Bell Thompson is a trumpet player and composer originally from Seattle, WA, currently based in New York City. Bell’s playing celebrates the jazz tradition of swing and hard bop, while showcasing her vibrant tone and exciting sense of melody.  Bell has shared the stage with renowned artists such as Bruce Barth, Jaleel Shaw, and Kris Davis, among others. She has graced renowned venues including Montreux Jazz Festival, Jazz a Vienne, Panama Jazz Festival, Chris’ Jazz Café, and Jazz Alley.  Bell pursued her undergraduate studies at Temple University in Philadelphia, where she studied with Terell Stafford and Joe Magnarelli. She then went on to study at the Berklee Global Jazz Institute Master’s Program, under the guidance of GRAMMY award-winning pianist Danilo
Perez.  Driven by her commitment to addressing the issue of gender equity in jazz education, Bell’s independent qualitative research project, “Gender and Jazz: The Experience of Women in Jazz Education,” was funded through the Temple University Diamond Research Scholars Program in 2020. She received the 2021 Temple University Livingstone Undergraduate Research Award for Diversity and Social Justice, and was featured at the 2022 Jazz Education Network Conference.