Baltimore Jazz Hero
The Jazz Journalist Association is proud to name Javier Nero, a.k.a. Dr. Javier Nero, as Baltimore’s 2026 Jazz Hero. Nero is an award-winning trombonist, composer, arranger, and educator active in the DC, Maryland, Virginia area (DMV). At the Peabody Institute, Nero teaches the jazz trombone studio, arranging, harmony, ear training, graduate composition, and has also previously directed the Peabody Jazz Ensemble.
Nero also holds the lead trombone position in the US Army Blues, part of the United States Army Band elite, by-audition-only “Pershing’s Own.” It’s a group of 18 musicians enlisted to perform jazz at the highest level for the American people and connect them to military service members. The musicians perform public concerts and high-profile jazz festivals nationwide. Among his other accomplishments, Nero’s compositions have been performed by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Winton Marsalis, Titus Burgess, Veronica Swift, Ashley Pezzotti, as well as Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra Program.
But most important for the DMV region, Nero is the lead trombonist, composer, arranger, and bandleader of the 17 to 18-piece Javier Nero Jazz Orchestra, which performs monthly at the Baltimore venue An Die Musik. The band has also performed sold-out sets at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Dizzy’s Club in New York City, at Keystone Korner Baltimore, and Washington, D.C.’s Blues Alley, among many other venues.
Nero’s first Jazz Orchestra album, Kemet (The Black Land), featured 11 original compositions/arrangements for the 18-piece jazz orchestra. and special guests. The album meditates on Kemet, the ancient, highly advanced Black Egyptian civilization,. “Kemet represents the beauty humanity is capable of through the free and uninhibited exchange of ideas and information,” he said. “This album represents my family, my experience, and my musical influences. My African roots, my European roots, my Native roots, my Hispanic roots and a bit of that inexplicable human experience we all share.”
For his continued dedication to working with youth, his commitment to musicians of the DMV, and his efforts to promote musical and cultural diversity with the Javier Nero Jazz Orchestra, the JJA is honored to name Dr. Javier Nero as the Baltimore 2026 Jazz Hero.
—Don Palmer, JJA Treasurer, Board Chair
