John Sheridan
John Sheridan
Piano
1978 to 2003 and 2011 to present

At the age of seven, John Sheridan began studying piano in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio. Two years later, his life was forever changed when his father brought home a 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 his primary influences to this day. John served in the prestigious US Navy Band in Washington, DC and during this time began developing his talents as a music arranger. After his discharged in May 1972, Sheridan relocated to Dallas and earned his Mastesr of Music degree from North Texas State University in 1977. John joined The Jim Cullum Jazz Band in 1979. He served as principal arranger for the JCJB and his some 800+ musical arrangements are a hallmark of the radio series. John is also responsible for musical arranging on the Band’s critically acclaimed CBS Masterworks release of Porgy and Bess, and on CDs in the Riverwalk Vintage Jazz Collection. Some of John’s outstanding performances in the Riverwalk Jazz body of work are his two-piano duets with Dick Hyman. Together, the two pianists have tackled pieces by composers as diverse as Jelly Roll Morton, George Gershwin, Fats Waller and Hoagy Carmichael. While in production, John and Dick would be the first performers on set, and they’d begin rehearsing their ambitious two-piano pieces as soon as the tuner had finished with the pianos. John left The Jim Cullum Jazz Band in 2002 to work as a freelance musician and arranger. He performed at jazz parties across the U.S., played European festivals and recorded extensively with his own “Dream Band” with vocalist Rebecca Kilgore. John returned to The Jim Cullum Jazz Band in August, 2011.