Joe Fiedler

Trombonist/composer/music director Joe Fiedler is known to critics as “among the most impressive trombonists to emerge in the past couple of decades.” (Harvey Pekar, Signal to Noise) Based in New York since 1993, he has performed and recorded in a long and eclectic list of musical settings ranging from jazz (Andrew Hill, Charles Tolliver) to the avant-garde (Anthony Braxton, Cecil Taylor) to Afro-Caribbean (Celia Cruz, Eddie Palmieri) to pop (Marc Anthony, Jennifer Lopez). Fiedler is also the leader of the groups Open Sesame, the Joe Fiedler Trio and Big Sackbut. His diverse discography features more than 150 recordings, including twelve as a leader. Additionally, in 2022 Fiedler released The Howland Sessions, his first solo trombone album—marking the 50th anniversary of Albert Mangelsdorff’s first solo performance at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games.

For the past thirteen years Fiedler has also served as “Music Director: Arrangements/Orchestrations” (working as composer, arranger, orchestrator and trombonist) for Sesame Street, garnering two Emmy nominations. Over thirteen seasons he has written hundreds of arrangements and crafted more than 10,000 underscoring cues.