Jeff Carver is changing the way people think about trumpet! He spent more than a decade transforming his sound from a lead player to a beautifully inspired soloist, adding a more melancholy and darker tone to his already passionate and emotional style. Include singing to his list of stage skills and the impressive result is a busy schedule (more than 200 shows per year pre-Pandemic) as a unique “solo” performer, appearing at jazz clubs, restaurants, wineries, casinos, VIP events, weddings and private parties. His contemporary proprietary backing track arrangements of hits from The Great American Songbook, mixed with popular songs from legendary modern-day artists, make him one of the most versatile artists working today. With more than 250 songs at his instrumental and vocal disposal, Jeff’s multi-age audiences enjoy the up-to-date songs they are craving, as he introduces a new generation to artists and from past decades.
As one of the Midwest’s premier Trumpet and Flugelhorn performers, Jeff plays and sings songs from past artists such as Louis Armstrong, Elvis Presley, Nat King Cole, The Beatles and the great Frank Sinatra. He also features songs from Miles Davis, Herb Alpert, Barbra Streisand, Chuck Mangione, Bill Withers, Ray Charles, Van Morrison as well as modern pop stars such as, Stevie Wonder, Eric Clapton, Michael Jackson, Billy Joel and Michael Buble’. Jeff has one of the most wide-ranging song lists of any working musician today!
Jeff is a former lead trumpet player for the NFL’s MN Vikings Show Band, The “Power Players” NorthStars Professional Hockey Band, and regularly performed the National Anthem at MN Twins baseball games in the Metrodome. In the mid 1980’s, he performed on stage with his hero and trumpet legend, Maynard Ferguson. Jeff spent 7 years playing lead trumpet and was the featured soloist as he toured nationally with “Shaun Johnson & The Big Band Experience”, an eight-piece variety/show group created by Emmy-Winning singer and entertainer, Shaun Johnson (of “Tonic Sol-fa” fame) The BBE performed to near sellout audiences in theaters and on popular stages from coast to coast and continues to be featured yearly on a nationally-aired Holiday PBS Special. In 2018, The Jeff Carver Quartet opened for, and performed for a sellout crowd with Jason Scheff, former lead singer of the band, “Chicago”. Jeff also performed with the original cast of Broadway’s “Jersey Boys” at The Minnesota State Fair. Prior to the Covid 19 Pandemic, Jeff performed weekly for the kids, families and staff at Gillette Children’s Hospital in St. Paul, MN.
Jeff is a high-demand recording musician, regularly appearing on CD’s and projects for artists from the Twin Cities to Phoenix to Nashville! In 2018, Jeff released his own album, and his first as a solo performer, called “Interpretations.” This amazing record includes songs Jeff performs live and features some of the best string players in the United States!
Jeff is a former Award-Winning High School Band Director and taught young and ambitious trumpet players in his home studio for many years. In 2015, one-third of his students received all-state honors, with 10 out of 12 students receiving district/regional honors in concert or jazz ensemble.