Napoleon was born in Brooklyn, New York, on May 30, 1977. He is the son of Greg Napoleon, a software engineer, and Davi Napoleon, a theater historian and arts journalist, and the grandson of Jack Skurnick, a musicologist and founder of EMS Recordings, and Fay Kleinman, a painter. He has one younger brother, Brian Napoleon. His family moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, when he was two years old. He studied violin in the Ann Arbor schools before discovering the guitar. One of Napoleon's formative experiences was in a big band at Ann Arbor Pioneer High School, led by trumpeter Louis Smith. Napoleon also played at the jazz clubs in Ann Arbor and learned from jam sessions at the Bird of Paradise Club. Early opportunities at the Del Rio, a local bar, and at events sponsored by WEMU, a local NPR jazz radio station, helped start his career. When he was in high school, the Ann Arbor News covered his developing talent. Napoleon studied at the University of Michigan School of Music. He moved to New York City after graduating in 1999 and back to Michigan after his appointment to Michigan State University's College of Music in the fall of 2014.
Later life and career
Napoleon has led an organ trio which has toured the United States and United Kingdom and which did a concert for BBC radio. The trio appears on Enjoy the Moment and , both featuring Jared Gold and drummer Quincy Davis. Between Friends, a 2006 release from Azica Records, features the trio on half the tracks and a quartet on the other, with Davis, bassist David Wong, and Benny Green on piano. The Randy Napoleon three-horn sextet appears on his 2012 album The Jukebox Crowd. A trio with Rodney Whitaker on bass and Gregory Hutchinson on drums appears on his album for the Detroit Music Factory, Soon. Napoleon has performed and arranged on all of Freddy Cole's albums since 2009. He has appeared on TV with Cole, on a 2007 PBS special, and on the 2009 Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Telethon. Napoleon has appeared on Grammy-nominated albums, including Michael Buble: Caught in the Act,Freddy Cole Sings Mr. B, and Freddy Cole: My Mood is You. He arranged music for the two Cole albums. Napoleon has also toured with Benny Green, Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, and Michael Bublé. He has appeared on TV in Japan with CHJO and throughout Europe, Asia and America with Bublé. His U.S. TV appearances with Bublé include David Letterman, Jay Leno, The View, The Today Show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Regis and Kelly, Dancing with the Stars, the Radio Music Awards, Entertainment Tonight, and a PBS special, Caught in the Act. Napoleon has performed with Monty Alexander, Bill Charlap, Michael Dease, Rene Marie, and Rodney Whitaker. He has appeared with cabaret performers Eric Comstock and Barbara Fasano. Napoleon has performed at Lincoln Center, Hollywood Bowl, The Kennedy Center, Radio City Music Hall, Royal Albert Hall in London, and the Sydney Opera House in Australia. Napoleon is an associate professor at Michigan State University in the College of Music and performs with the MSU Professors of Jazz. He was on the faculty of the University of MichiganSchool of Music, Theatre and Dance from 2013 to 2014, where he taught jazz guitar. He has taught master classes and clinics at many colleges including Bucknell University, Temple University, Humber College, and Oakland University.He married Alison Rogers Napoleon in 2010. They have two children, Jack Lawrence and Juliet Claire.
Discography
As leader/co-leader and arranger
Enjoy the Moment, co-leader with Jared Gold
,
Bitter/Sweet, co-leader with Eric Comstock,
The Jukebox Crowd,
Soon,
Common Tones,
As sideman
With Michael Bublé
Let It Snow
With Love
Caught in the Act
A Taste of Bublé
As sideman and arranger
With Freddy Cole
The Dreamer in Me – Live at Dizzy's Club Coca Cola,
