Community Jazz Sessions at Heartwood Soundstage

Want to sit-in with the rhythm section and play your tune? We welcome you!! Please fill out this form!

https://forms.gle/CcNTqwPXkNqXWwyn6

Join us for an evening of live jazz, community, and creative collaboration at Heartwood Soundstage. This monthly Jazz Jam features a professional house rhythm section, spotlight performances by local jazz artists, and open opportunities for jazz musicians to sit in and play or sing.

Players with jazz experience at any level — from emerging improvisers to seasoned performers — are invited to bring their instrument and sign up for an opportunity to be featured with the house rhythm section on a tune or two of their choice. Jazz listeners are warmly invited to come enjoy the music, discover local talent, and be part of a growing Gainesville jazz community.

Whether you come to play or simply to listen, this evening is designed to be welcoming, lively, and full of the spontaneous energy that makes jazz such a powerful shared experience. Everyone is welcome!

August's Jazz Session Guest Artist: Scott Wilson

Scott Wilson is the Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Florida and has served as Musical Director for Universal Studios Japan, principal staff composer for Grand Link World in Qingdao, China, consultant for Walt Disney’s “Magic Music Days” jazz workshops, and has been a featured trumpet soloist for Tokyo Disney Sea, Walt Disney World, Universal Studios, and Universal Studios Japan. Wilson’s jazz textbooks, the Ultimate Jazz Tool Kit and Ultimate Music Workbook, are available through Kendall Hunt Publishing and accompanied by 35 jazz instructional videos that cover topics ranging from jazz theory to song writing. His nationally available published online jazz education platforms include Jazz Fundamentals 1, Jazz Fundamentals 2, Jazz Aural Skills and Jazz History, and in 2012 Scott Wilson received the Technology Innovator Award from the University of Florida for his advancements in online delivery platforms. As a producer, Wilson has composed and helped design dozens of international performance shows for Universal Studios Japan and he co-produced the “Earth Wind and Fire Tribute” album for the Sheldon Reynolds Project in Los Angeles. This album featured new interpretations of EWF’s timeless hits and showcased an all-star cast of Hall of Fame song writers and Grammy Artists including Maurice White who co-wrote the album’s opening track “Feel Good.”

At the University of Florida, Wilson developed the Jazz Minor, designed 10 new jazz courses and designed the Master in Music with Concentration in Jazz Studies. In 2011 Warburton Mouthpieces released the Scott Wilson model trumpet mouthpiece that is aimed at achieving a more supportive and functional trumpet mouthpiece for young trumpet players. For the last decade Wilson has also served as the Committee Chairman for the JENerations Jazz Festival for the Jazz Education Network International Conferences.

Before arriving at the University of Florida, Wilson held the position of Director of Jazz Studies at Snow College in Utah where he helped design and host four Juilliard Summer Jazz Camps. Wilson was then selected to host the Gordon Goodwin Big Phat Jazz Camp at the University of Florida and this event culminated with a concert featuring the entire Gordon Goodwin Big Phat Band from Los Angeles, California. Along with Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra trombonist Wycliffe Gordon, Wilson co-developed the Hapco Jazz Camps in Orlando which have been running for over a decade and target inner city school students to provide them with scholarships and access to award winning professionals. In collaboration with Hapco, Latin Grammy Winner Jose Valentino and Wycliffe Gordon, Wilson co-developed the International Jazz and Entrepreneurship camps to train aspiring musicians to maximize their careers and entrepreneurial ventures.

Scott Wilson received a Master Degree in Jazz Studies and a Master Degree in Music Education from the University of North Texas. At the University of North Texas he taught courses in Jazz Theory and performed in the One O'Clock Lab Band and served as Adjunct Faculty. Wilson was also selected as a Teaching Fellow in Jazz Arranging and scored several original big band compositions for the One O’clock Lab Band albums (Lab 1995, 1996, 1997).

