James Decker

James T. Decker is Associate Professor of Trombone at Texas Tech University He holds an MME from Herbert H. Lehman College, MM and BM from the Juilliard School. His principal teachers were Joseph Alessi, Steve Norrell, Jim Pugh, Edward Herman, Vincent Penzarella, and Jerome Callet. He has performed with the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra, where he served as Principal Trombonist for 17 years, the Britt Festival Orchestra, the Tucson, Lubbock and New Mexico Symphony Orchestras, and various brass chamber groups. His solo career has included recitals at premier universities in the US with several solo performances of significant works with symphonic ensembles, including the Samuel Jones Trombone Concerto “Vita Accademica” and the John Mackey “Harvest Concerto”. He has also performed with Diana Krall, Michael McDonald, Al Jarreau, Toto, Ray Charles, Burt Bacharach, Toni Tennille, Kenny Loggins, Glen Campbell, Lou Rawls, Sammy Davis Jr., Natalie Cole, The Temptations, and Christopher Cross.