L to R: Steve Ramos, and Lew Soloff backstage at the, sponsored by the in Birmingham, Alabama, September 27, 2008 (Photo by Claudia Reach) Background information Born ( 1944-02-20)February 20, 1944 Brooklyn,, Died March 8, 2015 ( 2015-03-08) (aged 71) New York City, New York Instruments, Years active 1960–2015 Associated acts,,, Website Lewis Michael Soloff (February 20, 1944 – March 8, 2015) was an American, and. From, he studied trumpet at the and the School. He worked with from 1968 until 1973. Prior to this, he worked with,, and. In the 1980s he was a member of, a jazz ensemble who recorded for. Soloff made frequent guest appearances with jazz orchestras all over the world such as the (directed by ) and the (directed by ).

Soloff was a longtime member of the and. He recorded and performed with and was a regular member of Evans' Monday Night ensembles until Evans' death. His 2010 recording Sketches of Spain is a tribute to the classic 1959-60 Miles Davis-Gil Evans collaboration, and he has performed the equally legendary and prodigiously difficult (reconstructed) Evans arrangements of 's Porgy and Bess. Bronco Driver Magazine Project Full Force. He was among a handful of trumpeters capable of playing demanding lead trumpet parts while also contributing improvisational solos, and of playing (as musicians refer to it) 'legitimate' music (baroque, classical, and later orchestral and chamber music styles) making him an in-demand session player for commercials and soundtracks.

Soloff died in 2015 after apparently suffering a heart attack in New York City.