“A musician in the truest sense”, internationally recognized trumpet player, and vocalist, Ricardo Jimenez captures “the essence of humanity in his art” ~Sean Roldan. A storyteller, communicator, and innovator, he defies boundaries through mission, music, and education. A recipient of the Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, Ricardo traveled the world looking at the intersectionality of self and society through music. He has been welcomed as an artist on five continents, having shared music in Austria, England, Germany, India, Italy, Senegal, Spain, Brazil, and Japan. Some highlights of his travels are performing in Coca-Cola Studio Tamil’s Season One debut, studio recording for Bollywood productions, and working with children teaching music throughout Senegal, helping to found the non-profit “Langusik”.  

 

Born and based in Chicago, Ricardo performed with the stage band in Porchlight Theater's award-winning production of "Blues In The Night", featuring legends such as Felicia P. Fields, Maulty Jewell IV, and Donica Lynn. Most recently, he worked as an on-stage musician in Ron O.J. Parson’s and Felicia P. Fields’ original and award-winning production “Pearls: Rollin’ with the Blues.” Ricardo has also worked and performed with many groups and artists at home and abroad such as “Cosimo and the Hot Coals,” “Paganin Soatnquartett,” “Afrika Groove,” Joe Locke, Tim Garland, Geoffrey Keezer, John Harmon, Gene Bertoncini, Hermann Haertel, Simon Wascher, Julia Siedl, Khatija Rahman, Arivu, and Sean Roldan. 

 

Ricardo received his Bachelor of Arts in Biology and a Bachelor of Music in Trumpet Performance from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin. During his tenure as lead trumpet and vocalist, the Lawrence Univesity Jazz Ensemble won four consecutive DownBeat awards for “Best Undergraduate Ensemble.” He was also lead vocalist and bongocero of the Lawrence University Jazz Band when they won DownBeat’s “Best Undergraduate Latin Ensemble.”  At Lawrence, he studied trumpet with Prof. John Daniel, author of "Special Trumpet Studies", and voice with WAMI award-winning vocalist, Janet Planet. 

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As a global educator, Ricardo strives to enable his students to become whole artists, with a focus on decolonizing the mind, liberating the spirit, and becoming at ease in multiple genres and unafraid to tap into their creative potential. Ricardo currently works throughout Chicago teaching a variety of music programs in Chicago’s public schools, as well as teaching online lessons to students of all ages across the globe.

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