Music Teacher Raymonde Soars with the Stars

Rod Stewart, Bruce Springsteen, Matt “Guitar” Murphy: all infamous names, all famous, and very influential musicians. They’re just a small number of musicians that Music Teacher Baron Raymonde has worked with over his long musical career. That’s right, Raymonde is a classic legendary performer amongst them and many others. He remains on the radar of famous musicians and music producers who need a saxophone player who can step in and complete a band.

Since the age of three, Raymonde has been fascinated by music: classical, jazz, R&B, soul, and rock ‘n roll. His musical talent has shined bright for nearly his entire life. In high school he was in a notable, and still active, band called Felix and the Cats, and other acts. Later, he graduated from the University of North Texas with a bachelor’s and master's degree in jazz music, “...a very famous jazz school…” as he says, the first university to offer a degree in jazz and housing the largest jazz music school nationwide. After earning his degrees, he was set to become a fixture in the American jazz industry.

Raymonde began his teaching career after a break from a jazz tour, “...I was touring with Rod [Stewart], and then it fell apart and I wasn't doing anything, so I took on a part-time teaching job for maternity leave in Bloomfield, which I liked. Then the opening here for the elementary, and I did that for 16 years, and then I came over here and did Survey of Pop classes and the jazz band and jazz lab; now I just do five Survey of Pop music classes.”

Besides the saxophone, Raymonde is prolific in several other instruments. “...I play tenor sax, baritone sax, flute, and clarinet…and I started on piano, so I play piano, too,” he said. 

In addition to other super stars, Raymonde has been invited to perform with Wayne Newton, Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul, Leslie Gore, and The Original Blues Brothers Band, just to name a few. He has been featured in both performances and studio recordings. “For the Blues Brothers, I sub for Lou Marini in that band. I’m on their last record.”

Raymonde credits legends such as Matt “Guitar” Murphy for securing his center spot in the musical industry: “He was the first guy that asked me to tour with him when I got out of college,” he said.

Raymonde also tries to help musicians locate performance opportunities. “I have 92 sax players on an email list and I send out a job opportunity, you know, for whatever instrument. I have them for all the instruments, and I help people out.”

His newer, most recent works and projects include live performances at places like the NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants), and set performances for places such as the Blue Note, a popular Manhattan venue. In October, Rayonde also released a remaster entitled The Nebraska Sessions. The original recordings, he said, were thanks to his touring with Murphy.

His latest and most relevant project, however, is Baron VonFrankenPaul featuring fellow musicians Frank Osgood and Paul ILL. The debut album for the project was released on November 11; a record release party will take place on December 11. Raymonde encourages friends to come to his show, and listen to the album itself. He describes it as, “jazz with rock funk.”

Raymonde encourages his students to go out and be artistic. “I love people being creative: art, writing, you know, poetry. Write a book or write an article. I do tell my students to make sure you copyright original stuff because people will rip you off, unfortunately, so make sure to copyright everything.”