Opening for the Arturo O’Farrill/Jim Seeley Sextet will be the Tommy James Trio. Tommy James has been the pianist and music director of the Duke Ellington Orchestra for over ten years. He is also a composer and arranger having majored in composition at the Manhattan School of Music. Over the years Mr. James has worked with a wide ranging group of artists of many musical genres. Among the outstanding artists and bands with whom he has performed and/or recorded with are The Duke Ellington Orchestra, Lionel Hampton, Joe Williams, Maureen McGovern, Patti Austin, Macy Grey, Cleo Laine/John Dankworth, Nell Carter, Marlena Shaw, Roy Ayers, Melba Moore, Manu Dibango, Billy Vera, Shelley Carrol, The Spinners, and the Temptations. Tommy’s arrangements have been performed by the Ellington Orchestra, the New York Pops, the LA Philharmonic, the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Atlanta Symphony, and the Brooklyn Philharmonic.