JARED SIMS

Director of Jazz Studies

JARED SIMS performs on all of the saxophones as well as clarinet and flute. He has toured throughout the United States and in Europe, South America, Asia and India.

Sims has performed live and recorded with an array of artists that include Rufus Reid, Matt Wilson, Han Bennink, Cecil McBee, Bob Brookmeyer, Soulive, Stefon Harris, Landau Eugene Murphy, The Temptations, Anat Cohen, Dave Liebman, Antonio Sanchez, Four Tops, Melvin Sparks, Oteil Burbridge, DJ Logic, Matisyahu, the 10,000 Maniacs, and Noel Gallagher. Sims has also performed with large ensembles such as the Rhode Island Philharmonic, the Artie Shaw Orchestra, and the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra.

Sims has performed at the Thailand International Jazz Conference, Rochester Jazz Festival, Montreal Jazz Festival, Cleveland'sTri-C Jazz Festival, Flint (Michigan) Jazz Festival, Beantown Jazz Festival (Boston), New Haven (Connecticut) Jazz Festival, Quito Jazz Festival (Ecuador), Telluride (Colorado) Jazz Festival, and Northsea Jazz Festival in the Netherlands. He conducted college ensembles at Newport Jazz Festival five times.

Sims has appeared on more than 50 different recordings crossing multiple genres. His solo recordings include The Analogy of the Sun (2021 on MCG Jazz Records), Awakening(s) (2020 on Ropeadope Records), The Mind Reveals (2019 on Ropeadope Records), The New York Sessions (2018 on Ropeadope Records), Change of Address (2017 on Ropeadope Records), Layers (2016), The New Stablemates (2012 on Arabesque Records), Convergence (released in 2011), and Acoustic Shadow (released in 2009). His other recorded work has includes music for theme parks, television commercials, and video games.

Sims contributed articles to international jazz publications—including How to Make a Good Band Better in the January/February 2020 edition of JazzEd magazine. He also wrote a featured article in the August 2017 DownBeat magazine entitled Closing the Book, Opening the Ears and Jared Sims on Hammond B3 Classics in the March 2018 issues of JazzTimes.

Sims has been an adjudicator and directed All State bands in several states. He has given clinics and master classes at UCSI in Kuala Lumpur, the Thailand International Jazz Conference, the Asia Pacific Saxophone Academy (Bangkok), the U.S. Navy International Saxophone Symposium, Cornell University, New Hampshire All State, Emerson College, the U.S. Navy Base in Norfolk, Universidad San Francisco De Quito (Ecuador), Boston Day and Evening Academy, Maine All-State Jazz Festival, and St. Francis Xavier University (Nova Scotia, Canada).

Sims earned a doctorate in classical woodwind performance from Boston University. His primary research topic was the Italian composer Berio and his Sequenza pieces. Other research was done in the areas of Igor Stravinsky, Charles Ives, and American popular music. Sims studied jazz and improvisation at the New England Conservatory of Music where he had the opportunity to study with the legendary George Russell and Gunther Schuller, the MacArthur “genius grant” recipient Ran Blake, and jazz powerhouses George Garzone and Jerry Bergonzi. Sims earned his undergraduate degree from West Virginia University.

Currently the Director of Jazz at West Virginia University, Sims is the former Assistant Director of Jazz at University of Rhode Island and has taught previously at the University of New Hampshire, Boston University, and Southern New Hampshire University.