Trumpeter, composer, and bandleader Jonathan Finlayson was born and raised in Oakland, California. After an invaluable mentorship with trumpeter and composer Robert Porter, Jonathan joined Steve Coleman's Five Elements. While recording and touring internationally with The Five Elements, he completed his BFA at The New School for Jazz & Contemporary Music in 2005.

As a unique voice in the New York Creative Music Community, Finlayson went on to perform and record in a variety of ensembles led by Muhal Richard Abrams, Henry Threadgill, Craig Harris, Ravi Coltrane, Mary Halvorson, Steve Lehman, Vijay Iyer and Craig Taborn among others.

In 2013, Jonathan Finlayson released his first of three critically acclaimed albums with PI Recordings Moment & The Message, Moving Still which he toured internationally and 3 Times Round. After attending the Jazz Composer Orchestra Institute in 2016, his composition If Not For The Moon was selected to be performed by The ACO Orchestra at Miller Theatre.

As a 2021 Artist in Residence at Roulette he premiered new compositions for quartet and quintet. His composition Yet to Be was commissioned by the violin duo String Noise and recorded on their 2021 release Alien Stories. Recent collaborations include Orchestre National de Jazz, ICE, Either/Or Ensemble, Terrance Etc, The Mark Morris Dance Group, Panorchestra and Jamie Baum Septet+.

Jonathan Finlayson 1 Jonathan Finlayson 2 Jonathan Finlayson 3 Jonathan Finlayson 4 Jonathan Finlayson 5 Jonathan Finlayson 6 Jonathan Finlayson 7 Jonathan Finlayson 8

photos by John Rogers

Steve Coleman and the Five Elements - Resistance is Futile Steve Coleman and Five Elements - Live at the Village Vanguard, Vol. 1 Steve Coleman and Five Elements - Live at the Village Vanguard, Vol. 2 Steve Coleman and Five Elements - Polytropos / Of Many Turns Steve Coleman's Natal Ecipse' - Morphogenesis Jonathan Finlayson - 3 Times Round Jonathan Finlayson and Sicilian Defense - Moving Still Jonathan Finlayson and Sicilian Defense - Moment and the Message Henry Threadgill 14 or 15 Kestra: Agg - Dirt And More Dirt David Virelles - Continuum Steve Lehman - On Meaning Steve Lehman - Manifold Steve Lehman - Travail Transformation and Flow Steve Lehman - Ex Machina Mary Halvorson - Saturn Sings Mary Halvorson - Bending Bridges Mary Halvorson Sextet - Illusionary Sea Mary Halvorson Octet - Away With You Liberty Ellman - Last Desert

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Moving Still is the most gorgeous, enticing, classic album of 2016 in jazz so far.

Pop Matters

While Finlayson clearly has his own sound, which manifests itself through his horn and his band, there's no one-size-fits-all method to his music

All About Jazz

Jonathan Finlayson, in Moment & the Message, has created a great modern jazz record that also sounds like joy and feels like a dance.

Pop Matters

This album resonates on an emotional and intellectual level, packed with melody, depth and ideas worth stealing

Lucid Culture

The best contemporary jazz is captured in its entirety in this exceptional debut

All About Jazz Italy

He breathes fire, but displays finely honed command and control techniques

All about Jazz

Through the tricky patterns, sudden thematic shifts and stylistic swaps on Jonathan Finlaysons impressive debut album, one thing remains constant: the cool sense of refinement he brings to the music.

Jazz Times

...Trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson...straddles the mathematical and the colloquial so well on this debut that he seems bound for the stature of Coleman, Lehman and Tim Berne, and even of the great Henry Threadgill before them.

Guardian

This music manages a collision of complexity and almost pop-like pleasure

Pop Matters

...Moment & The Message, not only displays his insightful playing and individualism but also some imposing composing skills.

All About Jazz

It's tight-knit music, but seductively relaxed, too.

Guardian

Sicilian Defense

©Scott Benedict

Sicilian Defense Sicilian Defense Sicilian Defense Sicilian Defense

©Scott Benedict

Jonathan Finlayson

©Paul de Lucena

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