Inspired by trombone great, J.J. Johnson, Sidney Makai Kitchen is a jazz trombonist from the Detroit and Ann Arbor areas. He loves jazz, and he loves the trombone. Kitchen also plays tuba, sousaphone, baritone, and flugelbone and thoroughly enjoys composing his own music. He is currently a Geri Allen Fellow, having performed at the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA). Kitchen has also played with Ali Jackson’s Detroit Jazz Orchestra. He was recently a freshman lead trombonist in Michigan State University’s Jazz Studies program.

As a high school student, Kitchen directed a band of college students in performing one of his compositions. Kitchen has been the lead trombonist in a small group jazz ensemble and in MYJO (Michigan Youth Jazz Orchestra) at the University of Michigan and was a member of the Huron High School Jazz Band, where he was also the lead trombonist. Additionally, Kitchen has performed at Caramoor Jazz Festival, in New York, and at the Monterey Jazz Festival with the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra, in California, twice. He has performed at several venues, including Brevard Institute, Cliff Bell’s, The Ark, The Blue Llama, Zal Gas Grotto Club, Hill Auditorium, Spread Art, Steinway Piano Gallery, Red Rooster, Rose Theater, Dizzy’s Club, and Smalls Jazz Club in New York. Kitchen won the Outstanding Trombone Award for Essentially Ellington 2025. Also of note, he has received two NAACP awards as well as two Young Arts awards.

Since Kitchen was a small child, playing the piano and taking private lessons for classical piano, he has been interested in music. Kitchen took classical tuba lessons for three years after playing the trombone in fifth grade and, in fact, had the opportunity to meet Dr. Richard Antione White, the first PhD tubaist, who has been a motivation in his life. Kitchen switched to the tuba because he progressed on the trombone so easily and wanted a more challenging instrument. At that time, little did Kitchen know that, with the right training, there was so much more for him to learn on the trombone. So, in his freshman year of high school, Kitchen switched back to playing the trombone. At first, it seemed very hard to relearn, as it took him some time to readjust to using the slide; however, Kitchen’s prior knowledge helped to relaunch him on the trombone. He was on my way! From there, Kitchen practiced hard for hours on end, every night. He began to feel like he could handle and play jazz trombone. Since then, Kitchen has been participating in jazz competitions, events, and masterclasses, and continues to be hungry to learn more about jazz while taking advantage of every opportunity that was presented to him.