Female Trombonists - Jennifer Wharton

 

The bass trombone is a fabulous instrument, and I'm not just saying that because I play it. The low register, well-played, by a skilled bass trombonist will rattle your soul.  Most jazz ensembles have two highly-exposed players - the lead trumpeter and the bass trombonist.  It is a key instrument in the symphony orchestra's palette and is is the bedrock of Broadway musicals. Oh, and don't forget the significant increase in bass trombone visibility in the world of movie scores (thank you, John Williams!).

The bass trombone community has been a boys club. While there are a number of marvelous female tenor trombonists, there were no well-known female bass trombonists. Jennifer Wharton is changing that.

Unlike many master musicians, Jennifer didn't come from a musical family.  She was born and raised in Pittsburg CA, a funky east bay town an hour away from San Francisco.  She picked up the trombone in 6th grade and shifted to a horn with an F attachment in 7th grade. Her parents apparently weren't very supportive - Jennifer stopped playing for a while, but got back into the bass trombone in high school. She got into the cheerleading squad, but she missed playing the horn - "the band director was vibing me," she said. Jennifer had no lessons until college. She was in the game to have fun.  

Jennifer went to a local junior college and got into the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. After graduating, she went home for a couple of years. She went back to the Manhattan School of Music - it did not go well. She was focused on classical music, and her trombone professor was an asshole. Jennifer stuck it out for a year and made some connections. She got tapped to play in the pre-Broadway run of Wicked in San Francisco; that led to a move to New York and a strong run in the pit orchestras on Broadway. 

Ms. Wharton says, "l play the low notes." She focuses on bass trombone, but also plays tuba and tenor trombone. This woman is versatile and talented - she is a freelancer that plays on Broadway, in the top New York jazz ensembles and subs in the New York City Ballet orchestra. She also put together the trombone-centric jazz group that she named Bonegasm. Jennifer clearly has a sense of whimsy and might be a bit bawdy. Bonegasm has 3 tenor trombones and Jennifer on bass. She is married to John Fedchock, one of the world's top jazz trombonists.

Jennifer keeps growing. She became a jazz improviser at the age of 39; she sings; she went back to college during the pandemic to study music theory. She is also an adjunct professor of trombone performance at Montclair State in New Jersey. She said in a recent podcast, "I have always felt like I'm behind; I feel a lot of shame. I have a bad case of imposter syndrome." Jennifer is amazingly open about her struggles and is vulnerable in a powerful way.

This woman is my newest bass trombone hero.