About Kerry Moffit
KERRY MOFFIT has been a professional musician for 37 years, performing regularly around the country and around Europe. He has performed with and written arrangements for all types of groups, from large jazz orchestras to small ensembles, and he has appeared on over 70 recordings as a sideman.
Moffit served as a proud member of the United States Air Force Band for nearly 25 years. The Air Force Band is one of the premier musical organizations in the country. Moffit enlisted in 1991, and throughout his service, he played trumpet in various orchestras, jazz ensembles, and pop/rock bands for both military and civilian audiences.
Moffit spent almost 20 years of his tour of duty at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, the oldest Air Force base in the country. It provides support to more than 9,000 military and civilian personnel around the world. There are over a dozen Air Force Bands around the country with dozens more smaller ensembles that play all types of music – from various classical orchestras to jazz, rock, pop, and country bands that provide musical accompaniment for everything from funerals at Arlington National Cemetery and awards ceremonies to welcoming heads of state and civilian leaders.
Moffit is a straight-ahead jazz trumpeter, but he honed his chops by performing in many different styles. The band was on the road around 10 days a month for eight months a year, touring up and down the East Coast, as well as performing numerous local gigs for holidays and for state and local civilian leaders. In 1996, Moffit was appointed the Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge of the Dixie Players, an ensemble that is part of the United States Air Force Heritage of America Band. The Dixie Players released a CD in 2003, titled Dixie Parade, which received widespread critical acclaim.
In 2010, Moffit was re-assigned to Mons, Belgium, where he became the Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge and Music Director of The NATO Jazz Orchestra, which is part of the SHAPE International Band, the official musical representative of NATO and Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR). The band comprised an international roster of musicians from NATO countries. Moffit led the organization on more than 20 missions throughout five Western European countries and was instrumental in the planning and coordination of the NATO Jazz Orchestra CD titled A Taste of NATO, Part II. One of the highlights of his time in Europe was serving as the Artist-in-Residence at the Lier Jazz Festival in Belgium.
After nearly 25 years in the service and attaining the rank of Master Sergeant, Moffit had reached the end of his tenure and was forced to retire in 2015.
Since leaving the service, Moffit has worked as a freelance musician and teacher. He has performed with numerous jazz artists including Bobby Shew, the New York Voices, Chuck Mangione, Clark Terry, Pete Christleib, Louis Bellson, Arturo Sandoval and many others. He has also performed with several ensembles at international festivals, including Northsea Festival in Holland, and the Montreaux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. He has also appeared many recordings, including the Grammy winning “Grand Serenade for an Awful Lot of Winds and Percussion” by P.D.Q. Bach. He also writes jingles, and he is still composing and arranging for The NATO Jazz Orchestra.
Moffit’s debut CD as a leader, TURNING CIRCLES, is an impressive showcase for this brilliant trumpeter’s performance and compositional talents.