NOJO Biographies
Adonis Rose
Artistic Director, Founding Member & Drumset
Adonis Rose, 43, is a Grammy winning artist from the city of New Orleans with over 50 recordings to his credit, five as a leader. Rose is the Artistic Director of the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, a position he took over January 2017. In October 2017 Rose lead the 18-piece orchestra to its first concert season in two years, bringing in world renowned artists Sheila E, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Ledisi, Slick Rick and Eric Benet to perform with the NOJO at the orchestra’s 380 seat venue, the New Orleans Jazz Market. Rose is instrumental in the organization’s success by developing programs, performances and partnerships year-round. Rose is also in the process of finishing NOJO’s newest recording project in three years, a tribute to the legendary Allen Toussaint, planned for a spring 2019 release.
Rose has performed and recorded with the biggest names in jazz for over two decades including Terence Blanchard, Betty Carter, Dianne Reeves, Marcus Roberts, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Harry Connick, Jr, Wynton Marsalis, and six recordings with longtime friend Nicholas Payton. He still currently performs and tours with Dee Dee Bridgewater, Nnenna Freelon, Ellis Marsalis, and Kurt Elling.
Rose is also an educator, festival producer, composer, and performer. After relocating to the DFW area, Rose served six years as Artist in Residence at University of Texas Arlington, Artist in Residence for Cadillac’s Jazz by the Boulevard Festival, producer of the Keller Jazz in June series, and founder of the Fort Worth Jazz Orchestra, a 501 c (3) non-profit organization. Rose is Director of the New Orleans Jazz Institute and currently holds a residency at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts.
Over his twenty-five-year career Adonis Rose has performed at every major jazz festival, performing arts center and jazz club in the world. Including Carnegie Hall, Olympia in Paris, North Sea Jazz Festival, Umbria, Birdland, Apollo Theater, Newport Jazz Festival, JALC and hundreds of others.
Adonis Rose won a Grammy Award with the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra for Best Large Ensemble in 2009.
Victor Atkins
Piano, aka "Red"
Victor “Red” Atkins’ style of piano is at once “infectious, unconventional, tasteful, and powerful.” Hailing from Selma, Alabama, he began playing with Delfeayo Marsalis in 1989 and was an integral part of the seminal work “Pontius Pilate’s Decision.”
Ed Petersen
Founding Member & Tenor Sax, aka "Sweetbread"
Edward Petersen teaches Saxophone, Jazz Improvisation, Digital Music Production, and directs ensembles at the University of New Orleans. He has performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and many other major concert halls and festivals. He was named the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra “Musician of the Year 2013”.
He has played with J.J. Johnson, Johnny Griffin, Clifford Jordan, Jay McShann, Lionel Hampton, Benny Goodman, Ella Fitzgerald, Joe Williams, Eddie Harris, and many others. He has recorded with Dee Dee Bridgewater, Doctor John, Kurt Elling, Ron Carter, Cedar Walton, Clark Terry, Art Farmer, Willie Pickens, Von Freeman, Fareed Haque, Jason Marsalis, Ramsey Lewis, Johnny Adams, Ruth Brown.
His playing and compositions are featured on over fifty albums and many television, radio, and motion picture soundtracks. He has recently released a CD featuring twelve of his compositions entitled “The Mission.” Mr. Petersen is an Artist/Clinician for Julius Keilwerth Saxophones.
After receiving a B.A. from Berklee College of Music in Boston and an M.F.A. from the Manhattan School of Music, Victor has toured and performed with an impressive list of artists including Elvin Jones, Freddie Hubbard, Aaron Neville, Nnenna Freelon, Brian Blade, Lalah Hathaway, and Nicholas Payton.
In addition to being a part of the Jazz Studies faculty at the University of New Orleans, in every musical situation, Victor improvises passages with great dexterity combined with superior creative artistry. As guitarist Mark Whitfield stated, “Red plays with a great sense of time and rhythm, a great sense of fire and energy, and a lot of soul and spirit.”