"What we play is life" -Louis Armstrong
Our Faculty
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is what makes us special. Study with world-class jazz artists and educators through private lessons, classes, and ensemble rehearsals. Our faculty consists of Grammy-winning artists and musicians who have performed with top industry names in Chicago, New York, and internationally, and who are also professors in local universities.
Past faculty has included:
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Pharez Whitted (trumpet)
Sharel Casstiy (saxophone)
Richard Johnson (piano)
Clark Sommers (bass)
Neal Hemphill (drums)
Kyle Swan (drums)
Christian Yi (piano, young artist)
Alejandro Salazar (drums, young artist)
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Sharel Cassity
President and Director of Jazz Up
Saxophone Faculty
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​Voted Downbeat Magazine Rising Star Alto Saxophone and Soprano Saxophone since 2009
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Member of the Dizzy Gillespie Alumni Band
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Performed with Herbie Hancock, Wynton Marsalis, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Roy Hargrove, and many others
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Bandleader with six albums released and performances all over the globe
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Professor at DePaul University in Chicago and Elgin Community College, Elgin IL
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Graduate of the Juilliard Jazz Program and New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, New York, NY
​ For more information, visit:
Richard D. Johnson
Vice President of Jazz Up
Piano Faculty
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Former member of Wynton Marsalis' Septet and Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra
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Performs regularly with Delfeayo Marsalis and Bobby Watson
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Professor at Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore and at the Ravinia Jazz Institute in Chicago
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Graduate of Berklee College of Music and the Thelonious Monk Institute for Jazz​
For more information, visit:
