A native New Yorker, saxophonist and composer Jon Gordon was born into a musical family and began playing at age ten. In addition to private saxophone studies he attended Performing Arts High School and won numerous competitions, including the Performing Arts Concerto competition. This led to performances as a soloist with the Julius Grossman orchestra, Goldman Band and the Performing Arts Orchestra.
In his mid-teens Jon’s love for Jazz was sparked after a friend played him a Phil Woods record. He began sitting in regularly with Eddie Chamblee at Sweet Basil and started lessons with Phil Woods. From 1984-88 he attended Manhattan School of Music. During this time Jon began sitting in with Charles McPherson, Doc Cheatham, Phil Woods, Mike Stern, Jacky Terrason, and others, as well as working professionally with Red Rodney, Roy Eldridge, Barney Kessel, Al Grey, Eddie Locke, Mike LeDonne, Mel Lewis, Doc Cheatham, Larry Goldings, Ben Monder, Peter Bernstein, Leon Parker, et al.
In November of 1996, Jon won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition. Judges for this important event were Wayne Shorter, Jackie McLean, Joe Lovano, Jimmy Heath and Joshua Redman.
Since the early 1990's, Jon has worked with Maria Schneider, Ron McClure, Clark Terry, Benny Carter, Phil Woods, T.S. Monk, Rufus Reid, Aretha Franklin, The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Bill Charlap, Ray Barreto, Mark Turner, George Colligan, Chico Hamilton, Jimmy Cobb, Ben Riley, Harry Connick jr., Bob Mintzer, Bill Mobley, Tony Bennett, Bruce Springsteen, Max Weinberg, The N.Y. Pops Orchestra, The Carolina Philharmonic, The Winnipeg Symphony orchestra, among many others. Jon also appears regularly as a member of the Jazz Nativity, whose other featured artists have included Tito Puente, Ron Carter, Clark Terry, Dave Brubeck, Savion Glover, Slide Hampton, Harold Nicholas and others.
Jon has led his own groups at various European, Canadian and U.S. jazz festivals and clubs including Ronnie Scott's and The Pizza Express, (London), The Sunside, The Sunset, and Le Bal Blomet, (Paris), The Brecon Jazz Festival (Wales), The Oslo Jazz Festival, The Torino Jazz Festival, The Ottowa Jazz Festival, The Winnipeg Jazz Festival, The Royal Caribbean Floating Jazz Festival, Savannah on Stage, The Savannah Jazz Festival, The Wolftrap Festival, and others. He has performed as a sideman at dozens of other festivals, clubs and concert halls around the world, including Carnegie Hall, L'Olympia (Paris), The Royal Albert Hall (London), The Beacon Theater, Radio City Music Hall, Alice Tully Theater, Lincoln Center, Damrausch Park, The Allen Room, et al. Recent N.Y. appearances include Dizzy's, The Kitano, Smalls, Birdland, The Iridum, The Jazz Standard, Jazz in July at the 92nd Street Y, the JVC Jazz Festival, the Village Vanguard, Fat Cat, The Charlie Parker Festival, and others. He has been mentioned in many Down Beat polls in multiple saxophone categories and the composition category since the late 90s.
His 1997 release, Along The Way, was selected by Peter Watrous of the NY times as the 2nd best jazz release of 1997. Jon's 2008 CD, Within Worlds was selected by Down Beat as one of the top jazz recordings of the decade. His 2009 recording, Evolution, was selected by several jazz journalists and publications as one of the best CDs of the year, as was his 2021 CD, Stranger Than Fiction. It was also nominated for a JUNO award for best jazz release of 2021. His next recording, 7th Ave South, was released in May of 2024.