Dion Tucker

Director of NJYS Jazz and Jazz Orchestra

Dion Tucker is an accomplished trombonist, composer, and music educator with an oeuvre that defies genre. Boston-born and Miami-bred, Dion moved to New York in 1998 to study at The New School under the tutelage of pioneering trombonists Benny Powell and Steve Turre, among others. Throughout his career, Dion has shared the stage with many jazz, soul and gospel greats including The Duke Ellington Orchestra, where he played lead trombone for 12 years; Ray Charles, The Count Basie Band, Aretha Franklin, The Maria Schneider Orchestra, John Hendricks, The Lionel Hampton Band, Frank Foster’s Loud Minority, Clark Terry & the Young Titans of Jazz, Christian McBride, Mike Longo, The Rufus Reid Big Band, and The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, where he is currently a member. Dion has been a member of the Harry Connick Jr. Band since 2007. He was the trombonist on the daytime Emmy Award winning talk show HARRY, performing with artists like Michael McDonald, Gladys Knight, Keith Urban, Gloria Estefan, Sheila E. and many others. As an educator, Dion has taught in over 20 New York City public schools through the Jazz for Young People program and is currently an adjunct faculty member at New York University.