In addition to his dynamic live and recorded performances on trumpet, Scott Wilson is regarded as one of the world’s foremost proponents of the electronic valve instrument (EVI). His numerous transcribed trumpet and EVI solos are available on video on his website. On trumpet and EVI, Wilson has performed and worked with numerous legendary jazz artists including Benny Green, Wayne Bergeron, Stevie Wonder, Jeff Coffin, Rashawn Ross, Conrad Herwig, Wycliffe Gordon, Shelly Berg, Roger Ingram, Steve Smith, Denis DeBlasio, Greg Bissonette, Brian Bromberg, John Beasley, Eric Miyashiro, Claudio Roditi, Sam Rivers, Terrell Stafford, Carl Allen, Peter Erskine, Eric Marienthal, Bobby Shew, Slide Hampton, Dick Oats, Brandon Fields, Lew Soloff, Ron Blake, Ben Wolfe, Terreon Gully, Geoffrey Keezer, Jeremy Pelt, John Pizzarelli, Chris Slade, Ed Shaughnessy, Robby Ameen, Alex Acuna, Dan Haerle, Neil Slater, Corey Christiansen, Ted Rosenthal and Fred Hamilton.

www.scottwilsonjazz.com

Rhythm Section:

Ryan Hecker - Drums

Ryan Hecker is a new resident of Gainesville, Florida. Prior to the move, Ryan was an active drummer and percussionist in South Florida for over fifteen years. Ryan is a graduate of Florida International University with a B.A. in Jazz Performance and the University of Miami with a M.M. in Jazz Performance. Ryan can most often be heard in the theatre, with recent performances including In the Heights at the Arsht Center of Performing Arts and On Your Feet! at the Actors’ Playhouse. Ryan spent his pre-college career as a member of the Florida Youth Orchestra and continued playing with the Sunrise Symphonic Pops Orchestra throughout college. This experience combined with his schooling in jazz has shaped Ryan’s goal for his music career, which is to expand and redefine the definition of what a “Drummer” can and is expected to perform. Currently, Ryan is a Professor of Fine Arts at Santa Fe College teaching a variety of music courses and percussion lessons.

Cindy Mueller - Piano/Host

Cindy Mueller is a Gainesville-based jazz pianist and vocalist, with many years of experience as music educator, musical director and bandleader. A summa cum laude graduate of James Madison University in Music Education, she has worked as a performer, musical director/pianist, and teacher in the United States and internationally, including with the USO in Germany and Italy. With fellow jazz musician, John David Eriksen, she has released the jazz album Sixes and Sevens, available on major streaming platforms. After hosting jazz sessions in her own music studio for years, Cindy is happy to help bring this kind of welcoming musical gathering to Heartwood Soundstage as pianist and host of the Heartwood Jazz Sessions.

Instagram: @cindymuellerjazz

Album: Sixes and Sevens, streaming on all platforms

John David Eriksen - Bass

John David Eriksen goes by "John David" and uses they/them pronouns, exclusively. John David is a cellist and bassist and has been performing in Gainesville since the early 2000s. They studied cello with Edward Klein and jazz double bass with David Ottenberg. John David has performed with a number of local bands such as Dirty Fist!, Wax Wings, Mourning Glories, byPassers, and Blackfire. As an improvising cellist, John David has performed at SXSW and Austin Psych Fest with the group Sound Mass. John David has also been actively gigging as a jazz bassist since 2016. In addition to performing live music, they also enjoy studio recording and production, running live sound, stage managing, and organizing events. John David is co-organizing Queer the Fest this year, an LGBTQ+ music showcase taking place on October 23rd and 24th 2026 at the Civic Media Center and featuring more than a dozen queer and trans performers.

Indoor Stage

All Ages

Free Entry

Sit-ins welcome

Bring an instrument

Everyone is welcome!

A HUGE thank you to our Jazz Sessions sponsors for making this event possible!

Gainesville Big Band www.gainesvillebigband.com

Roger Reep

Darren Burgess

Edward White