John Calloway is a multi-instrumentalist performer, composer, arranger, and educator specializing in Afro-Cuban, Afro-Latin and Latin Jazz music. For over twenty-five years, in the San Francisco Bay Area and the West Coast, throughout the US, the Caribbean and Latin America, he has worked with such renowned artists as Israel "Cachao" Lopez, Max Roach, Omar Sosa, John Santos and Manny Oquendo y Libre. John has earned great respect for his virtuoso work on flute as a soloist and improviser as well as for his arranging and compositions that cover the full spectrum of Afro-Caribbean music ranging from Salsa and Timba, to Latin jazz, to folklore music. John's concept of writing and arranging folklore music as the feature rather than as a supportive role is part of the new movement of writers and performers pushing Afro-Caribbean Jazz toward the world music movement.
As an educator he has participated on several prominent clinics and workshops, including the Stanford Jazz Workshop and Jazz Camp West and the Gallery 39 project located in Chicago. He currently teaches classes in Afro-Cuban music at San Francisco State University and at the Jazz School in Berkeley, CA.
Known for his virtuoso work on flute as a soloist /improviser, John is a frequent traveler to Cuba, jamming with the island’s best flute players, José Luis Cortes and Orlando Valle. As an educator, he now helps others who want to study in Cuba through the company PlazaCuba, of which he is the music coordinator.
John’s arrangements, compositions and concepts cover the full spectrum of Afro-Caribbean music, from salsa and timba to Latin jazz and folklore music. Throughout stands his ability to apply the flute to whatever canvas he paints, from soft textures and colors to aggressive grooves and rhythms.
Education
- A.B.D. (in progress), University of San Francisco
- M.A., San Francisco State University
- B.A., City University of New York
