Los Angeles trumpeter Julien Knowles crafts jazz that fuses refined post-bop sensibilities with contemporary creative and classical elements. He holds degrees from the University of Nevada and completed the fellowship program at the Herbie Hancock Institute. His professional associations include Peter Epstein, Adi Meyerson, the Reno Jazz Orchestra, and additional collaborators. In 2024 he issued his first album under his own name, As Many, As One.
Originally from Washington, D.C., Knowles spent his childhood in Fresno, California, where an early fascination with music took hold through his brother’s Casio keyboard. Trumpet study began at age ten, and by his teenage years he was actively pursuing improvisation. During his final year of high school he received both a Presidential Scholarship and the Agnes Barringere Music Memorial Endowment, directing him to the Jazz and Improvisational Music curriculum at the University of Nevada, Reno. There he trained under Ralph Alessi, Adam Benjamin, and Shane Endsley, while the Nevada Undergraduate Research Award supported composition lessons with John Hollenbeck. He also wrote for and performed with the Reno Jazz Orchestra during this period. Relocating to Los Angeles, he entered the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz fellowship and completed a Master of Music in Jazz Performance. Subsequent work has encompassed tours alongside Hancock as well as performances with Louis Cole, Joe LaBarbera, Devin Daniels, Adi Meyerson, and Peter Epstein. The 2024 release As Many, As One featured Knowles leading both a jazz quintet and a string quartet.
