John Calloway

John Calloway is a multi-instrumentalist, composer and arranger who has performed with renowned jazz artists Israel Cachao Lopez, Max Roach, Omar Sosa and Dizzy Gillespie. In the San Francisco Bay Area, John has built a solid foundation as a as a performer/arranger including work with Pete Escovedo, Jesus Diaz, John Santos, Quique Cruz, Rebeca Mauleon and Wayne Wallace.

As a faculty member at San Francisco State University, John founded the university’s Afro-Cuban Ensemble, which has enjoyed wide acclaim and popularity for many years. He has also done extensive theatre work with Teatro Arcoiris of SFSU, including the critically acclaimed theatre piece Poeta Pan, based on the life and poetry of Pablo Neruda that was performed in the United States and Chile.

His recording credits as a performer and composer include his two CD projects, Diaspora and The Code, and longtime collaborations with John Santos, Jesus Diaz and Omar Sosa. Included in his recording and writing credits are the Grammy nominations given to “SF Bay” (2003) with the Machete Ensemble, and Ritmo y Candela (1996) and Ritmo y Candela II (1998), produced by Greg Landau and featuring Cuban percussionists Changuito, Patato, and Orestes Vilato.

As an educator, John currently teaches Afro-Cuban music and Latin American music courses at San Francisco State University and at the Jazz School in Berkeley, CA. He is also a clinician at the Stanford Jazz Workshop and a longtime faculty member of JazzCampWest. He has frequently traveled to Cuba as program coordinator for PlazaCuba, an arts company that offers courses in conjunction with the National School of the Arts in Havana, Cuba.

John holds a B.A. in music from the City University of New York, an M.A. in music from San Francisco State University and a Doctorate in Education from the University of San Francisco. He currently serves as an Arts Commissioner for the City of San Francisco, and is on the advisory boards of the San Jose Jazz Society and the Arts Education Master Plan for the San Francisco School District.

-johncalloway.com