Qns. teach in prostitution bust

A horny school jazz band director was busted for paying someone he thought was a prostitute, police said.

Waldron Ricks, who works at the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts High School in Queens, was picked up at E. 127th St. and Third Ave. in East Harlem in an undercover sting at 11 p.m. on Thursday, cops said.

The 50-year-old teacher, who specializes in the trumpet, was charged with patronizing a prostitute.

According to a bio on the Smalls jazz club website, Ricks has performed with Wynton Marsalis, the Mingus Big Band and Roy Haynes. The Detroit native graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music in 2000.

Education Department spokesman Doug Cohen said Ricks, who has been a teacher for four years, isn’t working with students since his arrest but remains on the city’s payroll.

"We take these allegations seriously, and Mr. Ricks has been reassigned away from the classroom pending the outcome of this criminal matter."