John Sheridan was born in Columbus, Ohio in 1946. At the age of seven he began his musical training, studying the piano. His life was forever changed when at the age of eight, his father brought home the recording of Benny Goodman’s 1938 Carnegie Hall concert. He was immediately taken with the piano playing of Jess Stacy and Teddy Wilson, who remain two of his primary influences to this day.
After graduating from Capital University in Columbus in 1968, Sheridan enlisted in the US Navy. After completing the basic course at the US Navy School of Music in Norfolk, Virginia, he was assigned to the prestigious US Navy Band in Washington, DC, serving there until his discharge in May, 1972. It was during his military service that John began arranging.
After his discharge from the Navy, Sheridan relocated to the Dallas, Texas area. He received his Master of Music degree in 1977 from North Texas State University at Denton, Texas. He joined The Jim Cullum Jazz Band in 1979. Sheridan served as principal arranger for the JCJB and wrote over 1,000 arrangements for the ensemble.
As an arranger, Sheridan was responsible for the JCJB albums Porgy and Bess, ‘Tis The Season To Be Jammin’, and much of the material heard in Hooray For Hoagy, Super Satch, Shootin’ The Agate, as well as most of the material found on the Riverwalk Jazz CDs.
John left the Jim Cullum Jazz Band at the end of 2002, to work as a freelance musician and arranger. He performed at jazz parties across the U.S. and recorded extensively with his own “Dream Band” which included vocalist Rebecca Kilgore. John returned to the Jim Cullum Jazz Band in August, 2011.
