This was a great weekend for fans of jazz trumpet here in Atlanta. Friday night, Jon Faddis performed with the Georgia State University big band and Saturday night, Terence Blanchard was here to play with the Morehouse College Jazz Ensemble. I attended both concerts as well as a masterclass hosted by Jon Faddis. Following are some notes from the masterclass and concerts.

JON FADDIS MASTERCLASS

Jon Faddis is unquestionably one of the greatest high-note jazz trumpet players of all time. Until the master class, I had never seen him play in person nor was I at all prepared for what I’d hear.

A word of advice: if you ever attend a Jon Faddis masterclass, put some distance between you and the end of his trumpet bell. Trust me, your ears will thank you. I made the mistake of sitting directly in front of him, less than ten feet away. Each time he started playing, I braced myself for the loudest ear-splitting high notes imaginable. It was almost comical, actually. Half the time, he’d pick up his horn and rather than play something high and loud, he’d play something at a nice pleasant volume. Inevitably, just as soon as I’d let my guard down, thinking my ears were safe from punishment, he’d launch into the Faddisphere with his trademark thunderous jet engine of pain torture. Ouch.

A large part of Jon Faddis’ discussion revolved around listening to jazz. Specifically, Jon Faddis believes that aspiring jazz musicians shouldn't restrict their listening to modern-day musicians just because that's the music you enjoy the most. Instead, you should listen to the entire lineage of notable jazz musicians. For example, if you’re a trumpet player and you want to play like Nicholas Payton or Wynton Marsalis, Jon Faddis would insist that you also study Louis Armstrong, Roy Eldridge, Fats Navarro, Dizzy Gillespie, and all of the great trumpet players leading up to Marsalis and Payton. As you study the older jazz musicians, you’ll want to gain a level of familiarity that will enable you to identify their music by sound. And here’s the real kicker: you need to do this for all instruments, not just whatever you happen to play.

You might be asking yourself, “Is it really necessary to study all of the old music?” The short answer: no. Technically speaking, if you want to sound like Wynton Marsalis, Kenny Garrett, or Kurt Rosenwinkel, you could accomplish that goal simply by listening to their recordings. You could even make the argument that since Wynton Marsalis studied musicians like Louis Armstrong and Rex Stuart, you don’t have to. In other words, if Wynton Marsalis studied the older musicians, and you study Wynton Marsalis, they by way of Wynton Marsalis, you’ve also studied the older musicians. It sure was nice of Wynton to save you all that time and effort!

All joking aside, here are several compelling reasons for you to listen to the old masters:

• Music affects everyone differently - There is some truth to the notion that you’re automatically influenced by all of the musicians that your favorite musicians listened to. But, what if those same influences would have affected you differently? For example, when Kenny Garrett studied Johnny Hodges, his takeaway might have been the way Hodges bends and slurs from one note into another. When you listen to Hodges, however, it might be Hodges’ use of vibrato that makes the greatest impact on your playing. If you leave all the Hodges listening up to Kenny Garrett, you’ll miss having your own unique reaction to Johnny Hodges’ music.
• More inputs = more outputs - If you’re only listening to a handful of musicians, you’re limiting the number of influences you can draw from in your own playing. You’re also increasing the likelihood that you’ll sound like a mere copycat. On the other hand, if you study many different musicians, you'll have that much more material to draw form in your jazz improvisation solos. This will add more variety to your playing and may improve your ability to develop an original sound.
• Deeper appreciation for the music - When you’ve studied older musicians, you’ll likely begin to hear connections and references in the playing of modern-day musicians. For example, you might notice a nod to Cootie Williams during one of Wynton Marsalis’ plunger mute solos. These connections are important in that they help tie together the legacy of jazz music. They also show that even the most talented musicians learned from their predecessors, just like you can learn from yours.
• Respect and preservation - While you may not have the time or interest to study every notable jazz musician to the degree suggested by Faddis, I think you owe it to yourself and to your musical predecessors to at least have some familiarity with their music. It’s thanks to their contributions that jazz exists today, and by celebrating and learning their music, we can help ensure that the legacy of jazz lives on for future generations.

For more information on listening to jazz music, you might want to read my Listening to Jazz article.

TERENCE BLANCHARD AT MOREHOUSE COLLEGE

Melvin Jones, the director of bands at Morehouse College, consistently brings us some of the most entertaining jazz big band concerts in Atlanta. So, when he told me Terence Blanchard was this year’s featured guest, I knew we were in for a special treat. And it didn’t disappoint one bit. Not only did Terence Blanchard and the Morehouse Jazz Ensemble deliver an incredible performance, but the concert also featured some of my favorite Atlanta jazz musicians, including Clarence Johnson, Louis Heriveaux, Craig Shaw, and Che Marshall.

As I wrote a couple of years ago, I really think they key to Melvin Jones’ success with the Morehouse College Jazz Ensemble is that he picks tunes that are both entertaining to the band and audience. This elevates the performance, making it more enjoyable for everyone. This might seem like a no-brainer, but I continue to see college big band performances where the music selections are overly complex and/or so boring that neither the students nor the audience are engaged. I don’t understand it one bit, but thankfully Melvin Jones doesn’t make that same mistake. Melvin Jones knows how to put on a good show.

In the following clip you’ll hear Terence Blanchard solo over Earth Wind & Fire’s hit, “Can’t Hide Love.” It’s hard to believe only a third of the students in the Morehouse Jazz Ensemble are music majors. Just listen to the trumpet section at the end of the tune...