This past year has been full of great music and wonderful opportunities. Last January, I spent a week at Marian’s Jazz Club in Bern, Switzerland with my project East-West Trumpet Summit featuring myself and fellow trumpeter Ray Vega. Our album on Origin Records made it all the way to number 1 on the JazzWeek national radio airplay charts and is set to finish the year in the top ten for the entire year. Read the review in Jazz TImes Magazine by clicking here.
This year brought quite a bit of travel, including performances at The Denver International Jazz Festival, The New Zealand International Jazz Festival, The National Trumpet Competition (Washington D.C.), The Savannah Jazz Festival (Savannah, GA), Yoshi’s Jazz Club (Okaland, CA), Marian’s Jazz Club (Bern, Switzerland), Eagle Jazz Festival (Eagle, ID), The Oregon Jazz Festival (Eugene,OR), The Cellar Jazz Club (Vancouver, B.C.) and a short tour through Montana’s Flathead Valley.
2010 also saw the beginning of what we hope is a long run at The New Orleans Creole Restaurant every Friday night with my band Flexicon. We began last April and have had a lot of fun every Friday from 8-11 down in Pioneer Square. Featuring Matt Jorgensen (drums), Phil Spark (bass) and Rick Mandyck (piano), the music has grown by leaps and bounds and with your support we hope it will continue to do so!
In addition to the chart-topping album East-West Trumpet Summit, I also released my first album of all original material, “Constraints and Liberations,” on Origin Records in November of 2010. The reviews have been positive and it is my favorite project so far. I had the pleasure of being featured on a number of other projects that came out this year including Marc Seales: American Songs Vol.1, Tift Merrit: See You On The Moon, Richard Cole: Inner Mission, Randy Halberstadt: Flash Point, Matt Jorgensen: Tattooed By Passion, Maureen Girard: Portrait In Four Colors, The Vocal Jazz Collective: Redefinition, Hadley Caliman: Straight Ahead, Dave Anderson: Clarity, and Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra: The Endless Search.
2010 saw the publication of The New Face of Jazz, by author Cicily Janus. She was kind enough to feature me in the book and was I delighted to see myself in some very fast company.
Blessing Brass was purchased earlier this year and under it’s new management is making some outstanding new trumpets. I am happy to be endorsing their new 1580 trumpet and am grateful for their support this past year.
Along with the many high points this year, there was one sad event. 2010 saw the passing of my longtime friend, mentor and collaborator Hadley Caliman. He died after a long fight with liver cancer this past fall. I had the distinct pleasure of playing, touring and recording with Hadley over the last few years. Hadley’s passing was a huge loss to the entire jazz community here in Seattle and everywhere.
