Jon Lampley has made his name as a consummate player on trumpet and sousaphone. He has been an essential contributor to some of the most versatile, hardest-grooving ensembles currently at work. Since 2015, he’s played in the house band on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, helmed by vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Louis Cato and led earlier by the jazz, pop and R&B sensation Jon Batiste. Lampley also co-founded the stellar jazz-funk group Huntertones, and has performed in front of tens of thousands at amphitheaters, arenas and festivals with jam-rockers O.A.R.

Until Lampley was 18, he lived much of his life inside his church in Akron, Ohio: service every Sunday, learning his craft in the band, going to church camp and Bible study. “The visceral way that people sang and played, it wasn’t just about notes and songs,” he says. “You’re reaching out to God with this music, glorifying him but also asking for something, and the energy and emotion that goes into that is very powerful — along with it being a very communal experience.”

He would continue his musical voyage in Columbus, Ohio, developing his chops at The Ohio State University School of Music as well as within The Ohio State University Marching Band. Frequent collaborations across the city’s eclectic music scene shaped his identity as a musician and performer. Soon after college he moved to Brooklyn, New York where he currently resides.