Just Announced: John Yao & His 17-piece Instrument was included in the Rising Star — Large Ensemble category in DownBeat's Critics Poll.
New Project: Let’s Make Some Noise
Premiering as a three-month residency at Queens College in the Spring of 2026, these workshops were equal-parts concert, rehearsal, and learning experience, inviting the audience to listen, engage, collaborate, and perform with my big band, John Yao & His 17-piece Instrumentalists.
Each workshop explored a different chapter in the evolution of big band style, from swing-era dance music and modern jazz orchestras to contemporary, avant-garde, and atonal sounds.
It's been incredible to bring this idea to life, and the project continues to grow — with more workshops and performances on the horizon. I hope you can join us as we keep building this experience together.
Open to students and the broader community, the experience evolves with each new workshop, with audience participation woven throughout. All are welcome and no musical experience is necessary.
To learn more about the Residency and the project, please visit here
points in Time Among DOwnbeat BEST of 2025
“Points in Time by John Yao and His 17-Piece Instrument is more than a hard-swinging recording from an ace large ensemble led by a forward-thinking composer-arranger (and distinguished trombone voice). It’s also a commemoration of tandem anniversaries currently at the forefront of Yao’s memory: his arrival on the New York jazz scene 20 years ago, and the 10 years that have passed since he released his first big band album, the acclaimed Flip-Flop. Inspired by these two milestones, the album is informed by a number of professional and deeply personal experiences that have marked his two decades as a bandleader and sideman in the Big Apple. The music reveals the major strides Yao and his collaborators have taken since Flip-Flop made the JY-17 a widely known entity in the lineage of the iconic Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. . . .” — Ed Enright, DownBeat
What The Press is saying
★★★★ “… Yao, already a respected composer and arranger has taken a large step forward here. Flip-Flop, his first album leading the well-oiled 17-piece Instrument was impressive: Points in Time is even better and warmly recommended.” — Jack Bowers, All About Jazz
“An immersive musical experience. Each track offers both artistic sophistication and genuine emotional resonance…a triumphant return, an artist reclaiming his voice, his vision, and the wide open space of the big band format, and making it sing once more.” —Thierry De Clement, Paris Move
“Yao puts on full display why he’s a recently named Guggenheim Fellow.” — Craig Byrd, Cultural Attache
“Yao reminds us that big band jazz still has something to say and that sometimes, the biggest statements come from the most personal places.” — Tim Larsen, Jazz Views
“A fascinating work that shows how vibrant, exciting and innovative orchestral jazz can sound today.”— Jacek Burn, Jazz Fun
“This work is not just a big band recording but a meditation on growth, struggle and creative clarity.”— Pierre Giroux, All About Jazz
“This new one is terrific. The arrangements are tight, the band wins and the solos are excellent. John’s trombone is spry and mellow, and best of all, he composed and arranged all eight pieces.” — Marc Myers, Jazz Wax
“It’s simply a lot of fun and will appeal to more than just dedicated big band fans.”—Christopher Giese, NRW Jazz
store
Purchase original works anD arrangements for big band
I am thrilled to share that many of my original works and arrangements for large jazz ensemble are now available directly through my site. Included is the music from “Flip-Flop” as well as arrangements by different composers in a variety of styles and skill levels. I am always adding new charts, so please check back and see what’s new. If you don’t find anything you like, feel free to contact me.
New Arrangements
Original works
For more than two decades, John Yao has been one of the premier trombonists, composers, and arrangers on the New York City jazz scene. A 2025 Guggenheim Fellow in Music Composition, he has regularly earned a place in both the Rising Star Trombone and Rising Star Big Band categories of the DownBeat Critics Poll.
As a leader, Yao has released eight recordings, including his most recent album, Points in Time, a DownBeat Editor's Pick and one of the magazine's Best of 2025. As a trombonist, he has performed with the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, and Afro-Bop Alliance, among many others, and appears on more than two dozen recordings.
Yao has composed and arranged more than 200 works, ranging from small-group pieces for his quintet, sextet, and Triceratops band to large-scale works for his big band, John Yao and His 17-Piece Instrument. He has been commissioned to write for professional and educational ensembles in the US and abroad, including the Grammy-winning Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, the New York Afro-Bop Alliance Big Band, Zurich Jazz Orchestra, UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra, and JMI World Jazz, based in Zagreb, Croatia. His big band works are published and available for purchase through Ejazzlines, Ijazzmusic, Sheet Music Plus, and Sheet Music Direct.
An in-demand educator, Yao is Assistant Professor of Trombone at Queens College and is on the faculty at Molloy University. He has previously taught at Berklee College of Music, Temple University, Manhattan School of Music, and Boston University, and is an XO Brass Clinician and an active guest artist at colleges and universities in the US and abroad. His article "Writing for Trombone" appeared in the March 2026 issue of DownBeat. He also runs a private online studio, mentoring composition and arranging students around the world.