At sixteen, Roger toured with the great Louie Bellson Big Band. After graduating high school, he toured during the fall with the Quincy Jones Big Band on a tour to promote the Brothers Johnson's new album, "Look Out for #1." He went on to play lead trumpet with international pop star Tom Jones for six years. In 1985 he joined the Woody Herman Orchestra on lead trumpet and remained until Herman's death in October 1987. During his tenure with Woody's band, he recorded 3 albums, all of which were nominated for Grammy awards. Ingram also toured with the Maynard Ferguson Orchestra in 1988, 1990 and 1992, recording three albums with Maynard's band. He later recorded with trumpeter Arturo Sandoval on the Grammy Award winning album "Danzon."
In the early 1980s, he was immersed with playing production shows on the world renowned Las Vegas strip working with Johnny Haig's (Haig Eshow) "Relief Band." Beginning in 1992, Roger spent 16 years as a resident of New York City. In addition to recording and performing on a multitude of jazz and commercial recordings, he was also involved with hundreds of live concerts as well as a variety of Broadway productions.
In 1990, Roger joined the newly formed big band of Harry Connick, Jr., recording 17 albums with Connick and working with Harry on a regular basis until 2010. Of the albums recorded with Harry, 3 were nominated for Grammy awards including "Songs I Heard" which won a Grammy award in 2001. In between tours with Harry Connick Jr., Roger also toured in the trumpet section (lead by Walt Johnson) with Frank Sinatra, and juggled his schedule to work simultaneously with Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. Ingram appears on seven albums with Marsalis, including the 1997 Pulitzer-Prize winning "Blood on the Fields."
He left Jazz at Lincoln Center in 1997 to tour and record briefly with the legendary Ray Charles before returning to tour and record with Harry Connick Jr's big band again in 1997.
In 2008, Roger penned the trumpet textbook, "Clinical Notes on Trumpet Playing" which has sold in over 65 countries, and is on the required or recommended reading list for many undergraduate and graduate music programs world-wide. Roger was an XO Brass Artist from 2009-2025. In 2009, with the XO Brass design team, Roger was instrumental in the design of the XO Brass 1600I professional Bb trumpet. In 2012, Roger's XO Brass trumpet was inducted into the Kentucky Museum's Instruments of American Excellence Collection in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
With Josh Rzepka, Roger co-authored The Versatile Trumpeter, a book for intermediate and advanced trumpeters. Published in 2019, it features 16 original selections of printed music in the form of duets in multiple styles with written explanations of techniques and methods. It is complete with accompanying play-along tracks via download or CD.
In late 2025, Roger signed with the Conn Selmer Company and joined the Bach Brass family. He plays and endorses the Bach Stradavarius 190 Bb trumpet.
Roger hires musicians and coordinates the musical requirements for shows, recording sessions and live events in the Chicago area. Roger's schedule includes musical contracting, writing articles, performing on commercial jingles, big band recordings, live concert presentations, Broadway shows and star acts in the Chicago area. Roger teaches private in-person and online lessons from his home music studio and at the Westclox Fine Arts Factory's Music Suite 408. He regularly presents brass clinics for local high schools, colleges, and and universities. Mr. Ingram is also actively involved with the Association of Professional Orchestra Leaders (APOL) to further the promotion and advancement of live music performance in the Chicago area.
Roger's Mouthpieces: Roger designed the "Ingram Signature Line" of trumpet mouthpieces with Peter Pickett in 2008. These mouthpieces are manufactured by Pickett - Blackburn in Lexington, Kentucky and are available through Pickett Blackburn. In 2024, Roger began working with Dr Dave Harrison, the founder of Wedge Mouthpieces, and together developed a set of Roger Ingram endorsed Wedge Mouthpieces.
Roger's Mutes: In 2016 Roger designed a custom line of classic trumpet and trombone Mutemeister mutes with Terry Warburton and Kim Aubuchon which are manufactured by Warburton Music Products. Descriptions of these mutes, and links to purchase are available online at MuteMeister.com.
