the Juilliard Institute for Jazz Studies in New York. Dedicated to building the jazz arts community through education, Stafford currently sits on the board of the Jazz Education Network.

Since the mid-1990’s Stafford has performed with groups such as Benny Golson’s Sextet, McCoy Tyner’s Sextet, the Kenny Barron Sextet, the Jimmy Heath Big Band, the Jon Faddis Orchestra. Currently he is a member of the GRAMMY award winning Vanguard Jazz Orchestra (GRAMMY 2009, Best Large Ensemble, Live at the Village Vanguard), as well as a member of the GRAMMY nominated Clayton Brothers Quintet (for Best Instrumental Composition), and the Frank Wess Quintet. Between 2006 and 2007 Stafford played an integral part on several albums including Diana Krall’s GRAMMY nominated From This Moment On (2006) for which Stafford joined with the Hamilton-Clayton Jazz Orchestra. In celebration of Jimmy Heath’s 80th birthday, Stafford recorded with the Jimmy Heath Big Band for the album Turn Up the Heath (2006). A regular member of drummer Matt Wilson’s group “Arts and Crafts,” Stafford is featured on the album Scenic Route (2007). As a member of drummer Alvin Queen’s band, “Alvin Queen and the Organics,” Stafford is heard on the album I Ain’t Lookin’ at You (2006).

Stafford has also been an integral part of bands led by such venerable artists as Cedar Walton, Sadao Watanabe, Herbie Mann, and Matt Wilson. He has appeared on television (The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and You Bet Your Life with Bill Cosby) and can be heard on the soundtrack for the feature film, A Bronx Tale. He has also performed as a guest artist with the Billy Taylor Trio on National Public Radio’s Billy Taylor’s Jazz at the Kennedy Center.

Stafford has recorded six albums as a leader with his debut album in 1995 entitled Time to Let Go (Candid). In 1997, he followed this album with the critically acclaimed Centripedal Force (Candid). His third album as a leader was the popular Fields of Gold (Nagel-Heyer) featuring the talents of Bill Cunliffe, Kiyoshi Kitagawa, Antonio Hart, and Rodney Green. His fourth release was the enthusiastically received New Beginnings (MAXJAZZ 2003) and features Mulgrew Miller, Derrick Hodge, Dana Hall, Steve Wilson, Dick Oatts, Harry Allen, and Jesse Davis. He followed this album with the critically acclaimed Taking Chances (MAXJAZZ 2007). Stafford's newest release, This Side of Strayhorn (MAXJAZZ 2011) features Tim Warfield, Bruce Barth, Peter Washington, and Dana Hall, and has been called “the first must-have album of 2011” and “genius”. As a sideman Stafford has been heard on over 90 albums.

Visit Terell on the web at www.terellstafford.com/