Trumpet Virtuoso & Master Teacher

Early years...

...John began his career as a young man in the middle 1970s when he was a standout trumpet player in the Columbia Tennessee Central High School band program. After high school he studied music at Middle Tennessee State University where he was also a member of the famed Band of Blue. Later he attended Western Connecticut University while studying with Jim Maxwell and Bob McCoy, both nationally known players and teachers.

Mid-career...

...John joined the United States Navy music program in 1984. He attended the Navy School of Music and was then assigned to the United States Navy Show Band, South, based in New Orleans Louisiana. In 1990, John was selected to play with the United States Navy's premiere jazz ensemble, The Commodores, stationed in Washington D.C., and for the next fifteen years as lead trumpet made numerous national tours and played in many of the biggest jazz festivals both in this country and in Europe.

Current times...

...To further his musical career John retired from active duty in the Navy in 2004. From the outset of his civilian career John has been in high demand as a first trumpet player in prestige venues such as the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts , the National Theater, the Wolf Trap Center for Performing Arts, all in the Washington, DC area, and the Hippodrome Theater in Baltimore. John has been first chair trumpet in many of today's most prominent musicals including Hair Spray, The Producers, My Fair Lady, Chicago, Spamalot, Mame, A Chorus Line, The Color Purple, Wicked, and Legally Blonde.

...In 2007 Sea Breeze Records released John's first CD, "Better Days Ahead." He also has a line of trumpet mouthpieces, the John Blount Signature Series, made by Greg Black. John's book "Trumpet Solfeggio" was published by Charles Colin in 2008.

...Through numerous hours of hard practice and perseverance John has reached a performance level that has qualified him to work with many of the world's top musicians and artists, including Doc Severinsen, Lou Rawls, Maureen McGovern, Natalie Cole, Manhattan Transfer, Arturo Sandavol, Terry Gibbs, Randy Brecker, Milt Hinton, Frank Mantooth, Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr, Jack Jones, Steve Lippia, Diane Reeves, Patti Labelle, The Four Freshmen, K.D. Lang, the Glenn Miller Band, the Jimmy Dorsey Band, and Aretha Franklin.

...John lives in Baltimore, Maryland, where he maintains a private studio. He also teaches in several other musical instruction programs and is co-leader of the Baltimore based John Blount - Dave Tucker Big Band.