John Kocur, photo by Veronika Lukasova

Up-and-coming local jazz musician John Kocur is carving out a niche as a versatile player who can fit into a number of situations. In addition to leading his own group, which released its first album last year, the saxophonist plays with a number of other artists around town. Notably, he performs regularly with rapper, Grammy nominee, and Three Stars alum Christylez. The two musicians have a special gig coming up on April 5, when Christylez will lead his group in a performance with the CityDance Ensemble at the White House.

“Collaborating with Christylez has been a great blessing,” said Kocur. “He always puts on great shows with musical substance and a positive message.”

Kocur’s own musical journey began in his native Long Island. With encouragement from his parents, he began playing the saxophone in elementary school and eventually fell in love with the music of greats such as John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and Charlie Parker. He then discovered more contemporary saxophonists like Kenny Garrett and Michael Brecker, which only deepened his interest in jazz and led him to enroll in the music program at George Mason University. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in Music Education, Kocur continued his studies, and went on to complete a master’s in jazz studies at Howard University under the tutelage of Charlie Young. While at Howard, he cut his teeth with the program’s excellent jazz ensemble, and also spent two years playing with Three Stars alum Thad Wilson‘s jazz orchestra.

Things really started to pick up for Kocur when he was named an Artist-in-Residence for the ’08-’09 season at the Music Center at Strathmore. In 2009, Kocur released his first album, The Smoker, a collection of original acoustic jazz. And this year, Kocur was awarded a residency with the Kennedy Center‘s prestigious Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead program, which teams emerging artists with world class musicians for two weeks of intense instruction and performance.

Recently, Kocur also made his foray into the world of jazz academia. He joined the faculty at Northern Virginia Community College’s Alexandria Campus, where he will teach an Improvisational Techniques class and is starting up a community jazz ensemble.

Kocur recently took some time to answer questions from DCist about his music and recent experiences.

Visit John online at: www.johnkocur.com

See John’s group next: After a little down time, the quartet will be playing the Manassas Wine and Jazz Festival.

Buy John’s album: www.cdbaby.com