John Murphy, an ethnomusicologist and saxophonist, joined the University of North Texas Jazz Studies faculty in 2001 and has served as chair of the Division of Jazz Studies since 2008. He taught previously at Western Illinois University (1992-2001). He is the author of Music in Brazil (Oxford University Press, 2006) and Cavalo-marinho pernambucano (Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil University Press, 2008) and has published articles on jazz improvisation, Brazilian traditional and popular music, Cuban music in New York, and college teaching. He has held Fulbright (1990-91) and National Endowment for the Humanities (2000-2001) fellowships for research in Brazil. He earned two degrees at the University of North Texas (B.M., jazz studies performance, 1984; M.M., music theory, 1986), and at Columbia University (M.A. & Ph.D., ethnomusicology). He plays jazz on tenor saxophone and Irish and Brazilian traditional music on button accordion.