Born in Altoona, Pennsylvania on September 30, 1928, Jon Eardley was a jazz trumpeter. Inspired by his father, who played in Paul Whiteman’s orchestra, Jon Eardley began playing the trumpet when he was 11 years old. Joining the Air Force in 1946, he performed with the Air Force band in Washington, D.C until 1949. After he finished his service, he fronted his own quartet in D.C. between 1950 and 1953. Relocating to New York City, New York in 1953, he played alongside saxophonists Phil Woods (1954), Gerry Mulligan (1954-57), and Hal McIntyre (1956). His first album as a leader was 1955’s Hey There, Jon Eardley, followed by Jon Eardley in Hollywood (1955) and The Jon Eardley Seven (1956). He moved back to his hometown and played locally until 1963 before moving to Belgium. He began working with European jazz artists as well as touring and expat American jazz musicians such as Harald Banter and Chet Baker. While he wasn’t a prolific solo artist, Jon Eardley did release a few albums as a leader or co-leader in the 1970s including Two of a Kind with Mick Pyne (1977), Namely Me (1979) and Stablemates with Al Haig (1979). In the 1980s, he was a member of the WDR Big Band in Cologne, Germany. Jon Eardley died on April 1, 1991.
