"Diamond Jim" Hewitt
Jim Hewitt joined the music scene in Tucson shortly after he moved
to town in 1973 for graduate work in Anthropology at the University of Arizona, where he received an M.A. in 1975. He got involved
with some ne'er do well pickers at Pima Community College, soon
to be known as The Tortolita Gut Pluckers. He has been the lead
instrumentalist for several well-known Tucson bands: Tucson-Area-Music-Award
winning (TAMMIE) Terry Pollock and Thunderhead North, The Blue Prairie
Dogs with whom he also won an individual TAMMIE in 1999 for best
String player, and in a duo with popular singer/songwriter Sal Valdivia.
He has played the Tucson Folk Festival numerous times with these
groups as well as renowned singer/songwriter John Coinman. He acquired
the nickname "Diamond Jim" while playing several seasons
in the Gaslight Theatre orchestra. He currently resides in Oracle,
Arizona, pursuing his day job in web database programming and his
passion for electro-acoustic musical composition and improvisational
performance.
Jim is a founder (with Linda Leigh and Lynn Perez-Hewitt) of the
Fiesta de las Calabazas,
and has been the music promoter and one of the performers at this
event since its inception in 2000. As one of the first new festivals
of the new millennium, the Fiesta de las Calabazas continues to
grow as a showcase for new and rising musical talent.
In 2004 Jim founded Barn Jazz Music Productions (a subsidiary of
Hewitt Consulting Enterprises, LLC) as a vehicle for pursuing an
alternative career in music recording and audiovisual music production.
With the able assistance of his wife, Lynn Perez-Hewitt, manager
and accountant (and keeper of the purse), Barn Jazz Music Productions
continues to expand its client base and creative interests.
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