Jason Whitt

Jason Whitt is a professional composer, guitarist, and pianist near Memphis, TN. Jason’s compositional style seamlessly navigates jazz to classical to rock, continuously blurring genre lines through musical hybridity. Current musical projects include a recently premiered electric guitar quartet piece entitled “Requiem for the Bells,” a jazz guitar/cello duet entitled “Tesserae,” a LoFi jazz track entitled “Dayton," a  LoFi arrangement of the Brandon Lake song, "Gratitude," and a jazz guitar concerto entitled "Metamorphosis," written for his master's thesis.

Jason holds a Master of Music in Theory and Composition from Stephen F. Austin State University and a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Guitar and Contemporary Music from the University of Maine.

Jason's musical journey began with piano lessons at age seven, with an eventual discovery of the electric guitar through the music of Van Halen at age thirteen. Performance during his teen years enhanced his musical growth, including playing the trumpet in the school band, piano in his church's worship band, and guitar in a local rock band.

Well-versed in blues and rock guitar vocabulary, Jason found a growing desire to study jazz guitar, which ultimately led to his pursuit of a degree in jazz guitar performance. Although he had been composing music nearly as long as he had been playing music, his university studies opened up a creative compositional stream that has continued to expand and explore the possibilities of the electric guitar in jazz and art music.

Today, Jason's main musical endeavors include composing and producing LoFi jazz that pushes the boundaries of the genre, and exploring the role of the electric guitar in art music.

Along with his music career, Jason is also a writer, having published an academic article in a music journal, eleven poems in three anthologies, and one self-published poetry chapbook, December. 

Jason currently owns and operates a private teaching studio and teaches AP Music Theory and high school music appreciation. He enjoys spending time with his dogs, visiting his granddaughters, and writing poetry and fiction in his free time.