The Reno Jazz Festival features a dynamic group of esteemed and experienced Artist Educators, who also are performing and composing jazz musicians. These select professionals will review and critique student group performances, hold clinics and daytime concerts and host an Artist Educator Spotlight Concert.
Artist Educators
Meet the 2025 artist educators
Tina Raymond
Tina Raymond is a highly respected drummer and educator based in Los Angeles, blending traditional jazz, African polyrhythm, and classical percussion. Known for her unique voice in contemporary improvised music, she has toured the US, Europe, and Asia both as a leader and a sideperson. Her 2023 album Divinations (Imani Records) explores a groove-centric, melody-driven sound, surprising fans of her abstract work with avant-garde musicians like Bobby Bradford and Vinny Golia. Other recent releases include Rachel Eckroth’s Live at Sam First and Bobby Bradford’s Stealin' Home. Her debut album Left, Right, Left (2017) explores America’s polarized politics through music. Raymond is an Associate Professor and director of Jazz Studies at California State University Northridge. She has received a DownBeat Educator Achievement Award and presents globally, with teaching credits spanning prestigious universities and jazz programs.
Josh Murray
Saxophonist Josh Murray has been the Band Director at Rio Americano High School in Sacramento since 1998. Rio’s AM Jazz Ensemble has been a finalist at the Essentially Ellington Festival twelve times and won the 2019 national “Perform With Bob Mintzer” competition. The band has performed globally, including in Japan, China, Argentina, Italy, Spain, Australia, Ireland, Austria, and the Czech Republic, with a South Korea tour planned for 2025. Rio’s musicians have won numerous DownBeat Magazine Student Music Awards and are three-time winners of the Charles Mingus Festival’s combo category. Rio’s music students have attended top music schools, with many alumni becoming professional musicians and educators. Murray’s performing credits include shows with Wycliffe Gordon, Phil Woods, Donny McCaslin, Jimmy Smith, and the Drifters. He is also a contributing author to Teaching Music Through Performance in Jazz, Vol. 2 and was awarded the CMEA Jazz Education Award in 2024.
Levi Saelua
An award-winning composer and saxophonist, Levi Saelua maintains a full schedule working with artists and ensembles in a variety of genres. He has performed in theaters and concert halls all over the world, and he regularly performs with Triism, Bryan McAllister, and the Capital Jazz Project. He is currently the director of Colossus West, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization committed to enriching the American musical landscape through concerts, recordings, and live performance, and serves as the artistic director of Colossus West's resident 20-piece jazz orchestra.
Carl Schultz
Carl Schultz is a saxophonist, composer, educator, and historian currently based in Santa Clara, California, where he serves as Director of Jazz Studies at Santa Clara University. He is completing his new album, The Road to Trantor, an avant-fusion suite inspired by Isaac Asimov’s science fiction themes. This follows his trio album ACT reACT, which highlights compositions by his mentor, Art Lande. Schultz’s career includes performances with The Glenn Miller Orchestra, where he played nearly 1,000 shows and is featured on The Glenn Miller Orchestra: Live in Tokyo. He has also performed with modern jazz ensembles such as the Lars Halle Orchestra and Norman David and the Eleventet. Schultz is a sought-after guest lecturer and has given clinics at schools including The University of the Arts and Penn State Altoona.
Joseph Jefferson
Dr. Joseph L. Jefferson, Associate Professor of Music and Director of Jazz Ensembles at St. Olaf College, is a versatile musician skilled in both jazz and classical music. Honored as a Yamaha "40 Under 40" recipient in 2023 and the 2022 Ellis Marsalis Jr. Jazz Educator of the Year, Joseph has performed with artists like Vanessa Williams, Catherine Russell, and Walter Blanding. As a soloist, clinician, and pedagogue, he has performed nationwide and abroad, leading artist residencies and appearing at events like the International Trombone Festival.
Joseph is passionate about mentoring students, especially through his work with all-state and honor jazz ensembles. Before St. Olaf, he taught at Southeast Missouri State University and The University of Portland. He holds degrees from Norfolk State University, Shenandoah Conservatory, and West Virginia University. A Yamaha performing artist/educator, Joseph is affiliated with the Jazz Education Network, NAfME, and the International Trombone Association.
