Exploring Jazz Music One Musician at a Time

*Good morning*

This is the 2^nd "tradition" that I’m resurrecting from my time spent on Twitter. Every Wednesday I would present the music of jazz artists that were born outside of the United States. I simply called it “World Wide” Wednesday.

Today I am starting with a trumpeter that I saw perform last October in NYC at the Lincoln Center, Etienne Charles.

Enjoy ~

Who is Etienne Charles?

Trinidadian Etienne Charles “defies easy musical categorization.”

That’s not just hollow talk of a good publicist – his musical palette is a potpourri of the sounds of calypso, steel pan, African Shango drumming, AND straight-ahead jazz.

What has he done?

People in the jazz world started to take notice of Etienne starting in the summer of 2005 when he came in second place in the International Trumpet Guild Jazz Competition in Bangkok, Thailand.

During the same summer, he also performed at the North Sea Jazz Festival in The Hague, Netherlands.

In March of the following year (2006), Etienne placed 1^st in the National Trumpet Competition in Fairfax, VA.

His debut album, “Culture Shock” was released later that year. It features a unique mélange of Afro-Caribbean rhythms and straight-ahead jazz.

In August 2007, he debuted as a band leader at New York City’s MoMA Summergarden series where he premiered a suite entitled "Folklore Tales." His inspirations were the Trinidadian folklore characters from his youth.

2009 saw the release of “Folklore” – an enticing album of original music. The music employs jazz improv and harmony with folk rhythms and chants inspired by the African experience of Trinidad and Tobago.

Etienne Charles stands at the vanguard of a new generation of musicians who are from the Caribbean but not totally of it, in terms of a fresh and broad-ranging artist vision, and myriad influences encompassed in their soundscape.

Where can you See Etienne Charles perform?

June 12-13, 2010 at Ocho Rios Jazz Festival (Ocho Rios, Jamaica)
June 19, 2010 at Frederick P. Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center (New York City)
June 25, 2010 at Ottawa Jazz Festival (Ottawa, Ontario Canada)
June 26, 2010 at Festival International de Jazz de Montreal @ Upstairs Jazz Club (Montreal, Quebec Canada)
June 27 - July 2, 2010 at MSU Jazz Camp (E. Lansing, MI)
July 7, 2010 at ITG Conference (Sydney, Australia)
July 12 -17, 2010 at Juilliard Jazz Workshop at Snow College (Ephraim, UT)
August 7, 2010 at Lansing Jazz Festival (Old Town - Lansing, MI)
August 9, 2010 at Jazz Showcase (Chicago, IL)

If you're ever in New York City or if Etienne Charles happens to travel to your city/town, I hope that you go see him perform live. I was treated to a great concert last year when I saw him as a part of pianist Monty Alexander's group.

Source: www.etiennecharles.com