Metropolitan Jazz Octet is the reawakening of a music group originally founded in the 1950’s by Chicago saxophonist and arranger Tom Hilliard.
In 2011, Tom gifted his entire MJO library to his former DePaul University School of Music students Jim Gailloreto and John Kornegay, passing on the torch to the next generation.
Soon after an idea was born: To reshape the ensemble for the 21st Century.
John McCortney
Jim Gailloreto
The Metropolitan Jazz Octet Story
MJO History
John Kornegay
Recording Session (Chicago 1959)
Founder Tom Hilliard
From the late 1950's through the mid 80's, MJO founder Tom Hilliard wrote many of the octets arrangements and original compositions. He also collaborated with Chicago’s first call arrangers and studio musicians. Together they created the library of more than 150 charts. In 1959, the early Metropolitan Jazz Octet recorded an album on the Argo label titled “The Legend of Bix,” with Hilliard's arrangements in a tribute to famed 1920's cornetist and composer Bix Beiderbecke. As a professor at DePaul University School of Music, Tom taught three members of MJO, to whom he bequeathed his complete library, passing the torch to the next generation.
New Leadership
Jim Gailloreto is a saxophonist, composer, and the Artistic Director of the Metropolitan Jazz Octet. He has performed with numerous leading ensembles including the Chicago Jazz Ensemble, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Chamber Musicians, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the Fulcrum Point New Music Project.
Gailloreto has collaborated with acclaimed artists such as Fred Hersch, Patricia Barber, John McLean, and Grażyna Auguścik, among many others. His string arrangements are featured on Kurt Elling’s Grammy Award-winning album Dedicated to You: Kurt Elling Sings the Music of Coltrane and Hartman.
He is also an artist-faculty member at Roosevelt University Chicago College of Performing Arts.
John Kornegay is MJO’s lead arranger. He has a rich career as a performer, composer and arranger. He has performed with legends like Tony Bennett, Doc Severinsen, Bernadette Peters and Chita Rivera. He has written for Johnny Frigo on the Tonight Show, the Chicago Sinfonietta, Purdue University Choirs, and composed and orchestrated the Academy Award-nominated Holocaust documentary, “Eyewitness”.
John McCortney is a recording engineer and recording studio owner whose career began in 1976. Since 1990, He has been the President and Chief Engineer of AirWave Recording Studios, Inc. John has worked with Tom Waits, Gregg Allman, Charlie Musselwhite, Honey Boy Edwards, Bill Monroe, Ken Vandermark, members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Elmhurst Symphony, the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, the Apollo Chorus, the William Ferris Chorale and the Newberry Consort.
Metropolitan Jazz Octet has performed at both the Chicago and Hyde Park Jazz Festivals. Their second release, ‘It’s Too Hot for Words’, was voted Best Jazz Album by the Chicago Tribune. They have played to sold-out audiences at venues such as City Winery Chicago, Evanston SPACE, The Green Mill, Studio 5, Hey Nonny, Fulton Street Collective, and the legendary Jazz Showcase. Their three recordings have been critically acclaimed by Jazz Times, Downbeat, Chicago Jazz Magazine, and Chicago Tribune.
The group is comprised of several of Chicago’s eclectically talented creative artists. Their collective history helps shape the the ensemble’s trajectory and mission. Through creating works and collaborations with distinguished guest artists, MJO has garnered critical acclaim and lavish praise from the jazz community.
Metropolitan Jazz Octet has recorded and four albums. The Road to Your Place (self-released, 2015) featured all original compositions. It’s Too Hot for Words (Delmark Records) features awarding winning vocalist Dee Alexander in a tribute to the legendary Billie Holiday.
The Bowie Project (Origin Records) partnered with critically acclaimed singer Paul Marinaro in an examination of the songs of David Bowie, presenting universal themes that resonate throughout the ages: love, loss, disillusionment, division and trying to find hope in a changing and unfamiliar landscape.
MJO’s recent fourth album Jazz Unearthed (Origin Records) drawn from the early arrangements from Tom Hilliard’s library. Each track engages in musical archeology, presenting a set of miniature masterpieces that shine light on long-lost styles of Jazz from the 1950s.
MJO creates, produces & performs through Jazz Artists Resource (JAR) is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization located in Chicago, Illinois.
Your tax deductible donations help us, curate, and present jazz music in all its forms.
JAR also works side by side with students on specially tailored mentoring programs, including the Emerging Jazz Arranger Scholarship (EJAS).
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