Saxophonist and flutist, John David Simon, has performed extensively on the national and international jazz scene. Simon has worked with numerous luminaries including Ella Fitzgerald, Jason Marsalis, Chaka Khan, James Carter, T.S. Monk, Pat Martino, Clark Terry, Ray Charles, Charles Earland, J.J. Johnson, Shirley Scott, and Houston Person. John’s big band credits include Lionel Hampton, Illinois Jacquet, Artie Shaw, Jimmy Dorsey, Harlem Renaissance and Cotton Club orchestras. He has toured Japan, Europe, Scandinavia, Canada and the United States performing at major festivals including Monterey, Montreal, Playboy, North Sea, JVC, Pori, Grande Parade du Jazz (Nice, France), and Newport Jazz Festival. Some of the venues John has played include Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Radio City Music Hall, The Kennedy Center, The Hollywood Bowl, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Ravinia, The Village Vanguard, The Blue Note, Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola, and Jazz Standard. Currently Simon appears on over ten CD albums, including three critically acclaimed as a leader, his debut on Muse Records, Legacy: The John Simon Trio Featuring Don Patterson, his second, John David Simon And Friends With Clark Terry & Etta Jones, and latest CD album, Phantasm, both on WarmGroove Records. As a sideman, Simon can be heard on Introducing The CJ Heptet with Cleave Guyton Jr. on Consolidated Artists Productions, The Joe Sudler Swing Machine & Clark Terry on TJA Records, Born to Swing with Buddy DeFranco on Satellite Records and The Ponderer with the Odean Pope Saxophone Choir on Soul Note Records. John also appears in the documentary film, Texas Tenor: the Illinois Jacquet Story, shown on the Bravo TV network.

In 1999, Simon entered into the prestigious Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz, by Leonard Feather and Ira Gitler, as one of 3300 biographies spanning the entire history of jazz. A recipient of two NEA (National Endowment for the Arts) Jazz Performance Fellowships and a Master of Music Degree from Manhattan School of Music, John has taught jazz performance, ensemble and musicianship at many conservatories and schools. A South Philadelphia native, Simon resides in New York City where he works as a free-lance musician, composer and faculty member of Stevens Institute of Technology.