James Paul Hartog (born March 10, 1950, San Mateo, California) is an American jazz saxophonist, known primarily as a baritone saxophonist.
San Mateo is a city in San Mateo County, California, approximately 20 miles (32 km) south of San Francisco, and 31 miles (50 km) northwest of San Jose. San Mateo had an estimated 2017 population of 104,748.
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, United States. It originated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and developed from roots in blues and ragtime. Jazz is seen by many as "America's classical music". Since the 1920s Jazz Age, jazz has become recognized as a major form of musical expression. It then emerged in the form of independent traditional and popular musical styles, all linked by the common bonds of African-American and European-American musical parentage with a performance orientation. Jazz is characterized by swing and blue notes, call and response vocals, polyrhythms and improvisation. Jazz has roots in West African cultural and musical expression, and in African-American music traditions including blues and ragtime, as well as European military band music. Intellectuals around the world have hailed jazz as "one of America's original art forms".
Hartog attended Grinnell College and the New England Conservatory of Music, taking a bachelor's from the latter in 1980. He played with Tom Varner in the late 1970s and with Jaki Byard from 1977 to 1982, and was a founder of the 29th Street Saxophone Quartet, playing with the group from 1982 to 1996. From 1985 to 1989 he also worked as an A&R man and producer for New Note Records. Other performance associations include Karl Berger, Bobby Watson, Carmen Lundy, Keshavan Maslak, East Down Septet, Mingus Big Band, and the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. He led a quartet in the 1990s with Terrell Stafford, Steve Johns, Essiet Essiet, and Pete McCann as sidemen.
Grinnell College is a private liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa. It was founded in 1846 when a group of New England Congregationalists established the Trustees of Iowa College. Grinnell is known for its rigorous academics, innovative pedagogy, and commitment to social justice.
The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest independent school of music in the United States. The conservatory, located on Huntington Avenue of the Arts near Boston Symphony Hall, is home each year to 750 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate studies along with 1400 more in its Preparatory School as well as the School of Continuing Education. At the collegiate level, NEC offers the Bachelor of Music, Master of Music, and Doctor of Musical Arts, as well as the Undergraduate Diploma, Graduate Diploma, and Artist Diploma. Also offered are five-year joint double-degree programs with Harvard University and Tufts University.
Tom Varner is an American jazz horn player and composer.