Bailey Hinkley Grogan
Bailey Hinkley Grogan is an award-winning jazz vocalist, songwriter, musicologist, and feminist scholar based in Denver, CO. After earning a Doctorate in Jazz Studies with an emphasis in musicology from the University of Miami, Grogan released her debut album, Three Sides of a Story, featuring vocal and instrumental duos that showcase her vocal and jazz mastery. As a vocalist, she has performed at various festivals, including the Monterey Jazz Festival, and presented her research at conferences and universities nationwide. Recently noted for her research on feminism in jazz history, Grogan is a published author and frequent presenter on jazz history, black American music, and representation in jazz.
Nichole Heglund
Originally from Denver, Nichole moved to Reno and began teaching music in 2003. Over the years, she has taught and inspired students in jazz ensembles, middle and high school bands and choirs in the Washoe County School District. Her groups have been honored with spotlight performances, including the 2019 Reno Jazz Festival. Nichole directs the Reno Youth Jazz Orchestra and is the Education Director for the Reno Jazz Orchestra. She is also the founder and director of Sapphire Jazz Ensemble, an all-women big band in Northern Nevada. Nichole is a saxophonist, guest conductor, active clinician and adjudicator in Northern Nevada and California.
Gary Fukushima
Gary Fukushima is a keyboardist, composer, jazz journalist, and monthly contributor to DownBeat Magazine, based in Los Angeles. He has performed in the U.S., South America, and Asia with Alphonso Johnson, Chester Thompson, Senri Kawaguchi, and Priscilla Ahn. Gary leads a progressive electronic jazz group, which released Preludes, Vol. 1 in 2019, with a full-length album scheduled for 2025.
Originally from Seattle, Gary moved to Southern California in 2003 and has performed with artists like Mike Stern, Ndugu Chancler, Walter Smith III, Anthony Wilson, and many others. He is on the faculty at California State University, Northridge, Pasadena City College, and the Pasadena Conservatory of Music. Gary also writes about jazz for publications like DownBeat Magazine, LA Weekly, and LA Jazz Scene, and has interviewed jazz luminaries such as Chick Corea, Joshua Redman, Vijay Iyer, Esperanza Spalding, and more.
Richard Lloyd Giddens, Jr.
Richard Lloyd Giddens Jr. began his musical journey at 17 with a full scholarship to the Jazz and Contemporary Music Program at The New School for Social Research, studying with Reggie Workman, Doug Weiss, Joe Chambers, and others. In 2000, he paused his education to tour nationally, including with the Off-Broadway show STOMP. He later returned to his studies, earning his BFA in 2007 and MFA in 2009 from California Institute of the Arts, where he was mentored by bassist Charlie Haden.
Giddens has headlined at festivals like Jazz em Agosto (Lisbon), Saalfelden Jazz Festival (Austria), and the Angel City Jazz Festival (Los Angeles). He has performed in 29 countries and 48 states, recording with artists like Charlie Haden, Robert Glasper, Mary Halvorson, and Ravi Coltrane. A Tzadik and Orenda Records artist, Giddens is featured on Matt Otto’s "Notebook" and his own debut album, Mimosas. He is also the Director of Jazz Studies at Fresno State.
Chris Clark
Chris Clark is a saxophonist and instructor based in Reno, Nevada. Equally comfortable performing in a wide variety of settings ranging from traditional, straight-ahead and modern jazz to free improvisation and pop/contemporary styles, he has established himself as a versatile and unique player within the realm of creative music. Chris is an active educator and has directed large and small jazz ensembles at the university level in addition to coaching high-school ensembles and maintaining a private teaching studio for the past 15 years. Chris earned his Bachelor of Music degree in jazz studies from the University of Oregon and his Master of Music degree in jazz and improvisational music from the 推荐杏吧原创 where he is currently a faculty member as an instructor of large jazz ensemble, jazz history and saxophone.